Shopify Discount Code (2021): Saving On Shopify Plans and Deals

Shopify remains a dominant name in the e-commerce industry. Why? Well, the platform is one of the reasons why building an online retail business on your own is possible. Its rich features are specially designed for launching scalable, online stores.

Now if you’re a business owner, you’re understandably concerned about how much Shopify plans cost. Are there discounts? Are there promo codes available? So we’ve scoured the net to give you the lowdown. Keep reading below for a range of Shopify discounts, deals, and tips.

Shopify Plans Comparison Chart

Name	Basic Shopify	Shopify	Advanced Shopify
Price	$29 per month	$79 per month	$299 per month
Staff accounts	2	5	15
Maximum No. of Locations	4	5	8
Online Store	Yes	Yes	Yes
Unlimited Products	Yes	Yes	Yes
Professional Reports	No	Yes	Yes
Calculated Shipping Rates	No	No	Yes

Shopify Plans

The e-commerce platform has three standard plans: Basic Shopify, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify.

Before tackling how you can avail of discounts for plans, it’s good to know just how much Shopify plans cost. After all, this is an investment for your business.

Currently, Shopify offers three standard plans. Shopify Basic costs $29 per month and comes with the core features you need to start selling online. It includes an online store, blog, unlimited products, as well as point of sale. Meanwhile, Shopify will set you back $79 a month. Some of the additional features of this plan include access to professional reports and manual foreign exchange rates.

For larger businesses, however, Advanced Shopify will make more sense. The plan, which costs $299 a month, is ideal for those scaling their business. Some of the advanced tools you get from this package include multiple staff accounts, lower transaction fees, as well as third-party calculated shipping rates.

If you’d like to know more about fees and charges on the platform, you can read our review of Shopify’s monthly costs.

Shopify Discounts

Shopify offers discounts directly but only if you sign up for a year, two years, or three years.

Given the cost of plans, it’s good to know that Shopify does offer discounts. But unlike other platforms like Squarespace or BlueHost where you can get discounts from affiliates, Shopify’s promotional pricing is offered directly. You can get them simply by opting for an annual, two-year, or three-year plan paid upfront. There are no codes needed.

Shopify shares that these discounts are around 10% and 20% for annual and biennial plans respectively. However, it doesn’t disclose how much you’ll save if you pay in advance for a three-year contract. But as the price matrix below suggests, you’re most likely getting a 25% discount, give or take.

Discount Codes From Third-Party Websites

Most of the discounts from third-party websites are the same as what you would get from Shopify.

Since you can only get plan discounts directly from Shopify, what are the promos being offered by third-party websites? Well, most of the “promo codes” you’ll see are essentially the same discounts you get when you sign up with Shopify. For instance, coupons claiming you’ll save 74% on shipping are to be expected. A quick look at Shopify’s features shows it’s already included in both the Basic and Shopify plans.

There are, however, some third-party websites with new offers. These could be savings on stock photos or Shopify apps and tools. You’ll also find coupon sites selling several promo codes for shoppers, including huge discounts on Shopify orders.

While they sound promising, we recommend getting the coupons from verified sites only. It would even be better if you avail of these promos from the Shopify-powered online stores themselves. If you’re interested to know more about what sort of discounts and coupons you can get from Shopify, you can check out this blog.

Other Ways To Save

You can save on Shopify costs by taking advantage of its in-house payment processing and shipping services.

Starting a business can be daunting. The cost of operation is always something to be concerned about. But Shopify only offers discounts if you sign-up long term, you might think. Are there other ways to save on Shopify expenses? The short answer is yes. However, it’s not as direct as signing up for an annual, biennial, or three-year plan. Instead, it’s about taking advantage of Shopify’s built-in features.

For instance, using Shopify Payments can give online store owners access to discounts. They also get exempted from Shopify’s transaction fees. Keep in mind, however, that additional processing fees may be charged by a payment provider for credit card transactions.

Another way you can lessen expenses is by using Shopify Shipping. Not only does this option display calculated shipping rates instead of flat rates, but you also get the benefit of reduced rates for your shipping labels. Based on Shopify’s pricing, you can get up to 74% off on the Basic and Shopify plans, or as high as 76% off if you’re on the Advanced Shopify plan. Depending on the actual carrier, however, you can even get higher maximum discounts.

Lastly, choose the right plan. It doesn’t make sense to sign up for Advanced Shopify if you don’t have the sales volume to afford it. If you have an existing website and want minimal e-commerce features, consider signing up for Shopify Lite instead. It’s a fast way of getting selling capabilities without completely building a new online store.

Verdict

Test out Shopify first before committing to a long-term plan.

Whether you’re a small merchant or an enterprise-level business, Shopify has always been highly accessible. But compared to other platforms with e-commerce features, getting a discount for your Shopify plan is limited. You only really have one option — go long-term. Annual, biennial, and three-year plans paid upfront gives you fairly reasonable discounts of up to 25%. However, it’s not always the best course of action.

If you’re new to e-commerce, we recommend you opt for a monthly Shopify plan first. This way you can first test out the platform — including its built-in payment and shipping services — without being tied to a one, two, or even three-year commitment. It might be more expensive at first but you’ll save money, too, especially if you decide Shopify isn’t for you somewhere along the way.

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