Transferring store ownership

After you've completed work on your client's store, you can transfer it to them in the Partner Dashboard.

There are two types of account access for a store: owner and staff. As a partner, you are the development store's owner. You can give your client access to the store while you're working on it by adding them as a staff member. When work on the development store is complete, you transfer ownership to your client in the Partner Dashboard. Once they begin paying for a Shopify plan, you receive a collaborator account that allows you to access the store through your Partner Dashboard.

In this section

• Before you start
• Considerations when you transfer ownership of a development store
• Transfer store ownership using the Partner Dashboard
• Provide information to your client after you transfer store ownership

Before you start

You should complete the following tasks before you transfer ownership of a development store to your client:

• Make sure that you add them as a staff member and that they complete the staff account setup. After you transfer ownership to your client, you remain on the store as a collaborator but no longer have access to financial information.

• If your client intends to use Shopify's Point of Sale (POS) system, then give them access to POS and assign them a POS role when you add them as a staff member to the store.

• Add your client's address to the store settings, especially if your client is based in a different country than you. In some cases, transferring a store with the wrong address can cause your client to be charged extra taxes on their Shopify invoice. To learn more about changing a store's address, refer to Adding business settings for your store.

Considerations when you transfer ownership of a development store

• If you switch a store to a paid plan but retain ownership for any reason, then you need to contact Partner support to remove the commission on the store. Learn about switching a development store to a paid plan without transferring ownership.

• After a development store is converted to a paid plan, either by a merchant after store ownership transfer or by a Partner who is retaining ownership, the store is subject to the Shopify Terms of Service.

• If you switch to a Shopify Plus plan before changing ownership, then you become the organization owner as well as the store owner. The organization owner can't be changed through the Shopify admin, so you should consider transferring ownership before switching to a paid plan. To transfer organization ownership after switching to the Plus plan, contact Shopify Plus Support.

• If your client is using Shopify POS and requires POS Pro features, then they need to select a POS Pro subscription for each location that requires these features after they select their ecommerce plan. Learn about managing a store's POS subscriptions by location.

• If your client intends to sell in person occasionally, POS Lite is included on all Shopify Plans and enables merchants to sell in person, track sales, and create basic customer profiles.

Tip

If you helped your client get started with Shopify POS Pro, don’t forget to submit a Shopify POS lead form in the Referrals section of your Partner Dashboard. This ensures you will receive any referral bonus you might be eligible for.

• After you've transferred a development store to a live plan, the store is no longer eligible for promotions or free trials.

Caution

After you transfer the ownership of a development store to another account, the transfer can't be reversed.

• If you activated Shopify Payments on your client's store using your own information, then you need to update to the client's information. Contact Shopify Support to have the Shopify Payments account updated.

Transfer store ownership using the Partner Dashboard

Caution

Make sure to set the billing currency for the store to the same currency that your client is using to pay Shopify bills. Otherwise, they won't be able to add a credit card and accept the transfer.

Steps:

1. Log in to your Partner Dashboard, and click Stores.

2. Click Actions > Transfer ownership beside the development store that you want to transfer.

3. On the Transfer store ownership dialog, select the new owner from the list of eligible owners. If you haven't added your client as a staff member yet, then click Add a staff account and create a new account for your client before you continue. Your client must complete the staff account setup before you can transfer store ownership to them.

4. When you're done, click Transfer store. The store now displays on the Stores page in your Partner Dashboard under the Managed tab. The new owner receives an email with instructions to create the account and select a plan. Until your client accepts the transfer, the store is paused. After the client begins paying for a Shopify subscription plan, you start to receive your recurring commission.

Provide information to your client after you transfer store ownership

After you've transferred a store to your client, make sure to provide them with information about:

• How they can access the store, including the URL (https://admin.shopify.com/store/{shop})
• The Shopify plan that you recommend for them. In addition to the Basic, Shopify and Advanced plans, merchants can now also select the standard Plus plan.
• Where applicable, the Shopify POS offering that you recommend for them. In addition to selling in person occasionally, merchants can also opt for subscriptions that enable them to sell across multiple retail locations or to purchase compatible retail hardware.
• Anything else that you would recommend (such as apps to download, webinars to watch, or other resources to help them build their business)

Note

If you activated Shopify Payments on your client's store using your own information, and transfered store ownership already, then inform your client to contact Shopify Support to have the Shopify Payments details updated.

You can work with your client to determine when your collaboration is no longer required, and they can delete your account.

Next: Learn what to do when you've finished building the store.