> and unless you look at the source, nothing tells you that they are a Shopify merchant
Unless they are doing a headless integration, the Shopify UI is very easy to spot. For me this has started to become a signal of shops to take great caution and best to avoid.
If not during shopping, then once you add the product to the cart, it is very obvious.
> this has started to become a signal of shops to take great caution and best to avoid
Interesting, I've generally felt the opposite. Do you feel it is as bad as Amazon? Do you have some examples of Shopify shops that are particularly bad?
I do not think this is true. I don't know the % of shops that are drop shippers, but I do not think it's the majority. Most Shopify merchants are selling things. A lot of stores are Shopify stores that are on custom domains and unless you look at the source, nothing tells you that they are a Shopify merchant. I know of RPG and Board Game publishers and designers with Shopify stores, a local coffee shop and coffee roaster is a Shopify merchant, food companies, etc. There are companies that that have IPOd that started as Shopify stores selling their own things; Which is really cool.