Why Shopify?
Shopify e-commerce platform allows you to sell physical and digital products online from locally to globally, and directly to wholesale. They also support in-person stores that wish to expand to the digital marketplace.
Being a robust tool, Shopify is the home to millions of solo merchants and large-scale businesses, generating $235 billion in gross volume per year. It is designed to meet the needs of sellers at any level whether they are beginners or experts.
Why you should start making money with Shopfiy:
- Easy to use: Spend a few minutes and you have a simple storefront.
- One-stop suite: You can manage day-to-day inventory, shipping, marketing, and billing activities with its built-in features.
- Seamless integration: A wide range of supporting apps from Shopify App Store that can improve your store performance and conversion.
- Showing brand aesthetics: Unlike selling on Etsy or Amazon where you rely on the vendor, Shopify gives you the freedom to control your branding.
- Customizable: A reliable platform where you can sell and set up your business how you want. Meanwhile, with Etsy or Amazon, it feels more like working with a middle-man.
- Flexible: Not limited to selling physical products like Etsy or Amazon.
- Scalable: Strong eCommerce platform that can support large volumes of holiday or special sales.
- Low upfront investment: You can drive test Shopify in 3 days for free, then start at $1 per month for the next 3 months. What a deal!
15+ Ideas to Start Making Money on Shopify
Currently, Shopify supports 5 types of business models: Dropshipping, Print-on-demand (POD), Digital products, Private labeling, and Subscription-based services.
There's no limit on what types of products to sell on the platform (if it's not illegal, of course). Some models allow you to make money on Shopify with no money, perfect for beginners.
But if you are not interested in selling a product or service, you can still earn money from Shopify by joining their affiliate programs or offering marketing and store development services for Shopify merchants.
1. Open a Dropshipping Business.
This is the most common business idea to start with Shopify.
Dropshipping, in short, is an inventory-free retail model where your suppliers take care of most of the manual work for you - the manufacture, stocking, and delivery.
With Dropshipping, you don't hold any physical products. When a customer places an order from your dropshipping store, your partner will deliver it.Your only job is to find the right ready-made products that don't need any modifications.
Who is it best for?
This isperfect for first-time merchants. It's less risky and requires low maintenance cost. You leave behind the hustle of manufacturing and inventory while focusing on marketing.
Some products are made for dropshipping, learn how to find them here
How to start?
You must first set up a Shopify account and then install Dropshipping apps.
We recommendOberlo, a marketplace developed by Shopify that helps independent business owners find products to sell, and Spocket.co - the go-to platform if you're looking for original US/EU products.
Example of a dropshipping store on Shopify
Ring to Perfection's product catalog centered on trendy, eye-catching jewelry and accessories. Within the first year,Ring to Perfection scaled from small monthly sales to making six-figure money per month on Shopify and 160,000 followers on Facebook. Here's how they did it:
- Use social proof and real image reviews from customers. This built trust and created a sense of FOMO.
- Effective use of upsell and cross-sell features on Shopify.
- Being active on social media and investing in ad testing to reach more customers.
Successful tips
When doing dropshipping, some merchants might use photos taken by the manufacturer, which can sometimes not look authentic. By encouraging your customers to leave photo reviews, you can increase trust.
2. Build A Print-on-Demand Store
Despite not taking care of inventory, dropshipping still has the risk of products not selling as expected while the production is done.
Print-on-demand takes this one step further. Production only starts after a customer confirms their order. The order is immediately sent to the manufacturer who stocks the physical product, prints the design, and ships the product to the customer.
Who is it best for?
If you are a designer, an artist, or simply a creative person, and want to sell your design on a T-shirt, clothes, cup, pillows, phone cases, calendar, book, and whatever that can be printed on.
No more need for storage space, expensive local printers, or dealing with large-scale shipping! The store owner eliminates the demand for bulk inventory and instead focuses on the actual design and marketing of the product.
How to start?
Shopify can't print your product. You will need a vendor.
There are 24+ fulfillment partners and print-on-demand manufacturers that can integrated with your Shopify stores, some top choices are Printful, Custom Cat,Printify, or TeePublic.
If you want to explore opportunities with POD, here's more to read:
Example of POD store on Shopify
District of Clothing is founded by Dionna Dorsey after being inspired by the creative community around her at her full-time job. She wanted to spread the positivity further by selling apparel with inspiring messages printed by Printful.
First, Dionna only spent 1-2 hours a day on her POD Shopify Store. Soon enough, she was making good money on Shopify, around $29K extra per month.
The success of District of Clothing lies in the meaningful messages its products deliver, newly updated product designs, and viral marketing campaigns using influencers and story-telling.
District of Clothing’s ‘Trust Black Women’ product line.
Successful tips
To build a long-term and scalable print-on-demand store, you need to constantly improve your product design and quality. Since your vendor takes care of the rest, put some effort into your design and don't copy from competitors and use unauthorized artwork.
3. Current trend: Sell digital products
Ideas on what physical products to sell can be hard to explore for certain merchants. Meanwhile, digital products emerge as a new way for solo entrepreneurs to sell what they love, instead of being trapped in "must have physical and stocked products"
Digital products represent nonphysical assets or pieces of media that can be sold and distributed online. They are cheaper to maintain without the overhead and inventory costs. Yet, you must spend time creating a good digital product to break sales.
The true power to sell digital downloads lies in the fact they are created only once and can be sold millions of times to different customers without having to restock your inventory.
Who is it best for
You can sell music, digital books, online courses, movies, stock photography, digital arts, printable document templates, and even NFTs as a digital product.
If you are an expert in a certain domain, you can build a digital product and easily generate passive income from Shopify.
Let's say you are a Marketing specialist with 10 years of experience, you can:
- Film some videos teaching people about Marketing knowledge and practical tips. Then sell it as a full course or video-by-video.
- Make some Marketing reports, Marketing strategy, and Market research templates then sell them. People can download it after purchase.
Or if you are a music producer, you can sell a beat or a simple sound effect.
Learn more: 15+ Ideas of Digital Product and Downloads on Shopify
How to start
You need to disable shipping for that product in the Shopify admin dashboard
To provide a download link to your customers for a digital product, you must use a third-party app from the Shopify App Store. Shopify Digital Downloads app is a free and simple app that we highly recommend.
Open your product settings, choose to add the product to Digital Downloads
Add an attachment to your product. The attached files will be ready for download after your customers purchase the digital goods.
Successful tips
You need to showcase your social proof and expert knowledge to make a break in sales. While physical products can be presented through photos, digital products are built on trust.
Also, don't monetize other people's knowledge. It should come from you.
Learn more about how can you sell digital products here:
4. A subscription-based business
Yes, the name speaks for itself. Once a customer signs up for your subscription-based business, you will deliver the products to them daily, weekly, or monthly. This model works by letting the customer pay first, helping you make defined money on Shopify. It's less risky.
Subscription-based is best if you want to build an engaging community and groups of long-term customers. However, you need a strong database to keep up with the schedule and make timely delivery.
Who is it best for
Subscription-based can work with both physical and digital products. For example, you can sell meal-prep bundles and deliver to them weekly or daily. Or sell cat litters that is delivered right to the customer's home once a month. Or you can build a blog with travel tips and itinerary that works like a subscription newspaper.
Successful tips
Unlike other ideas above, this requires strong inventory management skills. You have to deliver at the right time, with the right quantity, and to the right customer.
5. Sell your services on Shopify
Shopify doesn't limit to selling physical items or digital products. You can take it one step further by showcasing your service on Shopify.
By creating a storefront to introduce your service, you can also use the link to promote, run Search engine optimization for more exposure, and reach more customers locally.
Who is it best for
Expert or company in a service domain, such as personal trainer, health-related service, law-related service, or consulting service. Shopify is an affordable platform to build your website and make money on Shopify.
How to start
In the Shopify admin dashboard, you can add your service on Shopify as a product by unchecking the “this is a physical product" box in the “Shipping" section.
For the “product description”, you should pay attention to the value of your service. The benefits and outcomes that customers will gain during and after using your service are important.
On Shopify, you can also add variants and options to personalize the shopping experience:
Successful tips
Be upfront about your service cost and remember to showcase what is included or what is the benefit. A service can sometimes be foggy to customers. Here's an example of a good description.
Credit: Petco
6. Start your clothing and accessories brand
This is the second largest industry and way to make money on Shopify.
Apparel is a fast-moving industry, requiring brand owners not only to have a good taste of fashion but also to be sensitive to the slightest market changes.
Who is it best for
Fashion lovers and creative people who just love making clothes. The best part? You can combine this idea with the print-on-demand idea to lower risk and optimize inventory.
Established store but yet to have an official eCommerce store or website. Shopify can connect to your in-store management and social channel presence, making sure every info is seamless and updated.
How to start
- Make a Shopify account.
- Set up your products, shipment, and payment methods.
- Design your store. Shopify offers dozens of templates that can fit any aesthetics from elegant, dynamic, young, traditional, conventional, or minimalist.
- Connect to your marketing tools, and voila, you can sell now.
The Shopify standard themes and templates can be limited in customization as you can only tweak a few small things. If you need total control over how to design your store, a Page Builder like PageFly can be a great start.
Examples of a brand making money on Shopify
A&A Jewels Co built their eCommerce store using PageFly, and has been trusting the platform and Shopify since 2019. Up to now, they have successfully created 90+ pages covering dozens of products and collections.
Having a good storefront, A&A can reach their global customers, decrease bounce rate by 25%, and gain 3x growth in engagement compared to before using PageFly and Shopify.
Learn the story of A&A and the key to their success here!
Source: A&A
Successful tips
Mix and match your clothes and accessories can be more captivating and guide customers on how to best style your pieces.
Don't just take normal photos like hanging up. Be creative as much as possible. You can look for inspiration on Pinterest or Instagram.
Spend time mastering your product description. You can add multiple variants on Shopify for colors, sizes, fabrics, and many more.
7. Handmade and DIY products
Handmade and DIY products are perfect for creative entrepreneurs who love crafting unique items. Selling handmade goods on Shopify allows you to showcase your artistry without the hassle of mass production.
Whether it’s custom jewelry, knitted scarves, or handcrafted home decor, this niche lets you connect with customers who appreciate quality and originality.
Who is it Best For?
- Artisans and Crafters: Ideal for those who create unique, one-of-a-kind items by hand.
- DIY Enthusiasts: Perfect for individuals who enjoy making and customizing products themselves.
- Small Batch Producers: Suitable for businesses that produce limited quantities, ensuring exclusivity.
- Creative Entrepreneurs: Great for those who want to turn their hobby into a profitable online business.
Examples of a Handmade and DIY Shopify store
Your Stuff Made is a thriving Shopify store that specializes in handmade home decor and personalized gifts. Founded by Emma Thompson, they began as a passion project to create unique, handcrafted items that bring warmth and personality to any space.
Using PageFly page builder to create their Shopify storefront since 2023, the team saw a 23% increase in revenue and a 2x engagement rate. Their tips:
- Effectively customize pages with PageFly to showcase brand aesthetics and tell their brand story.
- Use pop-ups and product imagery to highlight unique offers.
- They put a box where customers can directly request for personalization.
Source: YourStuffMade
Successful tips
As handmade businesses thrive on quality and a high level of customization, you must showcase it on your storefront. Read more about YourStuffMade and see their secret.
8. Sell thrifted and vintage goods
Making money on Shopify with secondhand and vintage products is a fantastic way to tap into the growing market of eco-conscious consumers and nostalgia enthusiasts.
This niche allows you to offer unique, one-of-a-kind items that stand out in a sea of mass-produced products. Whether it’s retro clothing, antique home decor, or rare collectibles, selling vintage and thrifted items can attract loyal customers looking for distinctive finds.
Who is it Best For?
If you are a vintage enthusiast with a knack for retro and timeless pieces or you are a collectors who want to resell your rare finds, this is a great way to earn extra money.
But you don't need to be a collector to sell. You can start by selling your clothes or stuff that are still in good quality but no longer in use.
Successful tips
Your customers might question the real state of the product. So, always be upfront about the piece's current quality and take pictures from different angles to fully show its state.
9. Open a beauty brand
Did you know that Shopify isn't for small businesses or solo entrepreneurs? Big beauty brands such as Glossier even started making money on Shopify long ago.
This growing yet not new market still has many open spaces. You can go for natural cosmetics, high-end cosmetics, handmade cosmetics, or cosmetics made specifically for a skin type. Whether you're passionate about natural skincare, vibrant makeup, or innovative beauty tools, Shopify provides the perfect platform to showcase your brand and reach beauty enthusiasts worldwide.
For manufacturing, you can go to produce your own or opt for the private labeling skincare product.
Example of Shopify beauty store
Since 2019, SkinDiscovery has used Shopify and PageFly to build over 150 pages spanning product pages, blog pages, and many more. What's special is that they don't stop at selling high-quality skin care products, but also offer consultants in treating acne-prone and aging skin.
For this success, they focus on:
- Building a storefront that tells a story and explains their treatment method. This gains more trust from customers.
- Create spa-like aesthetics on their web, showing calmness and professionalism.
- High emphasis on customization to make her store stand out. Other competitors all use the same Shopify standard theme.
Successful tips
Write a detailed product description about ingredients, what skin type it is best for, and how to use it is much more practical for customers than some basic product images.
You can also build a section for customer reviews for their insights on how effective the product is. With this, PageFly has many templates ready to use. For example, SkinDiscovery has a dedicated page for client's transformation.
Source: SkinDiscovery
10. Other niche ideas to make money on Shopify.
The eCommerce market is getting saturated. If you are joining now and start to think about selling products such as clothing or cosmetics, chances are, you are a very small fish in a big sea and can't make your cut.
Many Shopify merchants thrive thanks to their unique niche products. Here are some ways to find one:
- Find your industry.
- Find your ideal demographic (narrow them down to location, gender, or a specific characteristic).
- Find your type of product (service, digital, physical, subscription).
A few examples
- Eco-Friendly Cleaning Supplies – Offer biodegradable, non-toxic products that help households reduce their carbon footprint, appealing to conscious consumers.
- Travel-Friendly Pet Accessories – Cater to pet owners who love bringing their friends to adventures by providing collapsible bowls, lightweight carriers, and compact toys.
- Minimalist Stationery for Bullet Journaling – Curate sleek notebooks, pens, and planners for those who value simple, organized layouts that enhance creativity and productivity.
- Gourmet Spices and Seasoning Blends – Create unique seasoning mixes for adventurous home cooks looking to elevate everyday dishes. Highlight flavors from different global cuisines to attract foodies seeking variety.
- Healthy Snack Kits for Kids – Curate fun, nutritious snack boxes that make healthy eating simple and enjoyable for busy parents. You can turn this into a subscription service.
- DIY Terrarium and Succulent Kits – Offer all-in-one plant kits that let people easily build mini indoor gardens.
- Herbal Wellness Remedies – Provide specially crafted herbal tonics, tinctures, and infused oils that target relaxation, sleep, or stress relief.
- Zero-Waste Kitchen Essentials – Supply reusable wraps, produce bags, and bamboo utensils to reduce single-use plastic waste. Offer bundles to make sustainable living an easy transition for eco-conscious consumers
- Outdoor Camping and Survival Gear – Curate portable stoves, compact lighting, and easy-to-pack shelter options for camping enthusiasts. Focus on durability and space-saving designs for worry-free adventures.
- Men’s Grooming and Skincare Products – Offer targeted collections like beard oils, facial cleansers, and shaving kits designed for men’s specific needs.
Tips to success
Go as niche as possible. You can see the above examples all cater to one specific group of users with the same interest. If you are stuck and can't come up with a good idea, here's our AI tool that can Suggest Business Ideas to make money on Shopify.
11. Bring your brick-n-mortar store online
Running a local shop doesn’t limit you to foot traffic alone. By creating an online presence through Shopify, you can reach a broader audience, provide convenient 24/7 shopping, and maintain a unified customer experience.
Who is it best for
Whether you sell specialty goods, everyday essentials, or a service, going digital helps future-proof your brand against market shifts. This approach offers more than just added revenue. Shopify can also sync with your existing in-store management system, and create a streamlined inventory and orders tracking.
How to start
You will need to connect your POS system to the Shopify eCommerce platform. For this, you can use the Shopify POS (the best option) or integrate it with your own POS using custom code.
This prevents over-selling. For every order made online and offline, the system automatically updates the inventory and keeps you updated with every move.
Examples of a successful store
To catch up with eCommerce growth post-pandemic, Vanity Table - a nail box shop - grew from physical origins into a thriving online business. Using Shopify helps them attract many global clients and generate massive revenue. But that isn't the only sauce of their success.
While using the Shopify Theme, they found it lacked customization. They can't build a storefront that matches brand aesthetics. After using PageFly, the team was able to build eye-catching and colorful pages like they wanted. They also created many conversion-led elements such as pop-ups, sticky headers, or option swatches.
Vanitiy Table has built 358 pages with PageFly and reached a total of 1,200,000 visitors after 9 months. Learn more about their story!
Source: Vanity Table.
Don't Want to be a Merchant? Here's How To Make Money on Shopify
Not all of us are good sellers or have a niche idea that can sell. But you can still make money and create a side hustle on Shopify by working for them.
1. Develop Shopify Themes and Apps
Merchants don't usually start from scratch. Using a template or theme is a good way to kickstart their creativity before moving to further customization. For this, Shopify has an official Theme Store. Some developers sell up to $400, a one-time payment, for a premium theme.
After working with Shopify for a while, merchants might integrate different apps to enhance their store performance, conversion, and management. Shopify also has an App Store where you can sell Marketing, SEO, Sale boosting, Inventory, Fulfilment, Shipping, and Page design-related apps using one-time and subscription-based payment.
To make money with Shopify Themes
- You are a UI/UX designer or front-end developer who knows how to design a website.
- You know how to code with HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and Liquid.
- You understand brand identity and can design many aesthetics for different stores.
To make money with Shopify Apps
Merchants are always ready to use apps that are helpful for their business. This is a good way to make extra income if you are a developer who can tap into this demand. However, after launching your app, you also need to promote it so merchants can find it.
How to start
To become a Shopify Themes or Apps Developer, you need to sign up forShopify Partner program.
2. Join Shopify Affiliate
Becoming a Shopify Affiliate is an excellent way to make money on Shopify without running your own store.
As an affiliate, you promote Shopify to aspiring entrepreneurs, and in return, earn up to $150 commissions every time someone signs up and becomes a paying customer through your unique referral links.
Who Is It Best For?
This approach is perfect for those who already share eCommerce tips, Personal finance tips, or Business advice, as it allows you to monetize your expertise and audience engagement. You can be
- Content Creators: Bloggers, YouTubers, and podcasters.
- Marketing Experts: Individuals skilled at attracting an audience through social media or email campaigns.
- Consultants & Coaches: Personal or Business-related professionals.
How to start
The program is free to join. What if I don't have much knowledge about Shopify?
Well, you can start with testing Shopify out yourself (using their 3-day free trial) and read through their guides and resources. Shopify actively publishes articles on Shopify best practices and How to boost conversion for online stores. There is also a Shopify community where experts and merchants constantly help each other out.
You can sign up for the Shopify Affiliate Program here.
Successful tips
You need to make relevant and authentic content first before giving out any suggestions. If you promote Shopify too much, you can hinder your content quality and lose viewers.
Also read: Earn Money With The Top 18 Shopify Partners' Affiliate Programs
PageFly is #1 Shopify Page Builder - and we also have an Affiliate program! We currently have 4.9/5 ratings with over 11,000 reviews on Shopify.
Our program is suitable for everybody, so if you opt for Affiliate marketing to make money on Shopify, why not also consider the PageFly Affiliate program.
3. Join Shopify Partners
With Shopify Partner, merchants can connect with third-party services to improve their business, other than relying on internal Shopify tools or themes.
Shopify currently serve millions of merchants worldwide with over 500,000 active stores. This is a compelling marketplace for third-party app and theme providers.
Who Is It Best For?
Freelancers or small services company can make money on Shopify by offering their expert for a niche that can related to merchants or eCommerce.
Some examples include SKUs and inventory setups, marketing strategy consultation, advertising service, custom web and store development, data analysis, and so on.
How to start
- Sign up to be a partner in their official Shopify Partner page.
- Create your Partner account and set up the dashboard.
- Leverage the official training resources and guide to learn about Shopify and eCommerce.
- Join the Shopify Community to reach out to merchants.
- Promote your services across channels.
4. Become a KOL and KOC for Shopify Merchants
Almost every Shopify store attracts their customers through at least one social media channel such as Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, Twitter, Youtube, or Tiktok.
If you've already have an engaged following, this can be a great chance to make some money on Shopify by reviewing and recommending products from Shopify merchants. You earn rewards or commissions when your audience takes action based on your genuine endorsements.
How to start
- FInd a niche that you're interested in and resonate with your current followers.
- Reach out to Shopify Merchants.
- Create authentic and honest review that includes both pros and cons of a product.
Successful tips
You don't have to a million-follower KOL or KOC to work with merchants. The key is to build trust among your current followers that lead to more conversion. Keep your content relevant, authentic, and match with your follower's interest.
For example, if you focus on being an influencers in sharing skincare tips then reviewing a kitchen gadget can be out of scope.
5. Flip Shopify Stores
The idea of buying and growing a Shopify store appeals to many business thinkers out there. Buying Shopify stores is more like investing in a proven business, which saves time and energy that can be spent on other efforts such as marketing and logistics.
Let’s tweak this a little bit - how about making money on Shopify by flipping Shopify stores?
Shopify used to promote Exchange Marketplace - their by-product that allow merchants to do so. But the marketplace is not closed.Yet, you can still flip Shopify store through other channels such as Flippa.
Set Up Your First and Profitable Shopify Store
Now that you have an idea on how to make some money on Shopify, time to setup your storefront, following these simple steps:
- Create a Shopify account - Shopify currently offer 3-day free trial, then $1 per month for the next 3 month. This is enough time to test your idea.
- Add your products.
- Step up payment and shipping.
- Build a storefront. You can either choose a template or work with Page Builder like PageFly for more customization ability.
- Preivew and test order.
- Launch your store.
- Work on marketing strategies to generate traffic to your store.
- Create conversion-led elements such as pop-ups, CTA or countdown timers on your store to create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) that urge customers to act. Page builder like PageFly usually provide more elements for conversion than Shopify standard theme.
- Analyze store performance, track orders, and improve your store.
For more details, you can read our guide on How to set up a Shopify store.
In our experience, the most challenging part is Building a storefront. With millions of online store out there, how can you be unique to keep visitors engaged?
The best practices is to follow your brand aesthetics and product characteristics. Do you want it to be cute when showcasing kids products? Or do you want your accessories shop to be elegant? Or a strong and conventional look for gym stuff?
If you run out of idea, here're the beststore examples from various niches to start with.
Keep in mind that some of these stores are not built with Shopify standard theme. As it can lack customization ability and SEO-optimization, many merchants use Page Builders like PageFly instead.
Learn the Top Shopify Page Builders and Examples of store built with PageFly.
Start Making Money On Shopify
Hopefully with our explanation, guide, and examples on 16 ideas to make money on Shopify, you can kickstart your personal business or side hustle soon enough. While some ideas require certain investment upfront, there are others that allow you to make money on Shopify with no money at all.
