The Hidden Cost of "Free" Online Store Builders in India

"Free forever" is a marketing line, not a business model. Every store builder that offers a genuinely free plan recovers that cost somewhere — usually in ways that only become visible once you're actually making sales.

Where the cost usually hides

• Per-order transaction fees. A 2-5% cut on every single sale, on top of whatever your payment gateway already charges.
• Forced branding. "Powered by [platform]" on every page — free advertising for them, a credibility hit for you.
• No custom domain. Your store lives on a subdomain that looks temporary, which quietly costs you customer trust.
• Locked analytics and features. The dashboard that shows you what's actually selling is often behind the paid tier — so the free plan makes it hardest to see why you should upgrade.

The math that changes the decision

A 3% transaction fee sounds small next to a ₹5,000/month flat fee — until volume passes the breakeven point. At ₹2,00,000 in monthly sales, a 3% fee is ₹6,000, already more than a flat monthly plan with none of the branding tradeoffs. The "free" plan gets more expensive exactly when your business is doing well, which is the worst possible time for costs to scale up.

Questions worth asking before you pick a platform

• Is there a transaction fee on top of the payment gateway's own charge?
• Can I use my own domain without paying extra for it?
• Do I get real order and customer analytics, or just a sales counter?
• What happens to my store and data if I want to switch platforms later?

Where Selzix fits

Selzix charges a flat ₹5,000/month or ₹50,000/year with no Selzix transaction fee — the cost doesn't rise as your sales do. You also get a free 14-day trial to see the real numbers before committing to anything.

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See the real cost for yourself — start your free 14-day trial, no card required.