---
title: "How much does an online store cost? The real bill, month by month"
description: "What you pay once, what you pay every month and what the payment gateway takes from each sale. Real numbers to decide whether selling online pays off."
date: "2026-10-26"
category: "Websites for business"
keywords: "how much does an online store cost, online store running costs, payment gateway fees, ecommerce cost small business, monthly ecommerce expenses"
portada: "/portadas/portada-cuanto-cuesta-una-tienda-online.webp"
---

A client with a clothing shop in Vecindario asked me last month how much it cost to "set up the online store". I gave her one figure and her face changed. I gave her a lower one and her face changed again. The problem wasn't the figure: she was comparing an online store to buying a shop window, when it's actually closer to opening premises. Yes, there's building work, but there's also electricity, water and rent every single month.

So let's separate the three things that almost always get mixed into that one question: what you pay once, what you pay every month, and what the bank or the gateway takes every time someone buys.

## What you pay once (and never see again)

- **Your own domain.** Between €10 and €15 a year for a `.com` or `.es`. Don't put it in the platform's name: if you ever move, the domain comes with you.
- **The website itself.** A store with a catalogue, product pages, a cart and a payment gateway is not a three-section landing page. On the Spanish market it runs between €400 and €1,500 for a small business with fewer than 100 products, and it climbs a fair bit when there are size and colour variants, stock that updates by itself or a link to your invoicing software.
- **Photos and copy.** This is the most underrated line. A catalogue of 30 products with decent photos means two to four hours of shooting, plus retouching. If you do it yourself with a phone and a window, it costs zero euros and many evenings.
- **Setting up the payment gateway.** Usually free, but they ask for company or self-employed details and a bank account in your name.

With that you can already sell. Everything else is what really decides whether the business holds up.

## What you pay every month, no way around it

This is where people get the surprise. An online store isn't a one-off expense, it's a standing charge.

| Item | Typical monthly range |
|---|---|
| Platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, Prestashop…) | €0 to €40 |
| Hosting and backups | €5 to €20 |
| Domain (spread monthly) | ~€1 |
| Professional email | €0 to €6 |
| Maintenance, updates and fixes | €15 to €60 |

The best-known platform sits around €30 a month on its basic plan. The free option (WooCommerce on WordPress) has no licence cost, but someone has to maintain it: any update can break the cart, and if you can't do that yourself, you pay for it.

## What it takes out of every sale

The payment gateway doesn't charge up front: it takes a percentage of every order. European cards usually sit between 1.4% and 2.9% plus a fixed amount of around €0.25. Instant bank transfer and regular transfers are cheaper, but many people don't use them to buy.

Run the numbers with an average order of €35 and 100 orders a month (€3,500 in sales):

- 1.5% commission: €52.50
- Fixed fee per transaction (€0.25 × 100): €25
- **Total the gateway keeps: about €77 a month**

Add the platform fee and maintenance and you'll see that, before paying for stock, shipping or advertising, the store has already eaten between €100 and €150 a month. It's not a drama, but you need to know it before you set your prices.

## The three costs nobody puts in the spreadsheet

1. **Returns.** In fashion, between 15% and 30% of what's sold comes back. Every return costs you the shipping back and, often, a product you can no longer sell as new.
2. **New photos.** Clothes change season four times a year. The January catalogue is no good in April, and every refresh is another photo shoot.
3. **Customer service.** "Will it fit me?", "when does it arrive?", "I want to exchange it". An online store opens questions at any hour; if nobody's answering, it turns into lost sales and bad reviews.

## When it is NOT worth it

I'm not trying to sell you an online store here. Some businesses end up paying too much for one:

- **A very short catalogue.** If you sell five made-to-measure products, a catalogue with an order form does the same job for less.
- **Products decided by talking.** Kitchens, renovations, made-to-order cakes, wedding bouquets: the client needs to talk to you before paying.
- **Fewer than 20 or 30 orders a month.** At that volume the monthly fee eats the margin. A well-built catalogue plus orders by WhatsApp or email works better and lets you test product and prices without paying for a platform.

What is worth having from day one is **your own website with the catalogue**, even if the order closes over a message. It's what people find on Google, what you can show when someone asks, and the base you later build the store on without starting from scratch.

## The order that usually works

1. A website with catalogue, prices and a clear way to order.
2. Orders by WhatsApp or email, with a form that pings your phone.
3. When volume forces you to track stock by hand, move to a store with a cart.
4. And then yes: payment gateway, automated shipping and invoicing connected.

If you already have the website and want to know what's missing to sell online without wasting money, or if you're at step one and don't know where to start, you can [request a free design proposal](/solicita-web/en): I'll tell you what your specific business needs, with numbers, and you decide in your own time.

You may also find these useful:

- [How much does it cost to keep a website running](/blog/en/cuanto-cuesta-mantener-una-web) — the standing charge almost nobody asks about before ordering.
- [Websites for online stores](/blog/en/web-para-tiendas-online) — which sections a store that actually sells needs.

The good question isn't how much an online store costs, but how many orders a month you need for the store to pay for itself. If you're clear on that number, the rest is arithmetic.