How much money do you need to start an online store in India? Three worked budgets, from about ₹3,000 to about ₹25,000
You can open an online store in India for ₹0 in platform costs and spend money only on stock, packaging and photos. In the three example budgets below, a from-home maker starts with about ₹3,000, a small reseller with about ₹10,000, and a stocked brand with about ₹25,000. The store is free on SitesPlaced; what costs money is what you sell, what you pack it in, the courier, and later a domain.
Key takeaway: the platform is the smallest line in a real store budget, and on SitesPlaced it is ₹0. Stock is the biggest. Packaging and courier are the ones people forget, and returned parcels are the one nobody warns you about. Spend on stock you can sell in a month, packaging that survives a courier and nothing else until ten people have bought. For what each platform charges, see online store builder pricing in India; this post is about the whole budget, not the software.
TL;DR
- • ₹0: the store, hosting, payments through your own gateway, COD, WhatsApp checkout, coupons, invoices, courier integrations, all 16 templates.
- • Costs money: stock, packaging, courier per parcel, the gateway’s own fee per payment, a domain (on Starter), ads if you run them.
- • Budget A, about ₹3,000: made at home, sold to people who know you.
- • Budget B, about ₹10,000: a small wholesale lot, basic branding, a backdrop.
- • Budget C, about ₹25,000: stocked across products, branded packaging, photos, a year of Starter for your own domain.
- • Skip in month one: a logo designer, custom boxes with minimums, ads, bulk stock, a company registration, a second platform.
What is free and what costs money
Before the budgets, the honest split. Many “how much to start” answers quietly assume a paid platform and a paid theme. On SitesPlaced neither applies.
| Item | What it costs |
|---|---|
| The store itself (build, publish, hosting) | ₹0 on SitesPlaced’s free plan, 0% commission |
| Taking payments (UPI, cards, net banking) | ₹0 from SitesPlaced; your own Razorpay, PhonePe or Cashfree account charges its own fee per payment |
| Cash on delivery, WhatsApp checkout, coupons, invoices | ₹0, free plan |
| Courier booking (Shiprocket, Shipmozo) | ₹0 to connect; you pay the courier per parcel |
| Stock or materials | Costs money; the biggest line in every budget |
| Packaging | Costs money; ₹15 to ₹70 a parcel as an example |
| Product photos | ₹0 with a phone and daylight; a photographer costs money |
| Your own domain (yourbrand.com) | The domain’s yearly fee from a registrar, plus Starter (₹199 for 30 days, paid once) to connect it |
| Ads | Optional; skip in month one |
All figures in this post are worked examples with round numbers, not averages. Your city, product and supplier will change every line.
Budget A: about ₹3,000, made at home
For a home baker, a crochet maker, a pickle maker, a candle maker, or anyone selling what they already make or own. The first buyers are friends, colleagues and the society group, so the store needs to take money and show products, not impress strangers.
| Example budget A | Amount |
|---|---|
| Materials or a tiny first lot (20 pieces or 20 jars) | ₹1,800 |
| 20 mailer bags or small boxes, tape, bubble wrap | ₹500 |
| Printed labels and thank-you cards | ₹200 |
| Photo props: a chart-paper backdrop, a cloth | ₹200 |
| Courier float for the first few parcels | ₹300 |
| Store, hosting, payments, commission | ₹0 |
| Example total | ₹3,000 |
Photos are your phone by a window on a chart-paper backdrop. The store is free, published at yourbrand.sitesplaced.site, with UPI through your own payment gateway account or paid to your UPI ID directly. The courier float is there because you pay the courier when you book, not when the buyer pays you. If the first twenty pieces sell, the second twenty are bought from the money that came in.
Budget B: about ₹10,000, a small wholesale lot
For someone buying stock to resell: imitation jewellery, thrifted or surplus clothes, phone accessories, home décor. The money goes into a first lot small enough to learn from and basic branding that makes a parcel feel like a shop.
| Example budget B | Amount |
|---|---|
| First wholesale lot (40 pieces at ₹150) | ₹6,000 |
| Packaging for 40 parcels | ₹1,200 |
| Stickers, printed cards, a stamp | ₹600 |
| A plain backdrop and a phone stand | ₹700 |
| Courier float | ₹1,000 |
| Buffer for a reorder of the one design that sells | ₹500 |
| Store, hosting, payments, commission | ₹0 |
| Example total | ₹10,000 |
The buffer matters more than it looks: one of your ten designs will sell out first, and being able to reorder it that week is worth more than a logo. Stay on the free store address; put the money into stock. If you want yourbrand.com at launch, add Starter at ₹199 for 30 days, paid once with no autopay, plus the domain’s yearly fee from your registrar.
Budget C: about ₹25,000, a stocked store with a name
For a small brand that wants to look like one from the first parcel: a skincare or candle line, a clothing label with three or four products, a food brand with its line tested. Stock is still the biggest line, but packaging, photos and your own domain are worth paying for here, because strangers will judge the store before they trust it.
| Example budget C | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stock across three or four products | ₹15,000 |
| Branded packaging (printed boxes or mailers, tissue, cards) | ₹3,000 |
| Product photos: a half-day with a local photographer, or a lightbox | ₹2,500 |
| Starter for a year, paid once, for your own domain and no badge | ₹1,990 |
| Courier float | ₹1,500 |
| A small first ad test, after organic orders | ₹1,000 |
| Example total (plus the domain’s yearly fee from your registrar) | ₹24,990 |
Starter for a year, paid once with no autopay, is ₹1,990 (ten months’ price). It gives you your own domain, removes the badge, adds store analytics and Meta Pixel, and makes your store’s pages answer about 4× faster than on the free plan: measured on live paid stores on 28 September 2026, a page answered in about 75 ms instead of about 330 ms. The ad test comes last, and only after organic orders have shown you which product and which photo people respond to. If you are weighing whether to pay anyone to build the store, how much should I budget for a website for my store covers that separately.
The costs that are not on any list
- Returned parcels (RTO). A cash-on-delivery order that is refused costs the courier both ways and ties up the piece. Add an extra COD charge, encourage prepaid with a coupon, and read how to reduce RTO and fake COD orders before your first drop.
- The gateway’s fee. SitesPlaced takes 0% commission, but your own Razorpay, PhonePe or Cashfree account charges a fee on each online payment. Build it into your price; see Razorpay vs PhonePe vs Cashfree for a small online store.
- Settlement delay. Online payments reach your bank a day or two after the order, and COD cash reaches you after the courier remits it. Your float covers the gap.
- Samples and giveaways. The piece you photograph, the one you give your cousin, the one that arrived damaged and you replaced. Count them.
- Weight slabs. Couriers bill by weight slab, so a heavy jar or a big box can cost more to ship than you charged. Weigh a packed parcel before setting your delivery charge; see how to set shipping charges.
What to skip in month one
Every rupee here is better spent on stock you can sell this month, or kept.
- A logo designer. A clean name in a good font is enough. Pay for a logo when you know what the brand is.
- Custom printed boxes. Printers have minimums of hundreds of units. Plain boxes plus a sticker look fine and let you change your mind.
- Ads. Not until ten people have bought from the store and you have fixed what they asked about.
- Bulk stock. A ₹6,000 lot that teaches you which design sells beats a ₹30,000 lot that fills a cupboard.
- A company or LLP. Start as a sole proprietor in your own name; see do you need GST to sell online in India and confirm with a CA.
- A second platform. One store, one Instagram, one WhatsApp. Marketplaces and their fees can wait.
- A photographer. A phone, daylight and a plain background sell the first hundred orders. See how to take better product photos.
- Paid themes and apps. On SitesPlaced all 16 store templates, coupons, the free-delivery bar, invoices and courier booking are free, so there is nothing to buy here.
Where the money goes once orders start
The first month’s money buys stock and packaging. The second month’s money should come from the first month’s sales: reorder what sold, drop what didn’t, and keep the float topped up. Track it with the free profit margin calculator, and get the first orders with how to get your first 10 orders on a new online store. Only when the store is paying for its own stock does it make sense to pay for a domain, a photographer or an ad.
The plans, in one paragraph
The free plan is ₹0 forever: a real store with unlimited products and orders, 0% commission, UPI, cards and net banking through your own gateway account, cash on delivery, WhatsApp checkout, coupons, invoices, Shiprocket and Shipmozo, all 16 templates, 500 MB of storage and a small SitesPlaced badge on a free yourbrand.sitesplaced.site address. Starter is ₹199 for 30 days, paid once with no autopay, or ₹1,990 for a year, for your own domain, no badge, analytics, Meta Pixel and faster pages. Growth is ₹499 a month or ₹4,990 a year for product reviews, the sales boosters and more. With autopay, the code FREE7 gives 7 days free on Starter or Growth; cancel before the first charge and pay nothing. The platform-by-platform comparison is in online store builder pricing in India.
Frequently asked questions
Can I start an online store with no money in India?
The store can cost ₹0: on SitesPlaced’s free plan you build and publish a real store with unlimited products, UPI and card payments through your own gateway account, cash on delivery and WhatsApp checkout, with 0% commission. What you cannot avoid is the cost of whatever you sell and the packaging it ships in. If you make things at home or sell what you already own, a first month under ₹3,000 is realistic.
How much does it cost to start a small online store in India?
It depends almost entirely on stock. As example budgets: about ₹3,000 for a from-home maker selling to people who know them, about ₹10,000 for a small wholesale lot with packaging and a backdrop, and about ₹25,000 for a stocked store with branded packaging, photos and a year of Starter for its own domain. The platform is free in all three.
Do I need to register a company to start an online store?
Generally no. Many small sellers start as a sole proprietor, selling in their own name with their own bank account and UPI. A company or LLP costs money and paperwork you don’t need in month one. GST registration depends on your yearly sales and whether you ship to other states; confirm with a CA.
Is a domain necessary to start an online store?
No. A free address like yourbrand.sitesplaced.site works from day one and takes payments like any other store. Your own domain (yourbrand.com) is bought from a registrar for a yearly fee and connected on the Starter plan, ₹199 for 30 days paid once or ₹1,990 for a year. It is worth it once you are printing the address on packaging or running ads, not before.
How much should I spend on ads at the start?
Nothing in month one. Ads send strangers to a store that has not yet proved people buy from it, and most of the money is spent learning what the store page should have said. Get the first ten orders from Instagram, WhatsApp and people you know, fix what those buyers asked about, then test a small ad budget.
What is the biggest hidden cost of an online store?
Returned parcels. A cash-on-delivery order that is refused costs you the courier both ways and ties up stock, and nothing on a pricing page warns you about it. Budget a courier float, add an extra charge for COD or encourage prepaid, and read our guide on reducing RTO before your first drop.
Do I need GST before my first sale?
It depends on your expected yearly sales and whether you ship to other states; the rules change, so confirm your own case with a CA. Many small sellers start without GST and register when they cross the threshold. Our plain-English guide on GST for online sellers explains the questions to ask.
What does SitesPlaced charge?
The free plan is ₹0 forever with 0% commission, unlimited products and orders, UPI, cards and COD, WhatsApp checkout, coupons, invoices and courier integrations, on a free yourbrand.sitesplaced.site address with a small badge. Starter is ₹199 for 30 days paid once with no autopay, or ₹1,990 a year, for your own domain, no badge, analytics and faster pages. Growth is ₹499 a month or ₹4,990 a year for reviews, sales boosters and more. With autopay, the code FREE7 gives 7 days free on Starter or Growth.
Open a free store today
Put your money into stock. The store, payments, COD, WhatsApp checkout and courier booking are free, with 0% commission. Starter is ₹199 once for 30 days, no autopay; FREE7 gives 7 days free with autopay.
