How to Start an Online Store on a Tight Budget

“I want an online store, but I don’t have a budget of 100,000”—that’s how most of the first emails start. The good news: it’s actually possible to get started on a small budget. The bad news: most ways to save money end up costing more in the long run than the amount saved. Let’s break down three viable options, their actual costs, and the point at which saving turns into spending.

The amounts listed below are estimates for the Ukrainian market as of 2026, not our price list. The cost of a specific project depends on the scope of work, so we calculate it after a brief discussion: Calculate the cost of your project.

Option 1. Website Builder — starting at 500 UAH per month

Tilda, Wix, Shopify, and similar platforms: You build your own store using pre-made blocks and pay a monthly subscription fee.

Actual expenses: A subscription with store functionality costs approximately 500–1,300 UAH per month; a domain costs 300–500 UAH per year. If you choose to have the site built for you rather than building it yourself, that’s an additional one-time fee of 10,000–25,000 UAH.

What You Get: Launch in a few days, payment and delivery options, and platform support.

What you don't get:

• The store doesn't belong to you—it's a rental: if you stop paying, the website disappears;
• Limited SEO: You won't be able to remove the platform's unnecessary scripts or create a complex category structure;
• There is no deep integration—accounting, custom discount rules, wholesale prices;
• Moving later = starting the store from scratch, with goods being carried by hand.

Who it's for: Test the market, sell 10–30 items, and focus primarily on advertising and social media. See the article for a detailed comparison of platforms Tilda, Wix, or WordPress.

Option 2. A budget-friendly store based on a ready-made solution—20,000–40,000 UAH

This is WooCommerce or a similar platform with a high-quality, ready-made theme that is customized to match your logo and colors. It’s not a unique design, but it’s not a website builder either: the site is yours, the code is yours, and you can expand it at any time.

What is typically included in this amount:

• a catalog containing several dozen products, imported from a table;
• shopping cart and checkout without requiring registration;
• one payment system and Nova Poshta;
• Pages 4–6: Home, Catalog, Product Page, Shipping and Payment, Contact Us;
• Basic SEO, analytics, training on how to use the admin panel.

What won't be included: unique design, filters based on dozens of criteria, integration with 1C, multilingual support, a personal account, and a catalog containing thousands of items.

Who it's for: For those who are already selling (on Instagram, on a marketplace, or in-store) and want their own platform without a monthly subscription fee.

Option 3. A full-scale store—starting at 80,000 UAH

Unique design, a catalog with filters, multiple payment and shipping options, integration with accounting software, product import, and wholesale terms. We’ll discuss the structure of this type of quote in a separate article—this is the right choice when the online store is your primary sales channel, rather than a supplement.

Who it's for: A product range of several hundred items, inventory levels in the accounting system, and planned investments in marketing.

Where You Can Save Money

• Design. A high-quality, ready-made theme with careful customization looks decent. You can add a unique design once the store starts making money.
• Catalog size at launch. Start with what's actually being sold, and you can add the rest yourself.
• My Account. Most customers place orders as guests.
• Number of integrations. One payment and one delivery at the start—that's fine.
• Photo. Photos you take in natural light often turn out better than stock photos.

Things You Shouldn't Skimp On

• Directory Structure. Restructuring categories after launch is more expensive than development and leads to a drop in search rankings.
• Speed. A store that takes six seconds to load loses a customer before the first click— How can I check this?.
• Mobile version. Most purchases in Ukraine are made on a phone. If it’s not convenient on a mobile device, nothing else matters.
• Proper payment and letters. An order that never arrives or an email that ends up in the spam folder costs more than any savings.
• Access is granted to you. The domain, hosting, and payment account must be registered in your name—otherwise, your “cheap” online store will be at the mercy of the contractor.

Hidden Costs That People Often Overlook

• Web hosting — starting at 3,000 UAH per year for an online store;
• domain — 300–500 UAH per year;
• acquiring fee—a percentage of each payment;
• Filling the catalog—if there are a lot of items, it takes dozens of hours of work;
• photos of products, if they are not available;
• Advertising—without a budget for traffic, the store won't get any visitors.

The last point is the most important: a store that costs 20,000 without a marketing budget generates less revenue than a store that costs 20,000 plus 10,000 for advertising each month. Don’t just plan for development.

A minimalist store that can actually sell products

A checklist that you shouldn't fall short of, no matter what your budget is:

1. A catalog with logical categories and a search function.
2. A product listing with standard photos, price, and availability.
3. Shopping cart and checkout with 3–4 fields, no registration required.
4. Online payment or clearly defined cash on delivery.
5. Nova Poshta: Choose a branch right in the form.
6. Fast loading from a mobile device.
7. Emails to the customer regarding the order and its status.
8. Analytics to see where visitors come from and where they abandon their shopping carts.

If something is missing from this list—that’s not “saving money”; it’s a store that isn’t making sales. We’ve broken down the typical reasons for losing leads separately: Why isn't the website generating any leads?.

When Going for the Budget Option Is a Mistake

• A product range consisting of several hundred items with specifications—the catalog doesn't work without proper filters;
• Inventory levels and prices are tracked in the accounting system—manual record-keeping will cost more than integration;
• Do you have wholesale and retail prices, or do you work with dealers?;
• The online store is the primary sales channel, not just a supplement to offline sales.

In these cases, a low-cost launch means a second development cycle a year later—in other words, double the costs.

What to Do When You're on a Tight Budget

1. Calculate how much you're willing to spend in a year, rather than a one-time fee—including hosting, advertising, and support.
2. Determine the minimum set of functions from the list above. Everything else is a secondary priority.
3. Select a platform for a two-year plan, rather than based on today's budget.
4. Record the amount in writing — otherwise, the “add-ons” will eat into the savings: How to Write Technical Specifications.
5. Plan the second phase — What will you add once the first sales come in?

Conclusion

With a small budget, you can get started in three ways: rent a website builder, set up your own store using a ready-made solution, or postpone the launch and save up for a full-fledged one. The worst option is to spend 30,000 on a “nearly full-featured” store that cuts corners in all the wrong places: catalog structure, speed, and the mobile version.

Describe your project—we’ll take a look at your product lineup and plans and give you our honest opinion on what format you need: perhaps a simpler solution than you thought will suffice at the start. We We develop turnkey online stores, and calculate the cost It can be done in three steps—no phone calls or briefings required.