If you are about to start your business with Shopify, testing out the platform before going all in is a great idea. Shopify offers a 3-day free trial, with far-flung features to use.
You can also make sales on Shopify Trial but you would need a consigned paid plan. It certainly doesn’t end there. Shopify’s free trial is as extensive as it gets, with certain limitations.
Only using it the right way can be lucrative for your business. Keep on reading because I discuss all that and more in this article.
How Does Shopify Free Trial Work
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that welcomes users with open arms, encouraging them to venture into the online business world.
Shopify understands that to sell on the platform, you would need to understand the working of the website properly. To aid that, test out the e-commerce platform but how does it exactly work?
It is worth noting that the trial period starts as soon as you complete the sign up for a particular program. Whether you have started working on your store is not counted as extra time in your free trial.
When you are on the free trial, you would only be allowed to activate checkout for your customers if you have activated a price plan. Without a price plan, you would also deny your customers the right to add products as that will be locked with a password.
Remember that signing up for a price plan during the trial does not mean you would need to pay for it. You can cancel it before the trial ends. You can even make sales.
All said and done, what’s the use? What’s good?
The use is how you can use the store, take in the entire experience with almost no cost and no risks. That’s what’s good!
If you don’t decide on selecting any of the price plans, your Shopify account will simply be paused and frozen. This means you don’t have to cancel it on your own.
Shopify Free Trial lets you do the following:
- Build a Store
- Get used to the features and functions
- Add products
- Try and test themes
- Use third-party apps
- Blog and promote products
Shopify allows new business minds to experience a free trial period: They have a 3 day trial, previously canceling on a 60 and 90 day free trial as well. Here is how each of the trial programs works:
So, Can You Make Sales On Shopify Trial?
Being on Shopify Free Trial is one thing, making sales on it is another.
The simple answer is no. But there’s a catch. You can make sales on the Shopify trial, but only if you have signed up for one of the long term price plans.
Getting confused? Let’s break it down for you.
You sign up for the free trial. While you are trying on the functionalities of the trial, you decide to make sales.
For that, you would need to select any of the price plans. Let’s assume you have selected the Basic plan of $19.
On day 1 to 3 of your trial, you can make sales on the platform.
You even make a little money out of it. Since your payment settings will be done during the price plan selection, further sales during the 3 days will go through.
Now, you might or might not decide to go ahead with setting up your business in Shopify. If you decide to cancel it, you can do it without any further charge. No subscription fee is needed.
You’ve only left with the experience you so wanted. The only costs that you would have to pay are the ones associated with the payment channels.
On the contrary, if you want to start selling on Shopify fully, you can do so. Remember you’ve already signed up for the long-term price plan? The Shopify store is all yours already.
At the same time, you can’t evade your thoughts with false hopes of spinning money all the while you are on the Shopify trial. Sure, you can make money but only as long as you drive your customers to conversions.
While a 3 days trial could be way too short for making money during a trial period, you can set up the Store in a day or two. Then, get to make some cash in the extension period of 90 days which you can avail for a dollar every month.
There’s also a way to add a free Shopify trial until 50 orders. For that, you would need to have a Shopify partner account by signing up for the Shopify Partners. Once you have set up the store, you would be able to go through with a maximum of 50 orders for free.
Final Thoughts
Having used the Shopify store multiple times myself, I can confirm that Shopify is as transparent as it gets. Shopify offers a comprehensive version of the free trial program.
The 3 day plus 90 days for $1/month Shopify free trial allows one to fully build and customize their webpage. It is also possible to make sales while on the free trial, as long as you have a paid plan on board.
