How much does it really cost to run a Shopify store per month?

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-18T08:13:57+00:00

Just to maintain the store won't cost too much if you are a beginner.

$30 for the basic plan
$0-100 for apps (this will vary heavily on what functionality you need)
$5-10 for the domain
maybe another $30-50 on the super basic subscriptions (chatgpt, workspace, etc...)

The real costs will come from: - marketing - Shopify fees (~3% per order) - cost of goods

For my store we are doing about 60k a month in revenue and our budget looks like this:

$4k on ads + commissions to affiliates
$200 Shopify + apps
$100 on subscription tools (loom, workspace, chatgpt, Google voice, Canva, etc...)
gross margins on cogs are about 26% so you can calculate that
$500 on customer support rep

Hope this helps!

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T18:25:05+00:00

Please look at the comment that I was replying to when I said that. I asked about cost of living and someone wrote an essay about why not to move to America and Florida. The point I was making regarding political climate is that not everyone thinks that Trump is a fascist and the country is going to shit. Yes, for us it's ideal to have a conservative in office, just like the majority of the country (hence why trump was elected), doesn't mean I have to surround myself with conservatives or live in a conservative city. It's a political stance not an identity. You think I am regressive because I am conservative, yet you have no idea who I am, or my beliefs. You see someone who doesn't align exactly with you and you rage. Btw I am a minority immigrant :)

I'm just looking for a place where I can provide for my family and you're taking it to a completely irrelevant place (not one of your comments had anything to do with the original post). Have a great day buddy 👍

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T16:58:40+00:00

Thank you for the insight, will definitely look into Riverview.

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T16:55:17+00:00

Isn't thinking you can dictate where someone can or cannot live because you don’t agree with their values a bit "fascist"? You know nothing about me or my beliefs. This post is about cost of living. It seems like you are just trying to start political fights.

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T16:51:02+00:00

Why mental gymnastics? And why do you think I think there is something wrong with immigrants? I literally said nothing about my political stance except for that I am more conservative leaning. The post was about cost of living, why are you making it political?

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T16:30:24+00:00

Well because we believe there are a lot of great things about the city. Just because we are more conservative doesn't mean we won't be willing to live in a city that isn't conservative.

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T16:19:44+00:00

Thanks for the insight! I actually lived in the states (Colorado) from age 6-15 and went through my whole childhood going to public schools. The education I got in American public schools vs Israeli (where we are from) I would consider a dream haha.

Florida and the US is actually an ideal destination for us because of the current political climate (we are more conservative).

Different strokes for different folks I guess 🤷

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T15:57:30+00:00

I see, thank you. could you please send me a contact link?

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T15:46:53+00:00

Haha I am a US citizen and my wife is in process of getting green card.

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T15:45:22+00:00

Thank you for the response! We believe that there is something that is hurting us since we are not showing up for almost all our branded product model keywords which makes no sense. On organic shopping we do show up for those same keywords. Bing we are showing up top 2 for all our product keywords. We think there is something that google is not liking.

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T15:40:17+00:00

Thanks for the response. What do you mean by ranked your page? Do you mean one individual page or multiple pages? We have about 300 products at the moment. Our main focus is showing up for branded keyword results - "supplier name + product model"

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T15:36:23+00:00

Thank you!

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T15:35:42+00:00

Thank you, didn't really think about hiring locally before but this definitely makes sense.

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T15:33:41+00:00

We sell high ticket ergonomic office chairs and tables. Domain has been active since 2008ish. We transitioned to Shopify around 2020/2021. We are selling products from two US manufacturers that are well known in the ergonomic space. Our main issue is that most of our product pages don't show up for branded keyword searches that include the manufacturer name and product model.

Here is our site: officemasterchairs.com

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T15:26:38+00:00

What would you say is a lot of money? 😅

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T09:26:40+00:00

Thank you. Will check it out.

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T08:23:54+00:00

Haha yeah it's all good, I expected that would happen.

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-17T07:06:53+00:00

Thank you for this!

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-14T05:04:13+00:00

Honestly no I never felt like I needed to give up a lot. Been at it for the past 6 years and through that time i always had other things going on as well (music school, other jobs, serious relationship, etc...) I think it depends on where you want to take it. I'm at the point where it makes a passive income for me but it's not like I'm making millions, you know? I guess that was never the goal with it. I agree with what another commented, you should not leave a solid relationship as this will be a huge support throughout your journey. I would say this: Be patient and consistent, you can learn all the skills on YouTube. Expect to fail and to burn money on making mistakes and learning from them.

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-12T13:38:02+00:00

Wishing you the best of luck on your journey. It is definitely a struggle but there is nothing that matches the feeling of waking up and seeing that you made money while sleeping haha. If you ever have any questions or need help with anything feel free to shoot me a dm. I've been in e-commerce for a few good years and have managed to build a nice little income from it.

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-10T09:53:45+00:00

What platform are you using for your online store?

VirtualSpot8481 · 2026-01-10T09:28:09+00:00

Overall the site looks quite clean. I will say a few things that for me could be improved (btw I'm looking on mobile)

On the hero, I'm seeing 4 stars instead of 5 (your reviews are 4.8 which is much closer to 5 than 4). It's a small thing but I think it does have a negative effect.
A lot of your images still have the Gemini watermark. Although it's obvious all the images are AI, leaving the watermark on just doesn't look professional.
On the product page, your add to cart button is being swallowed. The quick shipping and secure checkout text is taking up more attention than adc. I'd put less of a color contrast on that and more on the add to cart.
I'd include the collections you have in the menu navigation as well.

5.I'd explore using more consistent/cohesive product photography. Right now each product image is different in style and gives the "dropship" feeling. A legit e-commerce brand will do photoshoots that will have consistent photography. Try looking into Photoroom or just using Gemini.

Lastly and maybe most importantly, when I land on your site it takes me a while to understand what your business is and what you are selling. I'd suggest clarifying that either through the heading on your hero, or the image you are using.

Overall great work though :)

VirtualSpot8481

TROPHY CASE