Dropshipping on Shopify vs Amazon FBA [Expert Tip]

When we talk about Amazon vs Shopify, we are talking about one of the world's largest dropshipping ecommerce platforms .

To see how big they are, let's look at some numbers. If you haven't tried Shopify yet, we suggest signing up for free and learning by doing. Here is your shopify sign up link for a trial period of 14 days.

Shopify runs over half a million eCommerce businesses around the world. . Amazon gets more than 200 million monthly visits to its website!

Before picking a winner, let's see what are the differences and the pros and cons of both platforms.

Amazon vs Shopify – Pros and Cons

Here are some Amazon advantages:

• Affiliate Marketing – Even if you don't sell directly on Amazon, you can still make money through their affiliate marketing program. Many bloggers or dropshipping sellers get 30% off passive income just for using this tactic.
• Traffic: Amazon is the king of getting traffic. Sell ​​what you sell, your product will not lack traffic. The website receives over 200 million monthly visits, so that's enough to help you with exposure.
• Premium services: There are premium services that Amazon can handle for you, such as handling your storage, packing, and shipping it ready for you. This makes it easy for you to run your dropshipping business online.

Here are some cons of Amazon:

• Brand: Because you're not running on your own website, it's hard to take credit for yourself. There are also stories where Amazon destroyed businesses that sold none of their products or sold a lot of them.
• Huge Competition: You're not the only one selling on Amazon, so don't think you're just going to go there and sell from day one. Amazon won't let you be the best, so remember that!
• Transaction fees: Amazon charges more for your profits than Shopify. Shopify's maximum transaction fee is 2% per sale, while Amazon charges between 2.9% and 3.9%!

Advantages of Shopify:

• Ecommerce Tools – Just like WordPress is great for blogging websites, Shopify is great for ecommerce sites. It has different types of tools that are very helpful in building your online store. This makes it easier for you instead of building it from scratch.
• Brand promotion – Unlike Amazon, Shopify allows you to promote your brand and be in full control of it. It feels like you never used Shopify in the first place!
• Low transaction fees – The maximum fee Shopify will charge you is 2% of your sales. That's almost half of what Amazon charges!

Shopify Cons:

• Monthly Fees – The only con I would list about Shopify is that it has fees. No matter what you add to your website, the more fees you will pay.
• No Big Selling Expenses – If you don't sell anything, your expenses can greatly outpace it and potentially shut down your eCommerce store!
• You must use the Premium plan – With the Basic plans, Shopify won't let you access any reports or special eCommerce tools to use in your online dropshipping store.

What are the differences: Amazon vs Shopify for Dropshipping?

If you want to earn money, both platforms are a great option. Both platforms offer tools that can be used, but they are not exactly the same. They both operate in their own way.

Shopify is a unique eCommerce platform that gives you the tools and designs you need to create your own dropshipping website .

Amazon is not exactly that, Amazon is more about allowing you to use their website with other sellers for profit.

You can imagine it this way, Amazon would be like using someone's office to do business. Whatever you do, you can't really promote yourself that much. It's more of an office with individual vendors and not a team.

Shopify is like renting a building and doing business there. He doesn't owe you the building but you can promote yourself as much as you want. You have your own shop, maybe even a team, and you can do whatever you want.

Shopify vs. Amazon

Autonomy

Without a doubt, Shopify is the winner here. Since you own your own eCommerce store, that also means you have autonomy.

As long as you pay your monthly fees, your autonomy in Shopify will always belong to you without any outside interference.

Amazon, on the other hand, as we mentioned before, doesn't have much autonomy here.

You are not using your own website or designing it according to your preferences. The only thing you have control over is your product .

Design

Amazon has its own design, and of course it won't let you play around with it. Since Shopify allows you to create your own website, you have the autonomy to play with its design.

You also have many themes that allow you to customize it however you want.

Rate

When it comes to fees, Amazon takes the lead. Shopify has more fees to pay since you are paying for a monthly subscription and you have to pay more if you use more third party apps.

Amazon has fewer monthly fees than Shopify, but at the same time charges more commissions per sale.

The professional monthly plan on Amazon costs $39.99 no matter how many units are sold.

With Shopify it's different, Shopify advanced monthly plan starts at $299 per month, and you also have Shopify plus which starts at $2000 per month.

Some largest e-commerce brands in the world use Shopify plus. And that's a big problem! Includes unlimited transactions, products, inventory management, AR, video, and embedded future-proof 3D media on product pages.

It also has 18% higher conversions and Shop Pay, which is a 60% faster checkout process.

consumer confidence

Here, most of us already know what the answer is. Amazon has been around since 1994 and has probably already earned the trust of many consumers. Many people are still not very familiar with Shopify.

If you ask random people about both platforms, most will tell you that they know Amazon better than Shopify. So you have a trust advantage here with Amazon.

Payment methods

Amazon mainly allows credit and debit cards as the main payment methods, while Shopify allows any type of payment method. Just to mention: Paypal, Payoneer, Stripe, etc.

Can you use Amazon and Shopify for dropshipping?

Nobody said you can't!

Even if you choose to advertise and build your legacy on both platforms, you can.

You can connect both platforms by integrating your Amazon seller account with Shopify to reach customers instantly.

You can compare both business models by learning the differences between Dropshipping and Retail Arbitrage .

Amazon vs Shopify: Who Wins?

So it all comes down to Shopify vs Amazon, who is the real winner? Is it Shopify's autonomy, or is it Amazon's out-of-the-box? Here is your answer:

If we look at which platform is best for having a dropshipping store, then it is definitely Shopify.

Since Shopify gives you flexibility and allows you to run your store how and how you want, this allows you to run your online ecommerce store without distractions.

You don't have to worry about brand awareness, promotions, design, flexibility, autonomy, etc.

And, of course, think about the minimum budget for start your dropshipping journey . We cover this topic in depth here.

On the other hand, we also have online sellers who don't want to take the responsibility of taking care of everything themselves.

They prefer to choose a platform that is ready for them and not waste their time and energy creating an online store. In this case, you want to choose Amazon.

The answer boils down to what you want. What kind of seller are you? What is your goal? Once you know this, you can find out who wins in your case.

IDEA #1: Spocket Dropshipping: The Ultimate Guide to Dropshipping with Spocket in the EU and US

. uh . IDEA #2: Wish Dropshipping: Everything You Need To Know As A Beginner If this blog was helpful, be sure to visit our site for daily updates on how to run a successful dropshipping store .