In the paragraph “What Is Dropshipping?,” we go into detail about the advantages and disadvantages of running a dropshipping business.
One of the pros listed in the article is the low cost to get started.
So, how much money does it cost to start a dropshipping business? This is a question that people always want to know the answer to.
- How much it will cost to start a dropshipping business
- Make a store
- Website Name
- Hosting Service
- Tool for Dropshipping
- Marketing
- Duration
- Summary
Before you can answer this question, you need to know that you can start a dropshipping store in many ways.
Most dropshippers choose between Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix to open their stores. Prices are different on each platform.
In this article, we’ll look at how much it costs to start a dropshipping store on each platform.
How much it will cost to start a dropshipping business?
For the store itself, the domain name, hosting service, dropshipping tools, and advertising, you will need a small amount of money to start your business.
The costs will depend on the platforms you use, but here is a breakdown:
Make a store:
You need to find a platform to build your online store on and pay for it. You can make a store on different platforms, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, or Wix. Don’t decide quickly if you don’t know much about those platforms. Take your time to learn about the pros and cons of running a store on different platforms by doing some research. It’s important to pick a platform that fits your needs and wants.
Shopify
Shopify is an online store that makes it easy for anyone to sell things online. Technically, you don’t have to pay anything to start a store on Shopify because it gives you a free 14-day trial.
After that, if you choose the Basic plan, the least you’ll have to pay each month for a subscription is $29. The Basic plan should have enough features for a store that is just getting started, like the ability to sell unlimited products, create orders manually, get a free SSL certificate, make secure online payments, etc.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is very different from Shopify and Wix when it comes to setting up a store. WooCommerce is an e-commerce plugin for online stores that use the WordPress platform.
WooCommerce and WordPress are both free, but don’t get too excited just yet. Unlike Shopify and Wix, if you want to start your business there, you’ll have to pay for the domain name and web hosting.
Prices for WooCommerce can quickly add up if you buy paid themes and plugins or hire a professional tech person to help you improve your store.
One thing we really want to stress is that customising your WooCommerce store and WordPress site takes a lot more time, work, and IT skills than running a store on Shopify.
Wix
Wix is a website builder that lets you build websites in the cloud. As Wix moves into e-commerce, online merchants can also choose to run their stores on the platform. Wix’s Business Basic plan costs $23 per month and comes with everything a new store owner needs to get started, like a custom domain, a free domain for a year, secure online payments, etc.
Website Name
A brand store is a good place to shop. Your domain name is just as important as your products. It is part of who you are and will help your customers feel more connected to your brand.
Customers can find your website on the internet by typing in its unique address. Your credibility can also go up if you have a professional domain name.
You can ask your friends for ideas or use a name generator, but make sure the domain name is something you and other people will like!
TIP: Whether you’re going to read our guide nearby to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, ensure that you take advantage of Black Friday hosting deals to get hosting for additional cheap.
Hosting Service
Hosting is the next thing you need to do to start a dropshipping store. To put it simply, your website needs a server.
Like domain names, it’s easy to find a lot of web hosting providers by searching on Google. GoDaddy, Hostinger, and Bluehost are some of the big names we recommend.
Just type in the name of the host you want plus “Black Friday” and you will find the deals, either on the host’s site or on a blog that is promoting it. Here’s an example of a blogger talking about this year’s HostGator Black Friday deals.
Tool for Dropshipping
Next, you need a tool for dropshipping. In short, a dropshipping tool connects your store and your suppliers.
The tool helps you not only manage your products and add them to your store, but also place orders with your suppliers and keep track of their status.
A good dropshipping tool can save you a lot of time and trouble when it comes to running your dropshipping store. Because of this, we strongly suggest that you choose carefully.
The price of each dropshipping tool depends on the tool itself, the subscription plan you choose, and the platform it works on.
Marketing
You might need to spend the most money on advertising. But as a new business, you can always use some of the low-cost ways to market your store, like improving your SEO and sending out emails.
If you want to grow your dropshipping business, you will need to advertise your products to get customers and orders. You can use Google, Facebook, Instagram, or any other platform to advertise.
The cost of an ad will depend on the platform you choose and who you want to reach. Make sure you do research to find out which platform is best for the products you sell.
To give you an idea of how much it costs to advertise on Facebook, an ad that brings 100 new people to your store will cost you an average of $111.50. This is how we came up with that number.
According to data from WordStream, about 0.9% of people who see Facebook ads click on them. Let’s just say it’s 1% to make our math easier.
You will need an ad that can reach 10,000 people to bring 100 people to your store (10,000 impressions).
According to more information from Revealbot, the average cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM) in 2020 will be around $11.15.
So, here’s how we figure out how much an ad will cost that aims to bring 100 new customers to your store.
Duration
Steadily for the past but just not least, a time you dedicate researching, opening and running a store, learning how to promote your business online, etc. is also a very big cost that you shouldn’t ignore.
As we said in “What is selling online?,” selling online is not a quick way to make money out of thin air. Instead, it takes time and effort, especially if you want to stand out in the e-commerce world, which is extremely competitive.
Haven’t really underestimate how much work and time dropshipping will take from you. If you want to do well with dropshipping, you should always be ready and work to learn more about it.
Summary
In this article, we’ve talked about most of the costs you’ll have to pay to start dropshipping, such as creating a store, buying a domain name, getting web hosting, buying dropshipping tools, advertising, and time.
Depending on the e-commerce platform you choose, you may have to pay for some of the costs and you may not have to. To keep things simple and make sure you understand the main point, here is the minimum budget we would suggest for opening a new dropshipping store with basic features:
As you can see, the cost to open a new dropshipping store depends a lot on the e-commerce platform you choose.
But dropshipping is still one of the few ways to start a business that requires a small amount of cash up front.
We hope that everything goes well when you start your own online business!
