Shopify is an Ottawa, Ontario-based merchant account provider with an online shopping cart, website creation, and marketing and SEO solutions.
Shopify Payments is the primary payment option advertised by the company, but it also allows the users to integrate third party payment processing systems.
The Shopify app store offers a huge range of add-ons and plugins for credit card processing and includes an SSL-secured shopping cart, a customer-facing domain name, and unlimited bandwidth.
Shopify offers monthly pricing of $29, $79, $299, or a customized price with rates as 2.9%, 2.6%, and 2.4% plus $0.30. Each plan includes 2, 5, or 15 staff accounts and shipping discounts of up to 74%, 72%, or 74%.
Shopify’s fees are proportional to the monthly expenses paid by business owners and the company will charge additional fees if a merchant links a top-rated merchant account to their store.
For an additional $49 per month, Shopify POS includes an iPad stand, barcode scanner, EMV and swipe card reader, cash drawer, and receipt printer. It also includes inventory syncing, analytics, email receipts, multiple staff accounts, customer tracking, and additional apps.
The company’s emphasis on customer service is a difference from the complaints merchants have had using similar services like Amazon.com.
Boom Payments! is suing Shopify and Stripe for patent infringement, alleging that they both infringe upon two patents awarded to them.
In 2020, Shopify dodged a class action suit and suffered a major data breach. In 2021, Shopify is facing a further class action suit over data collection and consumer behavior tracking.
Shopify offers phone, email, and live chat support for all levels of service, but complaints of fund-holds, difficulty canceling service, billing issues, chargeback problems, and trouble operating the company’s service are not widespread.
Shopify has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau and has had 296 complaints over the last three years. The company successfully resolved 116 of these complaints.
Many reviews on the company’s BBB accounts were made by merchants instead of customers. In some cases, it appears that the merchant provided the shipping service.
Shopify appears to market itself through its website, through its growing online customer base, and through strategic partnerships. The company does not appear to engage in telemarketing or in-person sales.
Although Shopify’s pricing structure is not entirely clear, the company charges fees for third-party payment processing. If you don’t use Shopify Payments, you will be charged for the third-party fees, as well as the Shopify fees.
Shopify is an online store builder and merchant account provider. The company has a low number of complaints, and offers the best prices and services to those who start fresh with Shopify Payments.
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