Customized E-Commerce Site in WordPress for Less Than $150

Using WordPress, you can build your own fully functioning, customized e-commerce website with a customized theme and logo design for less than $150. I’m not talking about a cheesy, poorly designed site either, but a clean, well-designed, professional looking e-commerce site. In fact, Sell It! on the Web was re-designed exactly in this manner.

Customized E-Commerce Site in Wordpress Here are the details of how to do it and how much each component will cost:

WordPress Installation – $0
Hosting Account: $5-$10/month
Customized WordPress Theme < $100
WordPress E-Commerce Plugin – $0
Logo Design < $50
3^rd Party Merchant Account – $0

WordPress Installation

The WordPress installation itself you can download and install very easily on your own. The only thing that you’ll need in addition to the WordPress download is a hosting account, which you can get very inexpensively.

Hosting

Many of the most competitive and affordable web hosting companies provide installation support for WordPress. In fact, there are several web hosts (below) that offer “one-click” WordPress installs to make it even easier to install. The cost of hosting on a monthly basis for these 3 companies is $5-$10 per month and you can get discounts for buying a year in advance, if you should so choose. Here are several of the most reputable and reliable “one click” WordPress hosts:

Free WordPress Themes

You can download either a free theme or a customized theme, depending on your preference for the “look and feel” of your site. Here are a few places to find free themes:

Customized Themes

Wordpress has a vast array of customized, affordable themes that will give your Wordpress site it’s very own professional, customized look. Single license fees for most of these themes are available for less than $100. In fact, Sell It! on the Web uses the DIY “Thesis” theme.

DIY Themes – Most Recommended Theme
Viva Themes
Woo Themes
StyleWP Themes

WordPress E-Commerce Plugin

You can download the WP e-Commerce plugin to integrate a full featured shopping cart application, allowing you to easily sell your products and services online. The WP e-Commerce plugin is ideal for bands and record labels selling music, for clothing merchandisers, as well as artists and individuals selling items such as books, DVD’s and MP3 files. The plugin is also available free of charge.

Logo Design

You can easily design your own logo to integrate into your WordPress theme using Microsoft Paint or Microsoft Word. A better solution might be to mock-up or “rough out” your design ideas in Paint or Word and then forward to an inexpensive logo design company, such as LogoNerds.com, to design the finished logo. LogoNerds can design a customized logo for you for less than $50.

3^rd Party Merchant Account

Use a 3^rd party merchant account like PayPal or 2Checkout instead of getting your own dedicated merchant account. You can easily convert your 3^rd party account when the time is right, you have the revenue to justify it and you can afford the expense of a dedicated merchant account. Until then, stick with a 3^rd party account that will charge you a small percentage per transaction instead of big upfront expenses and fees.