When we talk about developing a website, we should also talk about the expenses. Using a free plugin like WooCommerce will surely reduce your expenses in the business. Imagine if you should hire a professional website developer to work on your e-commerce website, the time and money it takes might not be balanced with your income from the business in the first months.
As one of the biggest plugin for online store website, WooCommerce has been providing service for about 30% e-commerce website worldwide. Why is it the best choice for your e-commerce business? It’s free. Yes, you are free to register an account on WooCommerce and can start your online store at any time.
It is possible to run a simple online store relying only on WooCommerce and WordPress. However, it may need just more than a plugin to go on with your e-commerce website. You need to put a little effort in it by creating the most comfortable website for your audience.
The convenience in making an online store with WooCommerce might lead you to uncontrollable spending. You may want to try a different theme and don’t find the right one on the first try. Or, you might buy ineffective extensions and features. In order to plan the best setting on WooCommerce, you need to know the basic to WooCommerce pricing.
The Free Plugin Features
First, you need to know what to expect on the free WooCommerce plugin. Though it may be enough to create a working online store, you might need additional features to get serious into the business.
With the free plugin, you will get features for selling digital, physical, and virtual products. The features in WooCommerce are already integrated with flat rate shipping and taxes calculator. By using WooCommerce, you also get to receive payment via PayPal which will make it easier for you and the customers. Furthermore, your customers get to have their registered account with a separate area. In their area, they can see their order status and can keep the downloaded product there.
However, the free plugin features do not include web hosting and SSL certificate. To get the website working, you may want to consider these costs. To complete your store, you may need to have a plugin for SEO, live chat, and website translation. In addition to that, you may also need more than just PayPal on the payment method. So, you better consider looking around the extensions to get from the unlimited choice.
WooCommerce Extensions
To have complete features on your online store, you will need to buy some extensions. For example, if you don’t want to rely only on PayPal, you may need to buy the extension to access Stripe. Stripe is a payment processing extension which will give your website the ability to process most types of credit cards.
If your website or product will charge a subscription cost to your customers, there is an extension for the purpose. The Subscription extension will help you to process the monthly billing to your customers. Such extension will cost you around $199 per year.
Most WooCommerce add-ons and extensions cost around $49 to $249 annually. Because of the wide range of choices on add-ons and extensions, we can safely say that the WooCommerce pricing is based on your website needs. Remember, you need to set out a budget so that you are not tempted with all the fancy extensions. Choose the most appropriate features that will work for your online store.
Hosting and Domain
A website hosting is where you will take care of your plugin and extension. While managing your website can be done easily through WordPress, you still need to pay for the hosting service. You may use different hostings like 1 & 1 WordPress, Bluehost, One.com, or GoDaddy. Most of the website hosting will cost around $5 to $30 per month.
It is better that you avoid the cheapest one on the market as it impacts the speed, space, and security for your website. The price will depend a lot on the feature you need. Some hosting companies like Bluehost provide pre-installed WooCommerce and WordPress with a slight price difference.
Domains like .net or .com will certainly make your website look professional. You can do this through the hosting company, or you can also buy it separately. The domain will cost around $8 to $15 annually depending on the name you choose. The more popular the name, the more expensive it is.
SSL Certificate
Since WooCommerce pricing does not include an SSL certificate, you need to buy the certificate all by yourself. Basically, SSL certificate is the data that will bind the organization details on your website. It also creates a secure connection between the website server and the browser.
To get an SSL certificate, you need to generate the information of the CSR on your website server. Next, you have to submit the CSR to the Certificate Authority and have your certificate sent after your domain and company was being validated. The cost of buying an SSL certificate can be as high as $699 per year. However, you can also choose the cheaper one at $499 and $149 depending on where you buy it.
More Payment Gateways Means Wider Customers
Sure, most people now have a PayPal account, but that would limit your customers to the PayPal users only. Some people tend to cancel the purchase if they do not find the right payment method to go on. To deal with it, you may want to consider adding more than just one payment method.
Payment processor like Stripe will help you with payment through credit cards. It will surely accommodate the customers who don’t have PayPal account with them. Though WooCommerce pricing used to charge the company for using this extension, now it’s completely free to add Stripe to your website.
However, you will also need to consider the additional charge fee that comes with the payment processor. The fees will depend a lot on the sales number, transaction type, and the origin of the payment. Combined together, the monthly charge for payment gateways can cost you around $6 to $8 per month.
Avoid Spend More Than Your Business Can Handle
Overall, creating an online store using WooCommerce can cost more than $500 per year. Some of the extension bills will come monthly, or you can set it on the yearly billing so that you can make a yearly plan for expenses.
Temptation can be a hard thing to avoid especially if you want to have the perfect e-commerce website for your online store. So, plan out your budget and stick to it so that you will find a balance between your online income and expenses.