Creating a new e-commerce website can be a daunting task for any beginner. If you are not prepared you can quickly become overwhelmed with all the costs that are involved: Merchant accounts, SSLs, payment gateways, Miva modules … the list go on and on. To help you prepare for all these unexpected costs we have outlined all the basic startup costs that you can expect when creating a new e-commerce website using Miva Merchant. This will show you the basic capital you will need to fund your new e-commerce venture. The more prepared you are up front, the easier and smoother you development process will be.

Merchant Account - A merchant bank is a financial institution that provides business level accounts to merchants for collecting payments from consumer bank or credit card accounts. If you’re already selling products from a retail location, you probably have a Card Present (CP) merchant account. However, to sell from your Web site, you’ll also need a Card Not Present (CNP) merchant account. A CNP account is used by merchants that receive payments via the Internet or in situations when a payment is not physically presented to the merchant by the consumer at the time of the transaction (e.g. telephone orders).

Fees Associated with Merchant Accounts
One-Time Setup Fee: $0
Monthly Service/Statement Fee: $9.95
Transaction Fee: $0.25
VISA/MasterCard Qualified Discount Rate: 2.19%
Monthly Processing Minimum Fee *: $25.00

Sign up for a merchant account here

Payment Gateway – Merchant accounts are what actually process the credit card transaction. The Payment Gateway is the middleman or carrier between your website and your merchant account. It creates a secure tunnel between your site and the bank and it is responsible for passing the financial information back and forth. In order to accept credit cards online, you must have a merchant account and a payment gateway.

Authorize.Net® Payment Gateway Fees:
One-Time Set up Fee: $99
Monthly Gateway Fee: $17.95
Per-Transaction Fee $0.10

Sign up for a payment gateway here

SSL Certificate –The last thing you need in order to accept credit cards online is an SSL Certificate. This stands for Secure Socket Layer. It is what encrypts and decrypts your customer’s credit card information before it is sent out onto the web. You can learn more about SSL certificates in this article.
SSLs cost anywhere from $19.99 to $450. If you are just starting out, any certificate in the $50 to $150 range will suit your needs just fine.

Miva Hosting – In order to use Miva Merchant you either have to buy a licensed copy of it (which costs $845) or you have to get hosting with an authorized Miva reseller, which costs about $40 per month. Most people choose the latter because it is much cheaper up front. Another added benefit of going with a Miva reseller is that they usually have a great support staff to help you with all you Miva problems and questions.  Looking for a great miva host? Try DotComHost – They offer competitive pricing and have some of the best Miva support staff around.

Miva Modules – Because Miva is a “modular” shopping cart, it usually requires the purchase of external modules to extend its functionality. Most modules are between $30 and $100. You should budget anywhere from $300 to $500 to spend on external modules. Check out the top ten Miva modules here.

Design – When creating a new e-commerce shopping cart, it is essential that you have a professional designer layout the design for you. Having a store that looks good will not only be more functional, but it will also lead to higher conversion rates. Your visitors will be more willing to buy from your site if it looks nice and professional.

Design costs can vary greatly. If you are on an extreme budget you can get an overseas designer or even a student designer to do a complete design for as little as $500.  If you go with a design company you should expect to pay anywhere from $5000 to $10,000. You can usually get the most bang for you buck from a freelance designer. If you hire a freelance designer expect to pay $1500 to $4000 for a complete site design. Always keep in mind that when is comes to design you are going to get what you pay for. Don’t expect a kick ass design for $500. A really good designer is going to charge you at least $50 an hour. If you have the budget, spend it on a good design. It will pay for itself in the long run.

Miva Development – Website development is equally important, if not more important than design. You are not going to find a Miva developer who is going to work for $10 and hour. You need realistic expectations when hiring a web developer. Because development time is usually 1.5 to 2 times longer than design time, you are going to pay a little more for it. A freelance Miva developer will usually charge $1500 to $5000 to create a full custom Miva website. Again, if you choose to use a company you are going to pay a lot more.

You can see our Miva development services here

Above are the basic costs you should expect to get your new e-commerce store off the ground. Always have realistic expectations when starting out. Being prepared will greatly reduce stress and things should run much smoother.

About the Author: Brennan Heyde is an e-commerce consultant working in San Diego, Ca. He specializes in online marketing and SEO for e-commerce.  Have a struggling e-commerce website? – Contact Brennan today for a site analysis.