Guide
E-commerce website cost: the real total
Updated:
Setup price is the visible part of the iceberg. The real question is what you will have paid after twelve months — and how much of it scales with sales.
Three layers of cost
E-commerce cost has three layers, and quotes usually cover only the first:
- Setup (one-off). Platform, design, product data entry, integrations.
- Fixed operating (monthly). Subscription or servers, maintenance, domain, email.
- Variable (scales with sales). Payment commission, marketplace commission, shipping, advertising.
The third layer is usually the largest and the least discussed. As turnover grows, setup cost becomes irrelevant and commission rates become decisive.
Setup cost: 2026 ranges
| Approach | Common range | When it is right |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted platform, stock theme | ₺12,000 – 40,000 | Few products, standard selling, fast start |
| Hosted platform, custom design | ₺40,000 – 120,000 | When brand appearance matters |
| Custom e-commerce software | ₺120,000 – 280,000 | Dealer/B2B, special pricing, ERP integration |
| Marketplace / multi-vendor | ₺200,000 and above | Platforms with multiple sellers |
Source: agency price pages published in Türkiye in 2026. Not a quotation.
Quotes below these ranges usually exclude one of: product data entry, payment integration, shipping integration, content production or post-launch support. Make sure you are comparing the same scope.
Fixed monthly costs
| Item | Typical monthly range | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Platform subscription | ₺1,500 – 15,000 | Varies by plan and turnover tier |
| Servers (if self-hosted) | ₺1,000 – 8,000 | Depends on traffic and resources |
| Maintenance and support | ₺8,000 – 16,000 | If working with an agency; scope must be written |
| Domain and SSL | ~₺100 – 300 | Monthly equivalent of annual fees |
| Corporate email | ₺0 – 1,500 | Cheaper when hosted on your own server |
Costs that grow with sales
These scale with turnover, so they define your margin.
- Payment gateway commission. Set by your bank agreement. Decide up front who absorbs instalment commission.
- Marketplace commission. Varies by category and is usually higher than gateway fees. Marketplaces bring volume and take margin.
- Shipping. Contracted rates improve with volume. “Free shipping” isn’t free; it moves the cost to you.
- Returns and exchanges. A meaningful rate in many sectors, with two-way shipping cost.
- Advertising. Often the largest variable in the early months. Without conversion tracking, its efficiency cannot be measured.
Forgotten items
- Product photography and descriptions. A hundred-product catalogue is a content project in itself. Copying supplier text does not rank.
- Legal texts. Distance selling contract, returns policy and data protection notices are mandatory.
- Accounting integration. Turning orders into invoices manually becomes a staffing cost as volume grows.
- Warehouse and packing. Not software cost, but the real cost of e-commerce.
- Seasonal campaign work. Visual production and campaign setup is recurring effort.
Example: twelve-month total
The table below is an example, not a quotation. Its purpose is to show why focusing on setup price misleads.
| Item | Scenario A: hosted | Scenario B: custom |
|---|---|---|
| Setup (one-off) | ₺35,000 | ₺150,000 |
| Platform / servers (12 months) | ₺36,000 | ₺24,000 |
| Maintenance (12 months) | — | ₺60,000 |
| Fixed total | ₺71,000 | ₺234,000 |
| Commissions at ₺1,000,000 turnover | Plan tier + gateway | Gateway only |
Figures are mid-points of published market ranges. Run the numbers with your own.
At low turnover the hosted route is clearly cheaper. As turnover grows and workflows specialise, the equation flips. The right question is not “which is cheaper” but “which is cheaper at my turnover”.
Three questions to decide
- Is my workflow standard? If yes, hosted. Dealer pricing, made-to-measure or ERP coupling point to custom.
- What will turnover be in twelve months? Commission-based cost scales with it — calculate now.
- Who should own data and code? Is platform dependency acceptable, or must the stack be yours?
Frequently asked
What is the cheapest way to start selling online?
A hosted platform’s entry plan with a stock theme and your own product data entry. That route is genuinely cheap and sensible for validation. In exchange, your design looks like everyone else’s, custom workflows aren’t possible, and migration costs appear when you grow.
At what turnover does custom software make sense?
There is no single threshold; the calculation is: if (subscription + commission difference) × 12 months exceeds (setup + servers + maintenance), custom pays for itself. In high-commission categories that point arrives quickly. Don’t decide without running your own numbers.
Isn’t selling on marketplaces enough?
Marketplaces bring volume but not three things: customer data, brand and margin. The customer belongs to the platform, not to you. The healthy model is usually both together — with stock synchronisation.
Is free shipping profitable?
Yes, while it raises average basket value. Unconditional free shipping loses money on small orders. The common approach is a free-shipping threshold slightly above your average basket.
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Give us your product count, target turnover and selling model, and we’ll compare both models over twelve months using your figures.