Why I would NEVER recommend Shopify to new store owners

Shopify Discussion
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I have never come across a worse platform than Shopify for anyone to build a store with.

I am not in the least surprised that over 90% of Shopify stores fail. Shopify is an endless sh*tshow in bugs and technical issues originating from very poor development structure, you are bound to fail unless you have endless time dealing with tech issues.

Let me give an example what should have been a simple 10 min product edit can look like. I am now into day 3 trying to get it fixed.

And mind you this is only one example of the 100’s of errors and problems you will encounter using Shopify:

Shopify Product Management — Major Issues

1. Removing duplicate products destroys all images.
I tried to bulk edit and clean up my product file by removing duplicate products. The only way to fix it is to delete all products and reimport them (otherwise the product handle will only reimport again). But when you do this, Shopify deletes all associated images without any warning. Using the backup product export file does nothing to recover all lost images. With 1000 products in 3 variables (3000 products in total) this is a total nightmare.

2. Shopify duplicates images instead of reusing them.
If you use the same stock image across, say, 1,000 listings, which should be the easiest shortcut, Shopify creates 1,000 separate copies of that image (and another 3x duplicates of each listing variable - now 3000 listings, and 3000 copies of the exact same image…). All it had to do is reference a single file but now created 3000 duplicates. This wastes storage and makes management unnecessarily difficult, not to mention shopify has zero logic to manage the speed and performance caused by all the apps you need just to get functioning features, and now by all the added file storage from the thousands of duplicate images it creates.

It becomes impossible to search images in the Files section, because you now have THOUSANDS of image copies and the search feature is poor - not to mention the image import popup window never shows beyond first line.

3. Reimporting a backup file erases inventory data.
If you export your products as a backup, delete the products to create a clean list, then reimport that same file, your inventory quantities are wiped out rather than preserved.

4. Bulk editing inventory via CSV doesn’t work properly.
Exporting the inventory CSV and making changes to it has no effect when reimported — the edits are ignored (HS, COO, inventory does not import - yet the imported file has now overwritten all values, deleting images AGAIN).

5. Inventory imports overwrite product settings, including images.
If you import an inventory file that doesn’t contain image data, Shopify treats the missing image fields as intentional and overrides all values and deletes your existing product images. The import should only update the fields included in the file, not erase everything else.

6. Inventory imports create duplicate variant options.
When importing inventory data, Shopify generates multiple copies of the same variant options rather than matching them to existing ones. If I have 1000 products in 3 variables (3000 products in total) the inventory file turn them into 6000 products with multiple duplicates for the variants. Don’t ask what logic Shopify has used to create this maze of a mess, and what you have to go through to now manage 6000 products…

7. Inventory export is missing pricing, but import overwrites it anyway.
The exported inventory file doesn’t include per-item pricing. However, when you reimport the edited file, Shopify overwrites all pricing to £0. Meanwhile, the fields you actually edited — inventory quantities, HS codes, and COO — remain unchanged despite being updated in the file. The inventory remains at 0 and you are back to square one.

Here is my sincere and honest recommendation to NEW shop owners: DON’T USE SHOPIFY.

You will go through the same nightmare with everything from shipping setups, to variables, to constant owner verification (I’ve probably done 6 already this year) to having your store shadowbanned to verify your right to sell your products (which I’ve also repeated 5 times this year).

It never ends.

Spare yourself and use ANOTHER PLATFORM.

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One needs to read documentation and do some test runs before committing to irreversible actions.
Then select proper tools.

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Some of these are legit frustrations, especially the CSV import overwriting image fields when they’re not in the file. That one has tripped up a lot of people and Shopify really should treat missing fields as “don’t touch” instead of “delete.”

That said, most of what you’re describing comes down to how Shopify handles bulk operations on large catalogs, not the platform itself. If you have 3000 variants and you’re managing everything through CSV imports, you’re going to hit edge cases that smaller stores never see. At that scale most people move to the API or a product management app that handles the syncing properly.

A few things that might save you some pain going forward. Before any bulk operation, use an app like Rewind or Matrixify to create a real backup. The native CSV export is not a reliable backup tool. Matrixify specifically handles image references and inventory correctly on reimport, which solves most of the issues you listed.

For the duplicate image problem, Shopify stores images by URL reference internally. If you’re uploading the same file multiple times through CSV, it creates separate copies because each row is treated as a new upload. Matrixify lets you reference existing image URLs instead.

Is the platform perfect? No. But the issues you’re hitting are workflow problems that have workarounds. The real question is whether those workarounds are worth it vs migrating 3000 products to another platform, which comes with its own set of headaches. What platform are you considering as an alternative?

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Stop this nonsense.

https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/products/import-export/import-products#overwriting-csv-file
Literally:

If you do not want to update the field – remove this column from the file.
If you keep the column it means – overwrite this field.

It’s that simple, just need to read the dox.

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The suggestion that account owners should have to “read the docs” or “install apps” to pay extra for, to make simple edits that doesn’t erase all images, or creates thousands of duplicate images, or removes all stock counts, or that you should have to do “workarounds” is frankly absurd. Who in their right mind comes with these kind of comments?

Subscribers already pay monthly fees and these features should work faultless.

It’s a huge failure by Shopify that simple edits are full of major issues.

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Have you passed a driving license exam?
Why – you’ve already paid so much for your car?

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