So, exactly HOW much does it cost to start an online store?

Starting a business can be expensive, starting a retail business can be horrendous! There are SO many expenses that the pressure is ON even before you have opened the doors to sell something.

Starting an online store, on the other hand, is a good way to test the waters and to see if you have a customer base if you have niched down enough and to discover insights about how your customers interact with your brand or products.

Starting an online store does not need to be expensive. Yes, there are “done for you options” out there that look great but most of the time they are expensive and don’t offer a lot.I’ve created a shortlist of the basics of what you need to get started when opening an online store. It’s no-frills but has the potential to be a powerful selling platform for you.

Costs To Start An Online Store

Domain $9.99 (per year)  Look for promo codes with hosting sites like GoDaddy

Website $29 (per month)  Shopify  (first 14 days free whilst you build the store) and if you ask nicely, they might extend it for you by another week or two whilst you are getting the back end organised.

As you can see all it takes is 2 elements to have a fully functional and pretty good looking online store. Of course, you need to spend some time refining the site, creating content and adding new products to it however the cost of setting up shop can be under $100USD. There are plenty of add on options from this point to make your site faster, better looking and generally more awesome, but as I said, this is a basic, no-frills option to help you test an idea, or to help you stop procrastinating and using cost as an excuse.

Setting up an online store does not need to be expensive. You don’t need the world’s greatest web designers or developers to get you started you just need to get your skates on.

Check out our list of resources for getting started with opening your own online store