Shopify Plans And Prices Analysis: Which Is The Best?

If you’re searching the market for an ecommerce platform to kickstart your online business, you would surely have come across Shopify. When you start a business online, you will definitely require a platform for you to perform basic business operations. These operations can include looking for an online storefront to showcase your products or services, communicate with your customers, accept online payments and other basic operations.

So, what is Shopify? How can it help you run your business effectively? And most importantly, how much does it cost you to utilise all the functions of a well-established online selling platform? Let’s dive into it.

By the way, even when you set up an online business, it would be good for you to consider registering a company to make it official. There are tax advantages to doing so, and it will be better for your professional image. Otherwise, do read on.

What Is Shopify?

To put it simply, Shopify is a self-hosted ecommerce platform with a library of over 3,000 apps to help you elevate your online store. Don’t worry if you’re a new entrepreneur with no previous ecommerce experience. Shopify prides itself on its easy to use user interface that works flawlessly for both first-time founders and individuals with existing technical skills.

Here are some steps to get you started on using the site:

1. Sign up with a registered email address
2. Browse through pre-built templates or create your own
3. Look through the app library and add apps to spice up your store
4. Start selling

Of course, before you start selling on your online store, you should have incorporated your company and have all the paperwork done, so that you can focus on running your store. Not to fret if you haven’t registered or are unsure on how to get started, our friendly and specialised ecommerce accountants can help you incorporate your company in the UK.

How Much Do I Pay And What Plans Are Available On Shopify?

Well, you can pretty much sell anything you can think of through Shopify. Here are some ideas to get your adrenaline rushing - it may give you some business ideas along the way.

• Dropshipping store selling physical products including T-shirts and gift boxes.
• Interior designer selling design services.
• Gym owner selling gym memberships.
• Website designer selling e-courses.
• Event organiser selling tickets to a concert.
• A homemaker selling lessons on how to cook.
• Home-grown fashion designer renting dresses and gowns.

The above are just a few examples. You could probably sell anything you can think of on Shopify. By the way, before you go ahead with what you plan to sell, be sure that your product or service is legal in your country. An easier way is to go through Shopify’s official terms of service before you dive head in. Alternatively, send them a message on customer support to speak with an officer directly.

Shopify offers a couple of plans that come with a range of services you can use based on the plan level you require. We’ll break them down into the plans you can choose for startups and SMEs or fast-growing businesses, highlighting the points we think you need most.

Best Plans For Startups

The plan you should get for your new ecommerce business:

Basic Shopify at $29 USD per month

If you find your startup growing at a reasonable speed, consider upgrading to this plan instead.

Shopify at $79 USD per month

As you can see, the main differences between Basic Shopify and Shopify are the credit card rates for online and in-person payments. If you prefer to minimise your credit card rates for payments and plan on selling internationally, we suggest you consider going for the Shopify plan.

Best Plan For SMEs And Fast Growing Businesses

For SMEs, and scaling businesses that require advanced reporting, here’s the plan you should probably go for.

Advanced Shopify at USD 299 per month

As you can see, Advanced Shopify is catered for increased demand of international sales, when you require individual product prices, third-party calculated shipping rates and country-specific domains for international payment options. We recommend this plan for SMEs who have locations overseas and a relatively big customer base, local and overseas.

For startups and SMEs, these are the three plans we think you should consider - Basic Shopify, Shopify and Advanced Shopify.

However, if you feel that these plans are not quite what you’re looking for, Shopify has two other offerings at the end of each spectrum as well.

For Merchants Who Only Wish To Sell In-person Via Pos Lite Or Online On Their Website

At USD 9 a month, you can opt for Shopify Lite. Here’s what you can do with this plan.

• Include the Buy Button on your website
• Utilise Shopify POS Lite sales channels
• Get an overview of your dashboard including:
  • Finances reports
  • Customer profiles
  • Order management
  • Product management
  • Mobile POS and hardware
  • Email carts
  • QR code product details
  • In-store inventory
  • Gift cards
  • Discount codes

Remember, you cannot build an online store with Shopify Lite. This plan allows you to use basic Shopify features on top of your existing physical store POS or online website.

For Large Global Scale Merchants

At USD 2,000 per month, the Shopify Plus plan gives you more all-in functions in your Shopify admin account. We encourage you to use this plan only if your business is large scale and has a sustainable customer base and following. For startups and SMEs, this is most likely not the plan you should go for when focusing on increasing your profit margin.

If you are considering this plan, reach out to a Shopify Plus expert before committing to the plan.

Still on the fence about which plan to get started with? We highly encourage you to go for the Basic Shopify plan. Of course, do not forget to use your free 14-day trial to get a sense of what you can do with Shopify.

Next steps

We know starting your own online business is not simple, and you are not alone in this process. Be it company formation, ecommerce accounting in the UK, bookkeeping and more, our team of experts here at Osome are here to guide you through all the paperwork and processes you need to know.

We have the knowledge to analyse documents from any selling platform, including Shopify, Amazon, Stripe and other platforms. Of course, you could do it yourself as a business owner, but be sure to know that you can get our help and focus on running your business! Talk to our experts today and let us show you how we can help. Alternatively, feel free to browse through our blog for various guides on building your business.