How to make money with Shopify: 15 fail-proof ways

How to make money with Shopify? This platform has become one of the most profitable sites on the internet for small business owners. Its services are even used by notable brands like Tesla and Pepsi.

In short, Shopify is a platform that allows the creation of e-commerce sites. It’s completely customizable and is very easy to use, allowing access to even the most rough internet users.

Shopify can also be connected to a real-life physical store, increasing the reach of small business owners all across the globe.

However, e-commerce is not the only possible way to make money on Shopify. In this article, we’ll look at other viable and profitable options.

What is Shopify

Shopify is a platform that allows the creation of e-commerce sites, allowing small businesses to scale and widen in reach and scope. Indeed, the business model of Shopify was so successful that many valuable alternatives have emerged in recent years.

Like many of its competitors, Shopify gives access to site analytics, different payment and shipping methods, as well as many inventory management tools.

All of this does not come for free. Shopify offers three different pricing tiers:

• Basic (€28/month), with credit card rates ranging from 1.5% to 1.9% and a maximum of 2 staff accounts;
• Shopify (€78/month), with credit card rates ranging from 1.4% to 1.8%, and a maximum of 5 staff accounts;
• Advanced (€384/month), with credit card rates ranging from 1.3% to 1.6%, and a maximum of 15 staff accounts.

Shopify offers a 3-day free trial and a €1/month pricing plan for the subsequent 3 months for new users.

The price can be worth the effort if users know what to look for. Let’s therefore analyze the 15 best ways to make money on Shopify.

1. Set up an e-commerce store

The first and most obvious way to make money on Shopify is to create a personalized e-commerce site.

As we said, Shopify offers many different tools for personalized e-commerce platforms. Most business users will find the right application for their needs. However, to make Shopify profitable, users must apply its services strategically.

This is why reading a guide on how to use Shopify is highly advised even before starting the first e-commerce site.

2. Sell digital products

In this time and age, physical products are not the only things that can be sold online. Shopify allows the sale of digital products too, from ebooks to pictures, from wallpaper patterns to custom designs.

The world of digital products was completely revolutionized in 2021 with NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), special digital goods that confer complete ownership to the buyer.

NFTs can be sold on an e-commerce site created with Shopify, and in some cases, they can also be a form of payment.

3. Sell print-on-demand products

Anything wearable can also be customized. T-shirts, hats, and sweaters can have special printed logos on them. In some cases, a customer wants a complete logo (or writing) printed on a piece of clothing. An inside joke for their group of friends, for example, or a prize for their crowdfunding campaign.

On Shopify, an e-commerce site can start selling print-on-demand products. To do this, the site owner needs a stock of “blank” products and a special printer. Or they can outsource the printing process and sell the final products at a higher price than the cost of print.

Print-on-demand products don’t have to be pieces of clothing. They can also be personalized accessories like mugs, pouches, and bags.

4. Sell online courses

If a user is not the owner of a physical store but still wants to make money with Shopify, they can use their expertise in the field to sell online courses. With the COVID-19 pandemic, online classes have become incredibly popular, and don’t seem to be wearing down any time soon.

Online courses can be about anything, and the more niche the expertise, the more likely it will stand out among the others.

Shopify allows the creation of an online course site. After all, classes are just another digital product and can be sold online just like anything else.

5. Flip Shopify stores

One way to embed Shopify into a business model is to create several e-commerce shops and, once they are proven profitable, sell them at a flat price.

Shopify-made e-commerce sites can be "flipped" at up to $1 million, but require specific managerial skills and are not open for everybody.

Nevertheless, it’s also not the most difficult business venture in the world. Creating and selling e-commerce sites with Shopify can be as easy as a side hustle for some very successful entrepreneurs.

6. Set up affiliate marketing deals

Amazon, Etsy, and many other e-commerce platforms sign affiliate marketing deals with famous influencers. Essentially, they provide a link to the influencer, who will advertise it on social media and receive a fraction of the sale.

Obviously, Amazon is one of the largest e-commerce sites in the world, meaning that it usually signs deals with very big influencers. Several Shopify-made sites, however, also offer similar deals.

Someone with a medium-good social media outreach can advertise their products for a fraction of the sale. When these sales start to add up, this way of making money with Shopify can generate a significant monthly revenue.

7. Exploit social-media outreach

To sell a product, business owners need to publicize it. In a world where customers are constantly exposed to brand advertising, small business owners are desperate to make their products stand out.

Similarly to affiliate marketing, anyone with a wide enough social media outreach can publicize an e-commerce site made with Shopify. On the other hand, business owners should seek the support of social media influencers to increase their sales.

E-commerce sites should have their personalized social media page. Shopify allows the connection with Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok accounts to make it easier for the user.

8. Set up a dropshipping site

Dropshipping is a way to make money with Shopify for people who don’t own a personal business. In short, dropshipping is the creation of an e-commerce site with Shopify that sells products already listed on other e-commerce sites.

This process is usually beneficial for very large e-commerce sites like AliExpress, whose catalog is so large that users only see a fraction of it. Dropshipping allows the creation of sites selling a specific type of product and therefore highlighting more of AliExpress’ catalogue.

Dropshipping does not make the same sort of revenue as actually selling one’s product. However, it is also much easier as much of the work is outsourced to the larger e-commerce site.

9. Sell niche or vintage products

For users living in Europe especially, vintage products are very easy to come by, and can make for a very profitable and sustainable way of making money with Shopify. Vintage clothing is becoming increasingly more trendy, and selling it online can exploit this growing demand.

Similarly, finding a very niche product at a local shop, or an antiquarian, can become profitable if re-sold online through an e-commerce site made with Shopify.

In general, e-commerce sites have become very popular in the past few years, partially because of platforms like Shopify. To stand out from the rest, business owners need to find their own niche and target audience.

10. Become part of the Shopify team

Shopify is a thriving and growing enterprise that employs thousands of people. They have a specialized team of experts ranging from marketing, design, and sales. The advice of these experts is often offered by Shopify to e-commerce sites to improve their businesses.

Becoming an expert in e-commerce sales opens many doors inside the Shopify team.

11. Create customized Shopify art

While working for Shopify directly is certainly possible, artists and designers can also work directly for the e-commerce sites built on Shopify.

Large e-commerce sites in particular may want to hire a designer or an artist for their products, as well as their brand logos and visual features.

Artists can also create a theme directly in Shopify, which will then be presented as a customizable choice for site developers. The Shopify App Store needs to approve the theme first, which should then be marketed by the artist on their social media platforms.

12. Open a pop-up store

As we said, Shopify allows the connection of the digital e-commerce site to a physical store. Usually, the internet site is created after the physical store, but it doesn’t have to be always like this.

Pop-up stores are physical point-of-sales (POS) that are connected to a Shopify e-commerce site. They don’t have to be large physical stores, even a small booth can suffice.

Opening a pop-up store allows an increased connection with one’s community, and is perfect for advertising the main enterprise: the online e-commerce site.

13. Become a product photographer

Once again, big e-commerce sites might need specialized workers for their products. Becoming a product photographer is not very difficult per se, it just needs a big initial investment for the purchase of the gear.

Product photographers do not only need expensive cameras and lenses but also a set of lights and colored backgrounds. Once all of this is acquired, however, their services will be highly requested.

The best-case scenario would be for a photographer to also have Photoshop skills. This would not only increase the quality of their products, it would also allow them to ask for larger fees.

14. Become a freelance writer

Other than creating personalized art and product photography, users can make money with Shopify by becoming freelance writers for e-commerce sites. Copywriters are usually required to write personalized product descriptions and blog content.

In the age of artificial intelligence, many think this job will eventually be replaced by ChatGPT or other LLMs (Large Language Models). However, some business owners still want a human touch on their sites and may think having a specialized copywriter is still the best course of action.

Furthermore, if an e-commerce site is linked to a blog, a human copywriter will be necessary for consistency and accuracy. Owners will not have the time to sit down and create ChatGPT blog posts every day while they have to run the rest of the business.

15. Sell handmade products

Finally, another great way to make money with Shopify is to sell one’s handmade products. This is also the perfect way to turn a hobby into a full-time profession. From woodworking to sawing, from pottery to glassmaking, handmade products are still very much in request, especially in a world where everything is manufactured on a production chain.

And, once again, selling handmade products serves the same concept we talked about before: standing out in the crowd. Handmade products are, by definition, unique. Anyone talented enough and with a unique enough product can become rich by selling them online.

By merging two or more of these techniques, business owners can make a living out of Shopify. E-commerce is a full-fledged professional path in the new digital age.