This is how NOT TO run your Shopify Store

Hey guys, Rules for Rebels back with another video. Today we are talking about operating a Shopify Store, as well as dropshipping from Ali Express.

I saw a thread on the r/Shopify subreddit yesterday where a guy was asking about the legality of return policies. He was dropshipping a product from Ali Express that had very bad reviews and had a 90% default rate as in 90% of the products did not work. Ironically enough he referred to this as a "winning product".

He went on to say that if he offered an 8 day return policy that would in a way protect him, because Ali Express woudln't have the product to the customer for 16 to 20 days, so in essence, by the time the customer received the product, they could no longer return it. Therefore he could sell an inferior broken product and not have to give people their money back.

Now I know people who are new to eCommerce are going to make mistakes. I regularly see people who try to sell trademarked and branded items purchased off Ali, and honestly most of them are just nieve. They don't know how business works, and they don't know any better. Most people when corrected or educated on the subject stop doing it.

This topic today, this isn't nievity, this is a Shopify seller trying to make sure he covers his but and gets to keep people's money after screwing them over.

This is a very bad idea. First off not only is this a recipe for failure. eCommerce businesses thrive on return customers, if your always having to find new customers your never going to make any money.

More importantly however is having a return policy does not protect you from credit card chargebacks. As I said in the video, if I bought a broken product from this guy and he told me sorry no returns, I'd be getting on the phone with Chase and doing a credit card chargeback.

Chase ultimately would give me my money back. The seller would be out not only the money but the product as well. Shopify Payments aka Stripe would also charge him something like $37 in fees for having a chargeback, and if it happens more than a handful of times in a month they will close his account meaning he can't process payments anymore. It will also be incredibly difficult for him to get payment processing in the future.

A little bit of money today is not worth screwing over yourself for life with payment processors. Rather than trying to take advantage of people for some short term money, build a long term sustainable business.

Long story short, don't run your Shopify store like this.