Maintaining a Shopify store involves various costs,
which can vary depending on your business needs and choices. Here’s a breakdown
of typical expenses:
1. Subscription Fees Basic Plan: Around $39/month
Shopify Plan: Around $105/month Advanced Plan: Around $399/month Shopify Plus:
Custom pricing for larger businesses.
2. Transaction Fees Shopify charges transaction fees
if you don’t use Shopify Payments: Basic Plan: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
Shopify Plan: 2.6% + 30¢ per transaction Advanced Plan: 2.4% + 30¢ per
transaction If using Shopify Payments, there are no transaction fees, but
credit card fees still apply.
3. Apps and Plugins Costs can range from free to
$200/month depending on the apps you choose (e.g., for email marketing, SEO,
inventory management).
4. Themes Free themes are available, but premium
themes typically cost between $140 and $350 (one-time fee). 5. Domain Name A
domain name costs about $14-$20/year if purchased through Shopify. You might
find better deals through third-party registrars.
6. Marketing Costs Budget for digital advertising
(Google Ads, social media), which can vary widely based on your strategy.
7. Payment Processing Fees These fees depend on the
payment gateway used (typically around 2.9% + 30¢ for credit card
transactions).
8. Shipping Costs Variable based on your shipping
strategy and the carriers you use.
Total Estimated Monthly Cost Basic Store: $50 -
$200/month (subscription + transaction fees + minimal apps) Growing Store: $200
- $600/month (including more apps, advertising, etc.) Established Store:
$600+/month depending on the scale of operations. Additional Considerations
Customer Support and Development: If you hire help for design or maintenance,
this will add to your costs.
Tax and Legal: Compliance costs vary based on jurisdiction and business structure. In summary, while the base cost of maintaining a Shopify store can be relatively low, additional features and business growth can significantly increase monthly expenses.
The Basic Shopify Plan This is the cheapest plan you
can choose for your Shopify store, requiring you to pay a monthly fee of $39.
Despite its relatively low price, Basic Shopify provides features that can be
really helpful for small business owners.
For instance, you will benefit from an online store
that you can customize how you want, 24/7 customer support, limitless product
listings, and support for sales channels, to name just a few.
This plan also enables access to features like
discount codes, abandoned cart recovery emails, a free SSL certificate, and
manual order creation.
However, it's worth noting that Basic Shopify has a
drawback, as it doesn't allow you to use performance reports.
Still, there is room to grow by opting for this plan, and it is particularly suitable for eCommerce businesses who lack sufficient funds at the beginning of their journey.