What does an online store cost? A complete overview

Starting a webshop is a great way to generate some extra income or even replace your full-time earnings. But before you get started, you naturally want to know exactly what the costs will look like. It would be quite a shame to find out halfway through that your budget is insufficient.

Starting a webshop can require a significant investment. In the best-case scenario, you might get away with just 100 euros at the beginning. This assumes you’ve already taken care of your Chamber of Commerce registration, you’ll build your webshop yourself, and you’ll sell your own digital products (such as courses). On the other end of the spectrum, you could spend tens of thousands of euros for a fully equipped webshop with all the bells and whistles.

In this article, you get a complete overview of all the cost items you might encounter when setting up a webshop. From the one-time costs of setting up your shop to the monthly expenses that keep it running, and the variable costs that grow with your success. After reading, you will know exactly where your money goes and can create a realistic budget plan.

One-time costs

Business registration and legal matters

Before your first product goes out the door, you need to have your business in order. Registration with the Chamber of Commerce costs €75.25 for a sole proprietorship or €180.96 for a private limited company.

A business bank account is indispensable. Most banks in the Netherlands charge between €0-50 for opening a business account, depending on the package you choose.

If you want to save money here, I recommend opening an account with Wise (formerly TransferWise). I personally use this for my business account. Not only because it’s free, but also because you can easily receive payments in multiple currencies. Keep in mind that Wise is not an official bank. Your balance is thus not covered by a deposit guarantee scheme. However, Wise does ensure that your money remains safe by keeping it separate from their own business finances and investing it in safe, liquid assets.

Legal documents for a webshop are significantly more important than for, say, a lifestyle blog. The costs for these can be substantial:

• General terms and conditions drafted by a lawyer: €500-1,500
• Privacy policy compliant with GDPR regulations: €300-800
• (Optional: trademark registration with the EUIPO: €850)

Would I spend on this myself? In most cases, no. The first LLM like ChatGPT should be able to help you with such documentation, especially for a smaller webshop. However, for a really serious-sized webshop, you might consider it.

Webshop development: DIY or outsource?

Here lies the biggest difference in your initial investment.

Option A: DIY

SaaS solutions like Shopify or Lightspeed offer a quick start. You usually don’t pay startup costs, but you do pay monthly subscription fees (at least 30 euro per month). Premium themes cost between €50-200.

For more flexibility, WordPress with WooCommerce is an excellent choice. The software itself is free, but you do need hosting. For smaller WooCommerce webshops, you can manage with hosting that costs around €10 per month. Premium WooCommerce themes cost €50-150 per year, premium plugins for payments and shipping another €200-500 per year. That said, initially, you can often make do with the free versions of these tools, keeping your costs very low.

For beginners, the AI Website Builder from my.host can make setting up a WooCommerce webshop much easier. With this tool, you can have a webshop setup online within fifteen minutes.

More experienced users can start directly with WordPress hosting from my.host for full control and freedom.

Of course, you’ll spend more time building your webshop yourself than if you outsource it. But besides reducing costs, it has another big advantage: flexibility and lower future costs. If you outsource, every time you want to make a change to your webshop, you need to consult with your developer. Even small and insignificant matters. That costs time (having to email or call back and forth) and money each time.

Option B: Outsource

A freelancer charges an average of €2,000-8,000 for a standard webshop. A web design agency asks for €5,000-25,000, depending on complexity and desired functionalities.

Custom work with advanced features like configurators or API integrations can run up to €50,000 or more.

Brand identity and branding

A professional appearance is essential. Getting a logo designed by a freelancer costs €200-1,000, a complete brand identity €500-3,000.

Budget-friendly alternative: get started with tools like Canva (free or €12.99/month for Pro). Then budget another €300-500 for print materials such as packaging (if you’re selling physical products).

Product procurement and inventory

When selling physical products, your initial stock is likely your largest expense. Depending on your industry and ambitions, this can range from €1,000 for a small collection to €50,000+ for an extensive inventory.

Don’t forget the costs for samples (€100-500) and product photography (€50-200 per product if outsourced, or €500-2,000 for a good camera setup to do it yourself).

Office and warehouse setup

For a home workspace you need at least:

• Desk and chair: €200-800
• Computer/laptop: €500-1,500
• Accounting software: €10-50/month

For storage and shipping:

• Shelving units: €100-500
• Label printer: €150-400
• Scale: €50-200
• Packaging materials: €200-500 initial stock

These are your recurring costs

Platform and hosting costs

SaaS platforms have monthly costs:

• Shopify: €29-299/month
• Lightspeed: €49-249/month

For WordPress/WooCommerce, you pay for hosting and a domain name. Hosting costs €5-50 per month, a domain name €10-15 per year.

Transaction and payment costs

Payment providers like Mollie or Stripe charge:

• Mollie: €0.29 + 1.8% per transaction
• Stripe: €0.25 + 1.4% per transaction

Some payment methods cost extra. Klarna (pay later) charges, for example, 3.29% + €0.25 per transaction.

Software and apps/plugins

Essential software:

• Accounting software (e-Boekhouden, Moneybird): €8-25/month
• Email marketing software (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign): €10-150/month
• Premium plugins (reviews, SEO, analytics): €50-300/year

Shipping and packaging costs

Shipping costs vary by carrier and volume:

• PostNL: €3.95-13.85 per package
• DHL: €4.95-15.95 per package

Monthly packaging costs: €50-500, depending on your sales volume.

Bank and insurance costs

• Business account: €0-15/month
• Business liability insurance: €15-50/month
• Inventory insurance: 0.1-0.3% of inventory value per year

Growth and visibility: variable costs

Marketing and advertisements

Online marketing is often one of your larger variable cost items:

• Google Ads: €1-10 per click (depending on competition)
• Facebook/Instagram ads: €0.50-3 per click
• Influencer marketing: €100-10,000 per campaign

You can do SEO and content marketing yourself (time investment) or outsource (€500-5,000/month).

Personnel and outsourcing

As you grow, you might consider outsourcing:

• Customer service: €15-25/hour
• Fulfillment (order picking/shipping): €2-5 per order
• Virtual assistant: €10-20/hour
• Marketing specialist: €30-75/hour

Conclusion: what is the total investment?

The costs of an online store vary greatly depending on your ambitions and approach. Below are 3 scenarios:

Hobby shop (€1,000-2,000)

• KvK registration and legal basics: €78
• AI Website Builder from my.host: €16/month
• Initial stock: €1,000
• Basic equipment: €500
• Monthly costs: €100-200

Full-time webshop (€4,000-15,000)

• Complete legal setup: €1,500
• WordPress hosting from my.host + premium theme: €300
• Professional branding: €1,500
• More extensive stock: €5,000
• Complete workspace and warehouse: €2,000
• Monthly costs: €300-600

For those with serious growth ambitions (€25,000-100,000+)

• Custom webshop by agency: €15,000
• Complete branding and marketing materials: €5,000
• Large stock: €25,000+
• Professional warehouse: €10,000
• Marketing budget: €2,000+/month
• Monthly costs: €1,000-5,000+

A truly simple hobby shop that only sells digital products can be much cheaper than this. I have a small webshop where I sell my own WordPress themes. Over the past years, I haven’t invested more than 500 euros in it (a considerable amount of time, however).

Starting an online store requires careful financial planning. Try to keep costs low at the beginning. Good hosting, branding, and a user-friendly website don’t have to be expensive. You can always expand as you grow.