While $29 / month for Shopify's basic plan isn't much, it can really put a halt on guys (or gals) just starting out who don't y...
While $29 / month for Shopify's basic plan isn't much, it can really put a halt on guys (or gals) just starting out who don't yet fully understand the ropes of ecommerce and are unsure if the investment will pay off. To avoid this issue, I'm going to be explaining the simplest method that you can follow to create an unlimited number of Shopify stores without being charged a single cent.
Note: I have successfully opened these stores, sold products, and been able to accept real payments with this method.
So you want to become a dropshipping legend, but you don't have the funds to start. Maybe you just hate paying for stuff when you know you could get it for free. Whatever your motive, this method should help you get started.
1) Head on over to http://partners.shopify.com. In the top right, you'll see a big purple button that says "Join now". Click it and then fill in all the information on the signup page. I'd recommend using real info (especially your email) as some Shopify features are only accessible after you have verified your email.
2) After you've submitted all your info, you'll be taken to your Shopify partner dashboard. You'll see a button that says "Create store". If you click it, you'll be asked to input more information (go through this process until complete) and you will be able to create a development store entirely for free. You can create as many of these development stores as you wish.
3) After you have successfully created your first development store, go head on over to the store's Shopify admin dashboard. Now you can start adding products, choosing your theme, and any apps you'd like as well. Before you can fully go live, make sure and remove the password protection from your store (as simple as this step is, I always seem to forget it).
And just like that, you should now have the ability to create an unlimited amount of free Shopify stores. You can even add your own custom domains to your Shopify store to avoid having to use mycoolstore.myshopify.com as the url.
If you have any further questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to help if I can.
