Short answer
How much does opening an online store cost?
The cost of e-commerce is not a single build figure but two columns: one-off setup and what recurs every month. The recurring column is usually the larger one — platform subscription, payment commission, shipping, product photography and advertising. A choice that looks cheap at setup can cost more in the first year because of its commission rate.
Key takeaways
- Setup is paid once, commission on every sale; when comparing two options the right measure is the twelve-month total.
- Product photography is the biggest line most budgets forget: on a hundred-product catalogue, the shoot can cost more than the software.
- A payment-gateway application is an administrative process, not a technical one, and requires paperwork; start it before development.
- Shipping contracts are priced on volume; running the first year at list rates hits the margin directly.
- Entering product data properly (GTIN, brand, variants, stock) is not a later job; fixing a catalogue launched with incomplete data costs more than entering it correctly the first time.
Why should cost be read as two columns?
There is no single-figure answer to "what does an online store cost", because the real difference sits not in setup but in what recurs. An option that is very cheap to set up can cost more over the first year through its commission rate, and the reverse holds too. The only sound basis for comparison is the twelve-month total.
Two columns: one-off and recurring
Platform
- One-off
- Setup and theme adaptation
- Monthly / per sale
- Subscription or hosting
Payments
- One-off
- Gateway application and integration
- Monthly / per sale
- Transaction commission, instalment cost
Product data
- One-off
- Catalogue entry, variant structure
- Monthly / per sale
- New products and updates
Imagery
- One-off
- The first shoot
- Monthly / per sale
- Shoots for new collections
Shipping
- One-off
- Integration
- Monthly / per sale
- Per-parcel rate, cost of returns
Marketing
- One-off
- Measurement setup
- Monthly / per sale
- Ad budget, content production
| Item | One-off | Monthly / per sale |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Setup and theme adaptation | Subscription or hosting |
| Payments | Gateway application and integration | Transaction commission, instalment cost |
| Product data | Catalogue entry, variant structure | New products and updates |
| Imagery | The first shoot | Shoots for new collections |
| Shipping | Integration | Per-parcel rate, cost of returns |
| Marketing | Measurement setup | Ad budget, content production |
Which items do budgets most often forget?
- Product photography: on a hundred-product catalogue, shooting, retouching and background work can total more than the software line. Manufacturer images usually do not do, because every retailer is using the same frame.
- Product data entry: name, description, GTIN, brand, variants, dimensions and stock for every item. When this is not costed in person-hours, the project stops at the catalogue stage.
- The returns process: the rate varies by sector but is never zero; shipping, repackaging and restocking come out of unit margin.
- Instalment cost: instalment sales add a cost on top of commission, and when pricing is not built for it the margin quietly erodes.
- Measurement setup: a shop that cannot see which product sold through which channel spends its ad budget blind.
Where can you save, and where can't you?
Where you can save is usually the scope of the first release: loyalty programmes, multi-warehouse stock, subscriptions and an advanced promotions engine are not needed on day one. Where you cannot save is product data and photography: those two are the shared input for the site, the ads and the marketplaces, and when they are thin they degrade all three channels at once.
Frequently asked
Is selling on a marketplace cheaper than my own site?
- At the start yes, at scale no. A marketplace takes setup cost close to zero but charges commission on every sale and keeps the customer relationship. Your own site does the opposite: costly up front, but repeat purchase and customer data stay with you. For most brands the answer is running both — the marketplace as an acquisition channel, the site as the loyalty channel.
How many products should I launch with?
- As many as you can enter with complete data and good photography. Publishing thirty products fully beats publishing three hundred half-filled, both for sales and for visibility: incomplete data stops a product from being recommended and from being approved in ad channels.
When should the payment gateway application go in?
- Before development. The application is administrative rather than technical: company documents, a description of the business and sometimes a turnover declaration are requested, and assessment can take days. Waiting on payments once the site is ready is the most common and most easily avoided delay.
Sources
- 01Product data specification (GTIN, brand, availability) — Google Merchant Center, 2026
- 02Merchant listing (Product) structured data — Google Search Central, 2026
- 03ETBİS — Elektronik Ticaret Bilgi Sistemi — T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı, 2026
Queries this page answers
- cost of online store
- ecommerce website cost
- how much to start an online shop