How Much Does Shopify Cost In The UK?

Let’s get this one out of the way first. Technically you can start a store for free, but you can’t actually sell anything on it without a paid plan. 

Shopify does offer a free 14-day trial - without asking for card details - but it’s designed so you can set your store up, find your way around, and get a feel for whether it’s right for you. It’s not until you choose your monthly or annual plan that you’ll be able to start selling your products or services.

Shopify in the UK has five distinct licence tiers, each suited to businesses in a particular stage of growth.

The table below gives you a quick cost comparison between the five tiers - showing costs per month versus the available discounts for setting up multi-year contracts.

We’d always recommend starting out on a monthly plan until you’re comfortable that Shopify is the right platform for you, and you have a regular income stream. This will allow you to then commit to an annual plan, reaping the benefits of a more than 20% discount.

Which Shopify Plan Is Best For My Store?

This will come down to a combination of required features, and your forecast of sales and revenue through the store. If your revenue is at a certain level, then by signing up for a higher tier and paying a higher monthly (or annual) fee, you could actually save money overall through the reduction in transaction fees.

You can read more about the specific features of each Shopify plan here. 

And for guidance on which plan is right for you from a commercial perspective, you can download our free Shopify Cost Calculator. Simply input a few predicted numbers, and you’ll our calculator will give you a forecast of the levels of fees and revenues you could expect on each plan.

If you’re still not sure which plan is right for you, or what functionality you’ll need for your new Shopify store, we’re here to help. You can book a quick consultation here to discuss.

So you may be wondering, does Shopify charge a fee for every transaction?

Well, the short answer is yes. But this is not just a ‘Shopify thing’. It’s a fairly commonplace cost of operating an online store - in the same way that a card processing terminal in a physical store will take a percentage fee for each and every transaction.

Equally, every online card processor, such as Worldpay, SagePay, Stripe, etc, will charge you a percentage of the transaction to use their service. The level of fee varies, depending on the volume of transactions (or revenue) that you sign up for processing when you enter a contract, and, on occasion, the type of card that’s processed.

For Shopify’s own payment processor, ‘Shopify Payments’, the percentage changes based on the licence tier you sign up for. As you move up the tiers, the percentage charge decreases. You can check out the table below for an overview of Shopify Payments UK transaction fees.

Can I Use Worldpay Or Stripe On Shopify?

You can use a separate payment solution other than Shopify Payments, such as Worldpay or Stripe. However, Shopify will levy an additional percentage on top of the fee you’re already paying your current processor.

In many scenarios, unless you are bound by contract or your product is not permitted under Shopify Payments, then commercially and functionally Shopify Payments is by far the best route to go. It offers a five-minute sign-up process, has some of the widest payment options on offer, and delivers daily payments into your account.

The table below outlines the processing fees for card processing on Shopify here in the UK, including the third-party levy for using a payment solution other than Shopify Payments.

How Much Will I Pay In Shopify Transaction Fees?

Unsure how much you’ll pay in processing fees with Shopify Payments? 

Our free Shopify UK Pricing Calculator can help you work out how much you’re likely to pay in transaction fees - and whether you may benefit from signing up for a higher Shopify licence tier. Just pop in a few details and we’ll email you the link and instructions on how to use it.

So this is where the costs become a bit ‘how long is a piece of string?’...

Shopify Applications

If you’re considering functionality beyond what’s already within the main Shopify platform, such as subscriptions, product reviews or dropshipping (the list is endless), then you’ll probably need at least some third-party apps. 

Shopify runs an incredible App Store for its platform, in which you’ll find a wide range of superb free tools, and those from global technology partners pushing their integrations.

This is where the monthly costs can easily build up quickly if you’re not too careful.

We’d recommend only looking at installing a paid-for app if you can justify its cost and estimate the benefit it will provide in uplifting your sales for example through conversion improvements or average order value.

However, this is not a unique proposition and if you’re moving from a platform such as Magento or BigCommerce then 'plugins' and their costs will not be an unusual conversation.

If you’re unsure of exactly what you might need for your Shopify store, we’d be happy to discuss this with you. You can book a quick consultation here.

Themes

The other area you may wish to invest in is the installation of a paid store theme.

Alongside Shopify's own free store design templates, there are a large number of paid themes created by developers across the world, that you can purchase and download into your store. These are often less than $200 and will only be a one-off cost.

But you can ‘try before you buy’. All the themes within the Shopify official App Store are able to download into your store as 'drafts', giving you the opportunity to see how it will look with your own content and products before you commit to payment.

You can browse the Shopify App Store here. 

Your Free Shopify UK Cost Calculator

To help you make the right commercial decision for your store, we’ve produced a free Shopify Cost Calculator to help you pull together a quick snapshot of the costs involved.

Simply input a few predicted numbers into the downloaded sheet and it will show you the most cost-effective package for you.

Enter your details in the form and we’ll send you the link with instructions on how to use our Calculator. And if you’re still not sure what to do next, we’re here to help, so just drop us a line to discuss.