How Do I Do Due Diligence When Buying a Shopify Store?
Written by Christopher Krassnig - Founder - Kairos Exchange and ZenoX Media.
Published
- Checks in every memo8
- Automatic on day one3 of 8
- Read by handad spend and processor payouts
- Tracked ecom salesEUR 200M+ZenoX ad-management figures, not Kairos deal volume - Kairos hasn't closed a deal yet.
Due diligence on a Shopify store means reconciling claimed revenue against the store's actual order data, verifying ad spend and margins from the ad accounts, checking traffic for bot inflation, and confirming supplier and inventory terms transfer with the sale. Screenshots prove nothing. Demand read-only access to Shopify and the ad accounts, or pay a professional to read them before you wire anything.
Looking to buy one? Join the buyer waitlist
The Checks, in Order
Start with the order ledger: does actual order revenue match the listing's claim, month by month? Then refunds and chargebacks, which quietly eat claimed profit. Then the ad accounts: real spend, real cost per acquisition, and whether profit survives them. Then traffic quality and sources. Last, the boring paperwork: supplier agreements, inventory ownership, and what actually transfers.
The Red Flags
Revenue that spikes right before the sale, traffic that analytics counts but orders do not reflect, a seller who offers screenshots but stalls on read-only access, hidden ad spend that erases the margin, and any pressure to close outside escrow. Each one alone is a question. Two together are an answer.
Doing It Yourself vs Paying for It
If you can read a Shopify order export and an ad account, the checks above are a weekend of work. If not, buy the diligence: Kairos runs a paid service where a human reads the store's raw data and writes you a report within five working days, and it works for stores on any marketplace, not just Kairos listings.
Related questions
Terms Used
Due Diligence
Due Diligence is the buyer's process of checking a seller's claims against the store's own source data before money moves.
Read-Only Access
Read-Only Access is a connection scope that lets an outside party look at data on another system, orders, revenue, or ad spend, without any ability to edit, delete, or move anything through it.
Buying a Store Somewhere Else?
Kairos Due Diligence works on any deal - Flippa, a broker, a private sale. A person reads the store's raw numbers and writes you a report. If the deal is bad, the report says walk away. From EUR 1.5K, no account needed.
Answered. Now Get in Line for the First Store
When the doors open, verified stores go to the waitlist first. You have done the reading part. The list is the part with a queue.