How much does an online store cost? Price of the store, billing models, subscription, add-ons, updates.

The price of an online store depends on many elements. In this article we present different billing models, additional costs and we will try to answer how much a store really costs in a year. How not to be fooled and know the real price.

The choice of an online store billing model is very important, so it is worth knowing the basic elements influencing the final price of the service.

• How much does an online store cost?
• Billing models
• Add-ons for the store
• How much does integration with wholesalers cost?
• Hosting
• Summary

How much does an online store cost?

At SOTE, an online store costs 45 PLN net per month, with professional graphics, store installation on the server, hosting and domain (source: SOTE Price List).

Before we answer this question more precisely, we must take into account the period in which we calculate the costs and the billing model. This way we will be able to compare the costs we incur with what we get. An additional complication is that each platform has different program features and comparing prices is not so easy.

See the example prices of the SOTESHOP online store: Online store price list

Billing models

There are 2 basic billing models:

• One-time fee
• Subscription

One-time fee

In this model we pay for the program once. This does not mean, however, the absence of additional costs e.g. for access to new updates or additional changes. This form was beneficial for stores that did not update the software, but on the other hand such stores were less competitive.

Currently, fewer and fewer e-commerce companies offer this billing model. In SOTE, such a model was available until the end of 2021.

Subscription

The most popular billing model. An online store is software that changes very often, so constant access to updates and support is a key element for the store's development and better market position.

See the prices of example store subscriptions: SOTESHOP Start | SOTESHOP Standard

Subscription and Price for 1 Year

In the subscription model, a popular method is to offer a lower price for the first billing period and a higher price for the next payment. This way we have a lower price to start, but we must expect higher fees for the next period.

See the comparison of prices of online stores on different e-commerce platforms for 1,2 and 3 years of software use.

Store Add-ons

Many platforms offer store add-ons and, similarly to buying store software, there are different billing models.

Add-on billing models:

• One-time fee + updates
• Subscription fee for each add-on
• Subscription fee for all add-ons

Let's illustrate this with an example. We want to buy 5 add-ons for the store in the course of a year and we will calculate the total cost.

One-time Fee

Example price of 1 add-on is 300 PLN. We order 5 add-ons which gives us a total of 1500 PLN.

Example applications:

• Facebook API Conversion
• Local Delivery
• Remarketing and Conversion Google Adwords
• Store on Facebook
• Survey

Subscription Fee for Each Add-on

We assume a cost of 30 PLN per application per month. With 5 add-ons, we have a total of 5x30 = 150 PLN per month or 1800 PLN per year. Some companies also charge additional fees for the add-on version, amount of data used, etc., e.g.: number of imports, number of auctions listed, number of orders, etc. It is worth checking this in detail.

At SOTE, we do not use this billing model.

Flat fee for all add-ons

In this model, the seller pays a flat fee for access to all available add-ons. In SOTE, add-ons worth over 18000 PLN net are currently available and you can have them all in the SOTESHOP PRO subscription - the cost of which is 1750 PLN net / year, of which about 1200 PLN is the cost of software and other service elements. So for all add-ons we will pay about 550 PLN per year.

If we want to develop the store and use many add-ons, this is definitely the best form of billing.

Check the price and offer of the store with access to all add-ons: SOTESHOP PRO

Comparison

Net costs for 1 year of use of 5,10, 20 applications depending on the billing model.

How much does integration with wholesalers cost?

Integration with wholesalers allows for automatic downloading of products to the store. Many offers have separate fees associated with wholesaler integrations, such as:

• Installation fee.
• Fee for using the wholesaler e.g. 100 PLN / month for each wholesaler.
• Fee for the number of imports made e.g. one fee for 1 import per day, another for 3.
• Fee for the number of imported products.
• And others...

It is easy to calculate that if we decide to import from, for example, 3 selected wholesalers, the price for the service may increase to over 3000 PLN per year.In SOTE subscription SOTESHOP PRO and VIP you can use respectively 3 or 10 wholesalers at the same time, without any limit of data updates, number of products and without any additional fees. For the cheaper SOTESHOP Standard subscription, you can use 1 selected wholesaler by paying a one-time installation fee of 350 PLN net.

Learn more: Wholesalers in SOTESHOP. New integrations and data import functions.

Cost of setting up a wholesaler

If we want to set up a wholesaler and offer our products to other companies, then we have another element to check. Not all store management programs have this feature and even if they do, it may be associated with additional fees from several hundred zlotys to several thousand. There is no upper limit, because the discrepancy is huge.

In SOTE, running a wholesaler does not require an additional fee and is available for all versions of the subscription store. So you can set up a store for 90 PLN per month and open an online wholesaler.

Learn more: How to set up an online wholesaler with SOTE?

Hosting

Hosting is an integral part of an online store. It is good if we can install the store on our own server or use the hosting of a company offering the software. Regardless of what we decide, the possibility of choice is always a plus.

In SOTE, you can choose a service with hosting or install the store on your own server.

VPS

For stores with high traffic, it is recommended to use so-called VPS servers. More and more companies offer such services and often omit the costs of server administration or its updates. Such costs can amount to many thousands of zlotys, so it is always worth asking about it.

In SOTE, we focus on the transparency of the offer and the absence of hidden costs, so VPS servers always include administrator care.

Summary

To calculate the actual cost of using store software, you should take into account not only the price you see in the advertisement, but also calculate the cost of add-ons, make sure there are no sales commissions and ask about any additional costs on an annual basis. It is important to have transparent prices and a simple billing system, so that we know exactly what we are paying for and what we are getting.

Related Pages

• SOTESHOP online store pricing.
• SOTESHOP online store
• Store add-ons. Webstore.