How do I do due diligence when buying a Shopify store?

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.

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.