Considering switching from shopify to woocomerce

[tyealia]

Recently, my e-commerce store was listed as having some high-risk products by shopify; shopify gave me the option to remove them and stay with Stripe, but that's 30% of my revenue, so I can't, so I had to add a 3rd party payment processor(authorizenet) which I'm now charged 3% extra for(its free on woocomerce).

My theme has a woocomerce version, and the migration is fairly easy; I had someone already clone the site over, and I am sitting here mulling if I should make the switch to save 3% a month.

The issue is I am now getting cold feet because of these main 2 concerns:
- site switch ranking drops
- resale value shopify stores seem to have much more listings on EF

Any opinions?

 

[CCarter]

My instinct is to stay on Shopify. If your end goal is an exit then that makes the most sense. If not, save the 3%.

What's your end goal?

 

[tyealia]

My instinct is to stay on Shopify. If your end goal is an exit then that makes the most sense. If not, save the 3%.

What's your end goal?

Stuck between hold and sell

Hold -
- Very low maintenance site, pay someone to fulfill and update products only cost $250/m for a 5 figure a month site
- No algo hits or little turbulence in 5 years
- Ecom multiples are abysmal for exits, as low as 20x

Sell -
- Open up mental space to focus on better projects
- Avoid the risk of sge update hitting traffic

Making this rundown, I think I'm leaning more to hold just because of how low multiples are right now for ecom; I could make back that sale price for 1.5 years while doing next to nothing since it's currently so turn key.

 

[CCarter]

Just because it seems low maintenance doesn't mean it's necessary to keep. Selling might allow you to open up to bigger or better things, especially with cash infusion. What if it's stopping you from having a 7 figure business?

If it was low maintenance why even discuss switching to a whole new platform, just let it ride and start planning next venture.

There is also something to be said to daily/monthly income that you bank likes seeing if you go for a loan of credit line as well.

Success of the past can hold you back from success in the future.

Some thoughts to think about.

 

[Ryuzaki]

Both holding and not switching away from Shopify sound like the right moves to me.

The risk of disrupting a 5-figure per month turnover isn't worth the potential recapturing of 3% in payment processing fees.

And a 20x multiple isn't enough for me to liquidate it when even if some catastrophe strikes a year from now. If you were to start counting from today, even if it takes you 30 months to net what you'd get from a 20x sale, you still got the equivalent cash from the sale and you still have the asset you can sell. It's not hard to win out in these situations if you let time play out. And 20x is just less tempting than 33x or 36x or more.

Surely there's something more you can offload related to the business in order to free up more mental space? I agree, these open, endless threads in the RAM of the mind really do hurt productivity. But liquidation is only one of the possible answers. You can get free and keep the cash flow.

 

[bernard]

Imo, not worth risking much for 3%.

The issue of course if one has many 3% situations. In previous projects I've just said f it, I'm not going to bother nickel and diming costs, because I'm going for flipping and the big payday.

That then is not the best idea when there's economic turmoil.

So I think you're good to question this, but imo, dealing with Woocommerce would be a pain compared to Shopify, just in the "avoiding being hacked" because it's Wordpress.

Is it possible to negotiate with them?

 

[tyealia]

Is it possible to negotiate with them?

I already tried; unfortunately no wiggle room.

If it was low maintenance why even discuss switching to a whole new platform, just let it ride and start planning next venture.

Just having it there subconsciously enters my mind, or my va asks me about an issue, and I divert into thinking about it and why I'm not growing it, even though I know other projects are much higher roi.

Surely there's something more you can offload related to the business in order to free up more mental space? I agree, these open, endless threads in the RAM of the mind really do hurt productivity. But liquidation is only one of the possible answers. You can get free and keep the cash flow.

Thanks, I think I am going with this approach; I have instructed my va not to mention his time on it or this specific site unless it's an absolute emergency. I have told him I trust him, keep it afloat, and keep juicing that revenue until we can't.

endless threads in the RAM of the mind really do hurt productivity

I agree; these can be distracting, even if it's something small and fun, like starting a YouTube channel on the side, setting up an Instagram business, or maintaining a blog (unless they are directly related to the business).

Spending just an hour or two each day on these side projects can shift focus away from the main goal. Instead of brainstorming and refining the execution and finer details of my business during free moments or in the shower, my mind gets occupied with thoughts like why don't I grow the site with more blog posts, or is my va dealing well with chargebacks, or how to structure and edit those product pages, have they been updated?

Over time, these distractions although they look really small, add up and can lead me astray from my main focus for days, weeks, etc. They may also frustrate and lead to mediocre outcomes in all areas.

Hopefully, the shift off to my va works, and I will mentally prepare myself to declare the site "gone" unless an emergency strikes.