Here’s How to Find Vetted Talent Now That The Shopify Experts Marketplace is Gone

Happy Holidays gang! 🎅

Eric promises he’ll be back by soon, but today it’s just you and me and the ferns again. Why? Well. Because if you’ve gone looking for the Shopify Experts Marketplace recently you’ve found yourself staring at a redirect to something called the Partner Directory, and I wanted to let you know that no, you are not losing your mind. We may not always talk like it is, but the Experts Marketplace is gone. It is an ex parrot.

Shopify shut it down back in December 2023, and a lot of store owners are still figuring out what that means for how they find and hire help. The short version is that Shopify replaced a flawed but familiar system with a different system that solves some problems while creating others. And if you’re a retailer who relied on that marketplace to find developers, designers, or marketing specialists, you have more options now than you did before (the Get Matched button above on the right for example . ) You just have to know where to look.

What the Experts Marketplace Actually Was

The Shopify Experts Marketplace launched back when the platform was still proving itself as a serious e-commerce contender. The idea was straightforward. Merchants needed help building and running their stores. Developers, marketers and designers wanted to find clients. Shopify created a directory where the two could connect.

That old marketplace worked a bit like Fiverr Pro does now. It let you post jobs, receive proposals from vetted experts, and manage the whole relationship inside Shopify’s ecosystem. Experts earned their listing by demonstrating platform knowledge, maintaining decent client reviews, and meeting quality standards that were … let’s just say, enforced with varying degrees of rigor over the years.

For many merchants, it more or less worked well enough. You could describe your project, set a budget, and receive proposals from people who theoretically knew what they were doing. The review system provided some accountability. The Shopify branding provided some reassurance. And the whole thing felt official in a way that hiring someone off a freelance marketplace never quite did.

Why Shopify Finally Pulled the Plug On It

The Experts Marketplace had problems that accumulated over time. Quality control at scale proved difficult. The vetting process filtered out complete amateurs but couldn’t reliably distinguish between competent professionals and genuine experts. Geographic disparities in pricing created confusion. And the system lumped solo freelancers and full agencies under the same umbrella, which made comparison shopping nearly impossible.

There was also a structural issue. The marketplace required significant resources to maintain while generating relatively little revenue for Shopify compared to its core platform business. When Shopify went through its belt-tightening phase in 2023, cutting headcount and refocusing on fundamentals, the Experts Marketplace landed on the chopping block.

The official shutdown happened in stages. Shopify stopped accepting new jobs in October 2023. Existing conversations and projects could continue through December. And then the whole thing went dark, redirecting everyone to the new Partner Directory.

The Partner Directory Replacement

Shopify’s Partner Directory is what replaced the Experts Marketplace, and it represents a genuine attempt to improve on the original concept. The directory includes better search functionality, more detailed partner profiles, tier badges that indicate experience levels, and Verified Skills credentials that demonstrate specific competencies.

The tier system deserves attention here. Partners now progress through levels from Registered through Select, Plus, Premier, and Platinum based on commercial impact and earned credentials. A Select Partner has demonstrated meaningful contribution to the Shopify ecosystem. A Platinum Partner operates at enterprise scale. The tiers provide signal that the old marketplace lacked.

Verified Skills badges add another layer. These credentials require passing proctored assessments through Shopify Academy. They cost money, expire after two years, and attach to individuals rather than organizations. When you see a partner with multiple Verified Skills badges, you know someone on their team actually passed real tests rather than just claiming expertise.

Where the Partner Directory Falls Short

The Partner Directory improves on its predecessor in meaningful ways, but it also creates new friction for merchants trying to find help. The biggest change is structural. The old Experts Marketplace let you post a job and receive proposals. It was active. You described what you needed, and qualified people came to you. The Partner Directory is passive. You browse profiles, evaluate options, and reach out to partners yourself. That shift puts more work on the merchant.

The directory also lacks the built-in project management that the marketplace provided. There’s no native way to track proposals, compare quotes, or manage ongoing work through Shopify’s interface. Once you connect with a partner, you’re on your own to structure the relationship.

Discovery remains a challenge too. The directory contains thousands of partners across every conceivable specialty and geography. Filtering helps, but sorting through results still requires significant time and judgment. For a busy store owner who just needs someone to fix a checkout issue or redesign a product page, the process can feel overwhelming.

And then there’s the cold outreach problem. Contacting partners through the directory means introducing yourself, explaining your project, and hoping they respond. Some partners reply quickly. Others take days. Some never respond at all because they’re swamped with inquiries or your project doesn’t fit their focus. The experience varies wildly.

The Alternatives That Have Emerged

The gap between what merchants need and what the Partner Directory provides has created space for alternatives. Several services now offer what the Experts Marketplace once attempted, sometimes with meaningful improvements.

Storetasker operates as a vetted freelancer marketplace specifically for Shopify. They screen developers and designers before listing them, handle the matching process, and provide some project management infrastructure. The model appeals to merchants who want pre-qualified options without doing all the filtering themselves.

ShopExperts takes a similar approach, maintaining a curated directory of Shopify specialists organized by service type and expertise. They focus on making the discovery process simpler than scrolling through Shopify’s massive Partner Directory.

Bold Match works differently. Rather than maintaining a marketplace where you browse profiles, Bold Match uses a matching process. You describe your project and requirements, and the service connects you with agencies that fit your specific needs. The matching is free for merchants, which removes the friction of paying fees before you’ve even found someone worth hiring.

Each alternative addresses the Partner Directory’s limitations differently. Storetasker and ShopExperts make browsing easier. Bold Match eliminates browsing entirely by doing the matching for you. The right choice depends on whether you want to evaluate options yourself or have someone else do that filtering.

What This Means for Store Owners

The disappearance of the Experts Marketplace marks a real shift in how Shopify merchants find professional help. The old system had problems, but it also had a clear path. Post a job, receive proposals, pick someone, get to work. The new landscape requires more initiative. You can use Shopify’s Partner Directory and do the research yourself. You can use curated marketplaces like Storetasker or ShopExperts that pre-filter the options. Or you can use matching services like Bold Match that handle the discovery process entirely.

None of these approaches is obviously better than the others. The Partner Directory offers the most options but demands the most effort. Curated marketplaces narrow the field but still require you to evaluate and choose. Matching services reduce your workload but mean trusting someone else’s judgment about fit.

What hasn’t changed is the fundamental challenge. Finding good help for your Shopify store requires understanding what you actually need, communicating that clearly, and evaluating whether the people you’re talking to can deliver. The Experts Marketplace didn’t solve that problem. Neither does the Partner Directory. The alternatives help with discovery and vetting, but the core decisions still belong to you.