When a maker asks me which platform is cheapest, they usually point at the card fee first. That's the line on the receipt that looks biggest. It's also the one that barely changes from one option to the next.
The fee that cancels out
Stripe's standard rate is 2.9% plus 30 cents per online card payment. Built-in platform checkouts sit close to that. Shopify's Basic plan, for example, has been listed at the same 2.9% plus 30 cents for online sales.
Take a made-up studio that sells 40 pieces a month at an average of $60. That's $28,800 a year. At 2.9% plus 30 cents, processing comes to about $980 a year whether checkout runs on Shopify, on Squarespace or on a site I built. Since it's the same in every column, set it aside and compare what's left.
What actually differs
Here's the worksheet I use. Get today's numbers from each pricing page, because they change.
- Subscription. The monthly price times 12, or the annual rate if you'll commit to a year.
- Platform transaction fees. Some plans add a percentage on top of processing. Shopify also charges one if you use an outside payment provider instead of its own. At this sales volume, every 1% costs $288 a year.
- Apps and add-ons. Reviews, waitlists, wholesale pricing, class booking. Each one is small, but together they can cost as much as the plan.
- Custom. Hosting, a domain and maintenance, plus the build cost spread over the years you expect to use the site.
Add up each column for one year, then for three.
For a studio selling a few dozen pieces a month, an entry-level plan with only a couple of apps usually wins. The templates are good, checkout works and someone else handles security. When that's the answer, I say so.
The math changes as the app list grows. Maybe you sell one-of-a-kind pieces that go in minutes after a kiln opening. Maybe you need a waitlist, booking for studio classes or wholesale accounts with their own prices. On a platform, each of those is another monthly charge, and the apps rarely work together cleanly. That's when a custom checkout starts to pay for itself. You pay once to build the exact flow you need, and after that the ongoing cost is mostly hosting and upkeep.
To find the cheapest option, count your apps before you compare card fees.
