Prebuilt Dropshipping Store: Is it a Better Choice?

• What is a Prebuilt Dropshipping Store?
• 4 Common Types of Prebuilt Dropshipping Stores
• Pros and Cons of Choosing a Prebuilt Dropshipping Store
• Why Build a Dropshipping Store on Your Own

What is a Prebuilt Dropshipping Store?

Before we start, let’s take a quick moment to introduce some crucial terms used in this article.

In case you want to sell a prebuilt store for a profit, then the right definition for you is a store builder or a seller. In contrast, if you want to purchase a prebuilt dropshipping store, you are referred to as a buyer or retailer.

That said, a dropshipping business is a great way to start an online business. There are various business opportunities in line with dropshipping, and if you have the right setup and mature mindset, then you are assured of a successful outcome.

If you need complete control over every step, you can choose to build a dropshipping website from scratch. This is because it takes time, and as such, only it is not everyone’s cup of tea, as some people prefer not to hit the ground running.

4 Common Types of Prebuilt Dropshipping Stores

• Basic Prebuilt Dropshipping Stores:They are less costly and may cost as little as $50. They have everything set up. However, they lack a customer base, a memorable brand name, or a brand identity.
• Turnkey Dropshipping Stores:As the name suggests, ‘Turn the key’ and start selling! New as they are, turnkey dropshipping stores are better established. It helps beginners start their businesses quickly. Nearly everything is already done on the website itself. Nevertheless, sales don’t come by themselves, so you have to promote the store yourself. On average, a turnkey dropshipping store will cost you from $300 to $ 900.
• Fully-Established Dropshipping Stores:These are prebuilt stores that have already been operated by builders for some time. They have a large customer base, consistent sales, a good brand reputation, etc.
• Custom Dropshipping Stores:These are similar to basic prebuilt stores. However, the buyers can get it customized according to their needs.

Above are four types of prebuilt dropshipping stores. The most common are prebuilt Shopify dropshipping stores. As a store buyer, you will have to decide which one best fits your needs. However, my advice is that if you are a buyer looking for surefire ways to enhance your profit margin, you should go with a fully established dropshipping store.

They have regular revenue you can benefit from, and you have a better chance of high profitability.

Besides, with these types of prebuilt dropshipping stores, you know you will sell your products, and you prepare creatives for your advertisements, customer data, and social media account with followers. Remember, though, that they can be costly, and you need to have a large amount of money to acquire them. The cost of a basic dropshipping store generally starts from $100, while the cost of one of the most successful dropshipping stores is up to millions of US dollars.

Pros and Cons of Choosing a Prebuilt Dropshipping Store

Pros of Prebuilt Dropshipping Stores

1. Time-saving:If you aim to make money as soon as possible, don’t waste a lot of time developing a new dropshipping store because you can buy a prebuilt one. Besides, if you lack ideas to build a perfect dropshipping store yet want to start your business immediately, this might be a solution for you. Because you are buying a store with everything already in place, there is no need to go through lengthy processes such as product research, copywriting, etc.
2. Hassle Free:You don’t have to go through the hard process of picking a name, making a domain, choosing and designing your website. All these are already in place, and thus less work is required.
3. No need to worry about inventory:Since ready-made dropshipping stores already have a built-in system, you don’t need to worry about inventory or shipping. Therefore, it is a quick and easy way to start selling online.

Cons of Prebuilt Dropshipping Stores

1. No product research.By purchasing a prebuilt dropshipping store, you didn’t do your product research. Therefore, you won’t know who your audiences are. Neither will you know if you have a winning product, nor how the products have been chosen.
2. No distinctive website:When creating a dropshipping store by yourself, your priority is thinking about the design of your store. You should always try your best to make it easy to be distinguished from other dropshipping stores. With a prebuilt store, however, chances are that your store will look very ordinary or even worse.
3. You won’t learn anything:Choosing a prebuilt store makes you miss out on a large learning experience. Instead, by building a prebuilt store, you will learn about product research, store design, and marketing.
4. Lack of knowledge about previous activities:You will not get to know how the previous owner treated his customers. Worse still, the store that you are buying may have a history of scamming.

Why Build a Dropshipping Store on Your Own

As to whether one should buy a prebuilt dropshipping store or build your own as a beginner, I would strongly advise that you begin building your own dropshipping business from scratch for the following reasons:

• By building your own dropshipping business, you will learn a lot. You will know everything about your store. For instance, you will know how to conduct market research for winning products.

• You will also do away with the possibility of getting scammed.Everything will be your own, and as opposed to buying a prebuilt dropshipping store, you dictate everything. If you succeed in running your own store, you will be a proud man knowing that you have built and designed everything by yourself.

Learn More:This guide on how to successfully create dropshipping storegives you a complete hint of how to successfully start your own dropshipping store.

• You are assured of true stats.Chances are, after buying a prebuilt dropshipping store, you realize that the stats, including but not limited to sales, profits/loss, and even the number of visitors, were actually fake. In contrast, your own store has everything started by you. You need to build relationships with your customers. In other words, it will be based entirely on your own strategies to maximize your profit.

• Supplier issues won’t arise.Before starting your own dropshipping store, one of the requirements is always to have the right dropshipping supplier to partner with. You can buy a prebuilt dropshipping to get some orders and immediately embark on fulfilling them. Unfortunately, after one or two weeks, you get a message from your supplier telling you that they can’t go on fulfilling your orders. Neither do they want to support your dropshipping business anymore! When this happens to you, you will automatically lose a lot of time, effort, and customers, as you will have to start looking for new suppliers and give them enough time to fulfill your orders. To avoid all these, it will be prudent enough to create your own dropshipping business and choose the best dropshipping supplier to establish cooperation.

• You have the full knowledge about the competition: You don’t want to buy a prebuilt dropshipping business for a specific product, for example, a footwear store, only to realize that nine other competitors are selling the same product or one with a higher-quality version of your product. Compared to buying a prebuilt dropsipping store, building your own dropshipping business will give you enough time to study the market and the right products to sell. You get to learn more about existing competitors, including their strengths and weaknesses, and try out different ways to improve your competitiveness.

Final Verdict

As the saying goes, ‘Hurry, hurry has no blessing,” if you want to succeed in a dropshipping business, it would be good if you take your time and carefully study the market. Based on the disadvantages and some pitfalls associated with a prebuilt dropshipping business, I dissuade you from buying a prebuilt dropshipping store and recommend you build your new dropshipping store instead. Nevertheless, in case you are in a hurry to set your business running, the advantages of buying a prebuilt dropshipping business outweigh the drawbacks. As discussed above, you may go for it as a possible shortcut. After all, based on what we have covered in this article, the choice is still up to you.