Most platforms deduct from you with no option. If you do have the choice, one test decides it: is this customer choosing you, or comparing you?
Lock-in is an asset location problem, not a contract problem. Five assets decide it, four move out today, and the fifth is the one nobody counts.
If you can trial it, trial it. These questions are for the platforms you cannot, where a sales call is your entire evaluation.
Trials range from 3 days to 30. Prepare before you start the clock, test your hardest product, and finish by exporting what you built.
Annual subscription divided by percentage rate gives the crossover. A $144/yr plan beats a 3% platform at $4,800 in sales, and 5% at $2,880.
Most vendors switch too late, after a bad Saturday. Seven signals worth watching, and the strongest is the one nobody counts: keeping a second list.
One thing decides this: do you own the domain? If yes, redirects make the move routine. If your store is on a platform subdomain, nothing can be preserved.
At 2.9% plus 30 cents, a $10 order costs 5.9% and a $100 order costs 3.2%. Raising your average order value beats switching processors.
Shopify exports products and customers cleanly. What does not come out is your app data, and that list decides whether this takes a weekend or a month.
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