In this guide about Shopify pricing, I'll explain how Shopify's fees work and explore the advantages and disadvantages of each plan. You might be wondering which plan is best for you.
Here's a quick summary:
Shopify Starter ($5 per month): Ideal if you want to sell on other websites, social networks, and in physical locations, but you don't need a standalone online store. You can also sell on Facebook and other messaging apps.
Basic ($39 per month): A versatile option for creating a standalone online store with multiple language and currency support. You can also sell in physical locations and extend your store's functionality through apps.
Shopify ($105 per month): Offers lower credit card processing fees, better shipping rates, and more comprehensive reporting tools.
Advanced ($399 per month): Suitable for large-volume sellers needing advanced features like real-time carrier shipping and international selling capabilities.
Shopify Plus (Negotiable, around $2,000 per month): Designed for high-volume sellers requiring dedicated account management, enhanced security, better API access, and multiple point-of-sale (POS) locations.
If you're considering using Shopify to sell products online, you may be overwhelmed by the various pricing plans. In this post, I'll dive deep into Shopify's pricing structure, covering each plan's key aspects. By the end of this article, you'll have a better idea of which plan aligns with your project's needs and understand alternative solutions if Shopify isn't the right fit for you.
But first, let's address a fundamental question:
What is Shopify?
Shopify is an application that allows you to create your own online store. It operates in a web browser, which means you can use it from anywhere as long as you have internet access. You don't need to install any software, and because it's a "hosted" solution, you don't need to worry about purchasing web hosting separately.
Shopify is a Software as a Service (SaaS) tool, meaning you pay a monthly fee to use it, and you don't own a copy of the software. The features you get depend on the pricing plan you choose, but all Shopify plans allow you to sell an unlimited number of products, both physical and digital, and to sell in physical locations through point-of-sale functionality.
Shopify Fees – Available Plans:
There are five Shopify plans:
- Starter – $5 per month
- Basic – $39 per month
- Shopify – $105 per month
- Advanced – $399 per month
- Shopify Plus – Negotiable (typically around $2,000 per month)
Shopify offers discounts if you pay upfront for an annual subscription, reducing your costs. For the latest discounts and offers, visit the Shopify website's pricing section.
Additionally, Shopify provides a free trial for you to explore the features offered by each plan. They also offer a "Shopify POS Pro" add-on for point-of-sale features, available for an extra $89 per location per month ($79 when billed annually).
Next, I'll explore the 'Starter' plan in detail:
Shopify Starter ($5 per month):
Shopify Starter is an affordable option that allows you to add e-commerce and dropshipping capabilities to an existing website. It doesn't provide a fully functional standalone online store. With this plan, you can:
- Sell an unlimited number of products on an existing website.
- Sell in physical locations using a card reader and other point-of-sale hardware.
- Expand your sales to Facebook and other sales channels, like Instagram, eBay, and Amazon.
- Utilize the "Buy Button" feature, which lets you embed your products on another website. This is ideal for those with an existing website who want to add e-commerce functionality to it.
The 'Starter' plan is excellent for selling digital products, like music or eBooks. Shopify simplifies the complexity of selling digital goods, especially regarding VAT MOSS rules, where you might need to apply varying VAT rates depending on the customer's location. Shopify offers a 'Digital Downloads' app to handle this efficiently.
Furthermore, if you're primarily interested in selling on Facebook and don't need a standalone store, 'Shopify Starter' is a suitable choice. You can easily publish your products on your Facebook page, but note that this plan doesn't support selling digital products on Facebook due to their shipping restrictions.
The plan includes credit card fees, with rates depending on whether purchases are made online or in person using a card reader. It also has transaction fees and is suitable for users who need a basic online store extension without the full Shopify suite.
Shopify Basic ($39 per month):
The 'Basic' plan is the most affordable Shopify option that enables you to create a fully functional standalone online store. Key features include:
- A fully featured website version for your store.
- The ability to sell an unlimited number of products.
- Point-of-sale functionality for in-person sales.
- Unlimited bandwidth.
- Two staff accounts.
- 24/7 support via phone, email, and live chat.
- Manual order creation.
- Discount code creation.
- A free SSL certificate for secure hosting.
- Abandoned cart recovery.
- Gift cards.
- A blog.
- Inventory syncing with marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, and eBay.
- E-commerce automation tools.
- Discounted shipping rates.
- Ability to print shipping labels.
- Fraud analysis.
- Real-time carrier shipping rates in select countries.
The 'Basic' plan also provides multilingual selling support, abandoned cart recovery, automation tools, and improved customer support. It's suitable for those who need a fully functional online store with the flexibility to customize its design using Shopify themes.
Next, I'll explain the differences between 'Basic Shopify' and 'Shopify Starter' plans and delve into the features offered by the 'Basic' plan.
'Basic Shopify' vs 'Shopify Starter' – Key Differences:
The main advantage of the 'Basic Shopify' plan over 'Shopify Starter' is the ability to create a fully functional, standalone online store. This includes blogging features that are crucial for generating traffic through inbound marketing and point-of-sale functionality for processing orders in physical locations, such as retail stores or market stalls.
With the 'Basic' plan, you get the ability to use a wide range of themes or templates for your online store. While free themes are available and can be customized with CSS and HTML, you can also choose from paid themes, ranging from $150 to $390, providing more design options.
Additionally, 'Basic Shopify' includes multilingual selling features, abandoned cart recovery, automation of e-commerce tasks using 'Shopify Flow,' and phone support alongside email and live chat support. It's suitable for businesses that require a full-featured online store with enhanced customization and customer support.
If you need to set up shipping rules based on price or weight, you can easily do so with any Shopify plan. For real-time shipping rates, Shopify offers 'Shopify Shipping' in select countries, which provides discounts and live estimates at checkout. Alternatively, you can use third-party calculated shipping rates based on location.
Lastly, I'll briefly touch upon dropshipping with Shopify, as many potential users wonder how it facilitates this fulfillment method where you don't keep products in stock.
Dropshipping with Shopify:
To facilitate dropshipping with Shopify, you can install third-party apps available in the Shopify app store.
