Shopify vs. WooCommerce question

[whiz]

I need to test out several niches that may or may not work, so I need to make 5-10 websites.

I'm trying to find out the most cost effective way to do this.

Shopify appears to be expensive to host 5-10 different sites (they have a monthly cost).



An idea I thought of was to make a super-generic domain name like (for example's sake) shopcentral.com

Then I can test niches with subdomains like doglovers.shopcentral.com, motorcyclelovers.shopcentral.com, etc.



The reason for doing subdomains is to avoid paying hosting on separate domains.



I don't know how much it costs to set up WooCommerce on a Wordpress site & subdomains, but I'm assuming that it'll be cheaper than running multiple Shopify stores. Plus Wordpress has more customization and control.



Am I missing a key point here or could this work?

 

[blackbeans]

I'd go with Shopify because of its plugin system. You get tons of functionalities.

Also, great coupon code system.

 

[whiz]

I'd go with Shopify because of its plugin system. You get tons of functionalities.

Also, great coupon code system.

Have you ever used WooCommerce?

I'm pretty familiar with Wordpress and I'm not half bad at web design and maintaining sites. I've just never used WooCommerce.

Shopify's price is just kinda high. It could work if I did 14 day trials to test niches. 14 days is enough to tell if something is a flop or a hit.

I would just be out the $14 for the domain. Which is a small price to pay.

And Shopify is easy cuz it's essentially a one-click setup.

I may have just sold myself. I dunno.

 

[illuminateme]

shopify is also free until your 50th sale if you setup yourself as a developer.... knowing what i know now, i wouldn't have built my previous failed sites on woo, it takes so much longer just to fail =P

 

[thebestwriter]

If you know your way around with Wordpress then you're just wasting money with Shopify.

 

[blogzandstuff]

I need to test out several niches that may or may not work, so I need to make 5-10 websites.

I'm trying to find out the most cost effective way to do this.

Shopify appears to be expensive to host 5-10 different sites (they have a monthly cost).



An idea I thought of was to make a super-generic domain name like (for example's sake) shopcentral.com

Then I can test niches with subdomains like doglovers.shopcentral.com, motorcyclelovers.shopcentral.com, etc.



The reason for doing subdomains is to avoid paying hosting on separate domains.



I don't know how much it costs to set up WooCommerce on a Wordpress site & subdomains, but I'm assuming that it'll be cheaper than running multiple Shopify stores. Plus Wordpress has more customization and control.



Am I missing a key point here or could this work?

Go with WordPress, a lot cheaper and more versatile. Lot more plugins freely available

 

[whiz]

shopify is also free until your 50th sale if you setup yourself as a developer.... knowing what i know now, i wouldn't have built my previous failed sites on woo, it takes so much longer just to fail =P

Do you have the link to the Shopify developer setup? I think there was a thread here on BHW but I can't find it

 

[Mr.warrior]

In my opinion Shopify is great platform for ecommerce. It is more function and flexibility than WooCommerce.

 

[OPPTION]

I say you with Woocommerce and use Hostgator's shared business plan which gives you a dedicated IP and a positive SSL for your domain & subdomains. Its only 5.68$ first month & you get to host unlimited domains/subdomains & setting up Woommcerce isn't that hard tbh. There's a lot of free plugins out there to help you design your store & get it up and running as fast as possible. Shopify might give you a 14-day trial but you will have to pay 29$ for the basic plan after its over. Not only will you have more time to test your niches but you will also pay less for 2 months of using a hosting plan and Woocommerce than 1 month of Shopify.

 

[illuminateme]

Do you have the link to the Shopify developer setup? I think there was a thread here on BHW but I can't find it

sorry i completely misled you, it's called PARNTERS https://www.shopify.ca/partners

everything just WORKS... no dicking around with hosting, space, ram, cpu, ssl, virus, cdn... the list goes on and on... 80/20 rule... i spent 80% time with woo and 20% trying to sell

with shopify, it's the other way around... SELL SELL SELL!

 

[Nut-Nights]

Those who prefer Shopify over woo-commerce, clueless followers

 

[blogzandstuff]

I say you with Woocommerce and use Hostgator's shared business plan which gives you a dedicated IP and a positive SSL for your domain & subdomains. Its only 5.68$ first month & you get to host unlimited domains/subdomains & setting up Woommcerce isn't that hard tbh. There's a lot of free plugins out there to help you design your store & get it up and running as fast as possible. Shopify might give you a 14-day trial but you will have to pay 29$ for the basic plan after its over. Not only will you have more time to test your niches but you will also pay less for 2 months of using a hosting plan and Woocommerce than 1 month of Shopify.

Hostgator? They are terrible along with all the other companies they own like bluehost and just host. Not good for ecommerce as they cap the amount of visitors per month

 

[OPPTION]

Also woocommerce gives you alot of flexibility & gives you alot of free themes to choose from which you will be able to tweak with plugins and make it look very professional. I personally use it for my ecommcerce stores and like it alot more than shopify. Alot of the shopify themes you see out there cost alot of money and the free ones are very saturated. I go with what @thebestwriter said "If you know your way around with Wordpress then you're just wasting money with Shopify."

 

[whiz]

Those who prefer Shopify over woo-commerce, clueless followers

Care to elaborate?

 

[whiz]

Also is my subdomain plan dumb?

 

[HisokaMorow]

I don't know how much it costs to set up WooCommerce on a Wordpress site & subdomains

Woocommerce and subdomains are free you just need to pay for a hosting to host your wordpress site + buying a domain name ,and you can add unlimitted domains if you want .

 

[Roger Marquez]

It depends where you are actually. For those just starting out that don´t wanna waste any time in setting up a website under hosting+wordpress then for sure shopify is the best option. But for those with long term vision and care to keep control on the customization of their website then wordpress is def the best option.
You said it yourself, when launching several websites you can get great hosting service for like $200 a year and launch as many sites as you want. Wordpress offers a bunch of free plugins and many you can get it here for free with @Festinger thread and build a pretty good looking website.

 

[Roger Marquez]

In my opinion Shopify is great platform for ecommerce. It is more function and flexibility than WooCommerce.

lol no.

I say you with Woocommerce and use Hostgator's shared business plan which gives you a dedicated IP and a positive SSL for your domain & subdomains. Its only 5.68$ first month & you get to host unlimited domains/subdomains & setting up Woommcerce isn't that hard tbh. There's a lot of free plugins out there to help you design your store & get it up and running as fast as possible. Shopify might give you a 14-day trial but you will have to pay 29$ for the basic plan after its over. Not only will you have more time to test your niches but you will also pay less for 2 months of using a hosting plan and Woocommerce than 1 month of Shopify.

Hostgator? They are terrible along with all the other companies they own like bluehost and just host. Not good for ecommerce as they cap the amount of visitors per month

100% agree with @blogzandstuff regarding hostgator. Personally i spend like a week doing research on forums and on google finding as much info as i could about the best hosting service when it comes to speed, benefits and price just the overall value that they offer and i found the SiteGround offer the best all around value for the money. I would def go with them when it comes for hosting.