Shopify review
Shopify for UK dropshipping: what it really costs.
Shopify is an online shop you rent by the month. It looks after the hosting and the card payments, and you build the shop yourself using one of its designs. It can't do dropshipping on its own, so you add an app to connect it to your suppliers. This review covers what you get, what you have to add, and what a month really costs, all taken from Shopify's own UK website.
- £25
- a month on the Basic plan, or £19 if you pay for the year
- 2%
- plus 25p taken from each card payment on the Basic plan
- 3
- days free to try it, then £1 a month for 3 months
Our review in short
A good online shop, once you've added what it's missing.
For £25 a month, Shopify gives you the hosting, a checkout and card payments. To dropship, you add an app that brings in the products and sends the orders to the supplier, and you build the shop yourself. Everything here comes from Shopify's own website, which we checked on 4 November 2026.
What you get
- Its prices are in pounds on its UK website
- Every plan includes the hosting and card payments
- Its app store has dropshipping apps, including DSers and CJdropshipping
- It can produce VAT invoices for you
What to watch out for
- It can't do dropshipping without an app, which you pay for separately
- On the Basic plan it charges an extra 2% if you take card payments through another company
- You build the shop yourself, or pay someone to build it for you
- A business email address isn't included
What you really pay each month
Everything a Shopify dropshipping shop pays in a month.
Choose a Shopify plan and move the sliders to your size of shop. The receipt adds up the plan, the app that connects your shop to AliExpress, a business email address, your web address and the card fees on your sales.
SHOPIFY SHOP · ONE MONTH
- Shopify Basic plan
- £25.00
- DSers Advanced, the AliExpress app ($19.90)
- £14.73
- Google Workspace, one email address
- £5.90
- A .co.uk web address (£10 a year)
- £0.83
- Card fees, 2% + 25p
- £85.00
A month£131
The first year: £1,578, before anyone builds the shop.
Prices are before VAT. Shopify's UK website doesn't say whether its prices include VAT. Dollar prices are turned into pounds at $1 to £0.74, the rate on 4 November 2026.
How dropshipping works on Shopify
Four steps, and the supplier app does the middle two for you.
- 01
Your Shopify shop
You build your shop using one of Shopify's designs. Shopify hosts it and takes the card payments.
- 02
A supplier app
You add a dropshipping app from Shopify's app store, such as DSers or CJdropshipping.
- 03
Products in, orders out
The app copies products into your shop, and when a customer pays, it sends the order to the supplier.
- 04
To your customer's door
The supplier posts the parcel straight to your customer, so you never handle the stock.
Shopify compared with ours
Shopify and Mediatopia, side by side.
Mediatopia owns this website and sells its own dropshipping website, so here it is next to Shopify, with every line taken from each company's own website. Compare all six
Questions
Your questions about Shopify.
We checked these websites on 4 November 2026:
Can I dropship on Shopify in the UK?
Yes. Shopify's UK website prices its plans in pounds, and its app store has dropshipping apps such as DSers and CJdropshipping. They copy products into your shop and send each order to the supplier when your customer pays.
What does Shopify cost a month in the UK?
The Basic plan is £25 a month, or £19 a month if you pay for the year. The Grow plan is £65 a month, or £49 if you pay for the year. To dropship, you also need an app: DSers' Advanced plan is $19.90 a month, and it has a free plan that does less.
What card fee does Shopify charge?
On the Basic plan, Shopify takes 2% of each card payment plus 25p. On the Grow plan it takes 1.7% plus 25p. On Basic, it charges an extra 2% if you take card payments through another company.
Do I have to build the shop myself?
On Shopify, yes. You build it yourself using one of its designs, or you pay someone to build it for you. Some companies, including Mediatopia, sell a dropshipping shop that they design and build for you.
Price alerts
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