How to Sell my Dropshipping Store? [SIMPLE VERSION]

Sometimes, you build a dropshipping store, but there comes a time when you are ready to move on to other things. This happened to me, and I soon wondered how I could sell my dropshipping store.

Today, I will answer that question for you and share some methods on how to do it. Our topics are:

• Why sell your dropshipping store
• Where to sell your dropshipping store
• Tips for selling your dropshipping store

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to move forward and start the process of selling your dropshipping store.

Why sell your dropshipping store

There are several reasons why people would want to sell dropshipping websites, and we will explore several of them here.  

• No time for it – most people who build dropshipping stores are currently employed. Since the employment of an individual provides a guaranteed income, a person may be inclined to put more effort into it than the dropshipping business. In some cases, the dropshipper may have gotten a promotion, so now he has more responsibility, and has no time to maintain the store.
• Not making sales – if you have done everything you could, and you did not make a sale, you need to rethink if this business is for you. Accepting failure is not a bad thing. Rather, it is an awakening where you need to consider if you really are cut out for this. My recommendation would be to sell your dropshipping store if it has not made any sale in six months.  
• Capital gains – if your dropshipping store is profitable, you may consider selling the store at a premium. Apart from charging for your capital cost, you can also charge the buyer for goodwill. Many successful dropshippers make money faster than the dropshipping itself by selling their stores to people who are looking for a successful website.  A lot of people literally have no idea how to make a successful site themselves, so they simply buy other people’s at a premium.
• Change of plans – life takes us to different paths. Sometimes, we can lose our passion for the business, or we decide to pursue other things. If this is what is happening, selling your dropshipping store is a good move instead of waiting for it to go to waste.

Before you sell, you need to seriously ask yourself if you are sure about your decision. Your dropshipping store is like a pet—you worked hard for it. It is the product of your ideas and hard work and parting ways with it could be a painful experience.

Where to sell your dropshipping store

Now that you have the right reasons and mindset to sell your dropshipping store, where do you sell it?

Here are some of the marketplaces and methods to sell your store:

• Exchange Marketplace – this is a site where you can find Shopify dropshipping stores for sale. If you built your dropshipping store in Shopify, then this is the best platform of choice. Register for an account and fill out the information. Your store will be displayed on the site, and people can make an offer.

Once an offer is made, the money is deposited to an escrow service. You can share access to your store so the buyer can explore it. Once the buyer released the payment via escrow, that is the time you give him the full admin access.

• Flippa – this is not just a place for selling sites, but also domains and SaaS products. At Flippa, you will find turnkey dropship websites for sale. You post your store for sale and people will make bids. As a seller, you have the option to accept and reject bidders, and you have the power to reject offers if you think they are scammy. Flippa is not involved in the asset transfer, but it does have involvement with the payment.
• Empire Flippers – this website broker has a valuation tool. You can enter your information to assess how much your website is worth. This will help you decide how to price your store reasonably. Here, you can offer buyers an installment payment method, like 80% now and 20% spread out in succeeding months.

Know that Empire Flippers charge a listing fee from sellers. The cost is $297 for the first listing and $97 for other listings. This is refundable only if they did not list your item on the marketplace.

These are the three best and most reputable listing marketplaces out there. You will surely find others, but most of these do not have escrow services. The last thing you want is to get scammed by buyers who will get admin access to your site but never pay.  

Tips for selling your dropshipping store

Before you go to these websites to sell your dropshipping store, you need to work out a plan to make your selling experience as flawless as possible.

• Listing fees – find out how much the listing fee is going to cost you. Get as many details as you can. Will the listing fee apply per month or forever? You should also find out how much the marketplace will charge you if the sale is successful. Some charge as little as 4% while others charge as much as 30%.

Some exchange companies also charge valuation fees, while some offer other services like promotions. Some of these fees are optional, and some are not. Know what you are paying for so you can price your store accordingly.  

• Escrow service – an escrow service is a service where the buyer’s money is put on hold. Once the buyer tells the escrow service provider to release the money to you, only then will you receive the funds to your account. An escrow service is a third-party company that protects both you and the buyer.

Without an escrow, a buyer may be reluctant to send money to you directly. The escrow company also charges fees. The cost varies, but the average is 3%. Also, you need to know how they will send you your funds. Some escrow companies only use PayPal and nothing else.

• Valuation – how much is your online dropshipping store worth? You can either use the marketplace’s valuation tool or pay a company to assess your store’s worth. While this is not always necessary, it is best used by those whose dropshipping stores are actually earning money.

Do not just sell your store on a whim. While I understand that a store is costing you money monthly, the last thing you want is to sell a store at a loss. Even if your store is not making a profit, your store is still an asset—the photos and blog posts you have in there are all assets, and you need to factor them in your pricing.

Also, be patient and do not jump the gun just because someone made an offer. You need to price your store at a level higher than what you would accept—this should give you room for negotiation.  

Summary

People have different reasons to sell a store. Sometimes, our priorities change. Like you, I had to rethink my priorities when I asked myself how to sell my dropshipping store. I had my fair share of success in the business model, and I am still open to exploring it again in the future.

Make sure that you do not sell your store at a loss. If you could calculate your total expenses, along with the cost of labor you put in it. Include all the capital you spent on building the site and carefully assess the value of your business if it is one that is already profitable.

To wrap up, our simple advice would be as follows….if you have a valuable site over $30,000 use Empire flippers to sell your dropshipping site. Yes, it may be expensive but they regularly sell high value sites and you won’t get ripped off! If your site is mid range at around $5-20,000 consider using Exchange marketplace. The cost to you will be slightly less but they can still handle such a sale whilst protecting you from scammers. Finally, if your site is under $5000 in value it’s simply not worth using any platforms with high fees. That will end up making up way too much of your sale price! In this case, go with Flippa. A lot of people sell sites on there successfully and the cost to you will be more in line with the value of your site!!

Hopefully, this article helped. Happy Selling!