BigCommerce Transaction Fees! Does BigCommerce charge a transaction fee?
By Sam Nguyen
BigCommerce is a paid-for, ‘hosted’ eCommerce platform that allows company owners to create an online store and sell their products, services on the web. BigCommerce is ‘hosted,’ which means it runs on its servers, and you don’t need to use web hosting or install anything on your computer to access your store. As long as you have access to the internet, you can change and develop it anywhere.
This giant eCommerce platform is a SaaS (software as a service) product, meaning you don’t really own your store and have to pay a monthly fee to use it. This platform includes so many customizable templates to help you in designing your online store. BigCommerce can be used to sell both physical and digital products, and it also has marketing resources readily accessible.
BigCommerce is created for shop owners who don’t have much experience designing a website. However, it is still versatile enough for avid computer users and developers to modify the HTML and CSS in their online stores.
BigCommerce, same as other hosted online store and website platforms, could shut down temporarily or drastically change its feature set, making you have no choice but to move to another platform. However, unless you have the resources to make an own online shop from scratch, you’ll probably end up using a hosted solution such as BigCommerce. The good news is BigCommerce is one of the most well-known services of its kind, with famous clients like Woolrich Ben, Jerry’s, Skull Candy, etc.
A question arises, does BigCommerce charge a transaction fee? Or, how much do you have to pay overall for a BigCommerce store?
What is a transaction fee?
A transaction fee is the fee that a company must pay each time it processes an electronic payment from a customer. The transaction fee can vary depending on which service is used, the type of credit card used, etc.
A transaction fee may be charged as a percentage of the transfer value or as a separate fixed amount, depending on the payment processor the company uses.
E.g., if you approve a bill of £50, the processing price can range from 0.5 percent to 5% (£0.25 to £2.50), or it may be calculated as a percentage plus an extra charge, such as 2.5 percent + £0.30.
Transaction Fees for Merchant.
When a buyer uses a credit card to pay for something, your company is charged a transaction fee. It is a complicated operation, and many parties profit from each transaction your company conducts. Simply put, the company accepting the payment must pay two types of fees: Interchange Fee and Additional Fee.
First, your company has to pay an interchange fee, which is the interest fee charged by the credit card provider. The exchange fee is a small fraction of the total transaction amount plus a per-transaction fee. The exact percentage paid depends on a variety of factors, including the type of credit card used, which bank approved the card, what is being purchased, and the sum of the transaction.
Second, there is an additional fee levied by the merchant service provider. This could be from the merchant bank, which offers the merchant account allowing the company to accept credit cards, or it could be an authorized independent sales agency of the merchant bank. The additional fee is also a percentage of the contract, but it may also be a set number per transaction.
Does BigCommerce charge a transaction fee?
Does BigCommerce charge a transaction fee? The answer is no.
Note that the transaction fee with a PayPal credit card is another story. You can see more at Credit Card Rates
BigCommerce prices seem to be very appealing at first glance: there are no transaction fees, and all plans have fascinating features (e.g., gift cards and real-time shipping quotes).
However, once you consider the “online sales per year” restrictions, BigCommerce isn’t that cost-effective. If your online shop generates more than $50,000 in annual revenue, you’ll be required to upgrade to the Plus package ($50 extra a month). It’s almost as if there’s a hidden cost here.
So, if BigCommerce is your way to go, keep these drawbacks in mind.
BigCommerce Pricing Plans Overview
BigCommerce’s price options seem to be simple at first glance:
- The Standard Plan costs $39 per month.
- The Plus plan costs $105 per month.
- The Pro plan costs $399 per month.
However, you should be mindful that there are different revenue thresholds ($50k, $150k, and $400k of annual sales), which means if you meet them, you will automatically be bumped up to the higher plan.
All plans include the following:
- Unlimited products, file storage, and bandwidth – sell as many items as you want without fear of violating your store’s cap.
- Real-time shipping quotes – offer your consumers the best shipping deal available.
- Responsive websites - which means it looks amazing on both mobile and desktop devices.
- Checkout on a single page – ensure that the checkout process is fast and pain-free. The more seamless it is, the more profits you can generate.
- No transaction fees – keep all the profits you make
- Expert assistance - available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer any professional or company questions.
| Feature | BigCommerce Standard plan | BigCommerce Plus plan | BigCommerce Pro plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Products | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Support 24/7 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Digital products | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Domain namecost | about $12 per year | about $12 per year | about $12 per year |
| Email account | No, you’ll need to use a 3rd-party service | No, you’ll need to use a 3rd-party service | No, you’ll need to use a 3rd-party service |
| SSL for whole website | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gift cards & coupons | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time shipping quotes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Customer logins | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Professional reports | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Customer segmentation & groups | No | Yes | Yes |
| Abandoned cart recovery support | No | Yes | Yes |
| Filter Products | No | No | Yes |
| BigCommerce transaction fees | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Transaction fees PayPal credit card(optional) | 2.9% + 30 cents(typical rate) | 2.5% + 30 cents | 2.2% + 30 cents |
| Yearly sales threshold (when you go pass it, you have to upgrade to a higher plan) | $50k | $150k | $400k |
| Monthly Deal Pricing | $39 / mo | $105 / mo | $399 / mo |
| Annual Deal Pricing (Pay in advance, include a discountof 10%) | $39 / month (no discount) | $71.95 / month | $269.96 / month |
Which Plan, however, is best for your company? Continue reading for our verdict:
BigCommerce Standard: $39 per month
- Standard Plan: $39 per month
- Perfect for new stores
- Suitable for businesses with a revenue of up to $50,000.
BigCommerce Standard is the most basic plan. If you want to use it, the online store’s annual sales must be less than $50,000. As a result, this plan is only appropriate for new and small eCommerce websites. You will have to upgrade after you have established yourself and expected to attract more sales.
However, The Standard Plan will still provide you with everything you need and more if you’re just getting warmed up. Better yet, even though the Standard package is the most affordable, it still includes a large number of features.
To be more specific, it includes an infinite number of products, storage, bandwidth, and personnel accounts, as well as no transaction fees, just like other BigCommerce plans.
In addition, the plan allows you to sell on eBay, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, among other platforms. BigCommerce Standard plan also has features such as product ratings and reviews, discount and gift cards, as well as real-time shipping quotes.
Customers abandon orders due to unexpected additional prices, so being able to deliver discounts and real-time delivery quotes is helpful to your store’s conversion rates! This Plan can fund up to $50k in online advertising revenue each year, making it ideal for small companies looking to expand.
BigCommerce Plus: $105 per month
- The most famous BigCommerce pricing plan
- This Plan includes abandoned cart recovery + other additional tools
- The Plan is the best option for growing stores
The BigCommerce Plus plan is designed for medium-sized online stores with annual revenue of up to $150,000 - $180,000.
By choosing this Plan, you can gain access to several advanced features. For example, you can use the “Abandoned cart saver” to contact users who have yet to finish the buying process and persuade them to do so (e.g., by sending additional discounts).
The Plus plan includes everything in the Standard Plan, plus some additional resources to help you convert more customers. There are some of them:
- Customer groups – you can reward repeat customers with loyalty plans by forming customer groups.
- Abandoned cart saver – send automatic emails to consumers who left their carts at checkout to entice them back.
- Persistent cart – save shoppers’ shopping carts to their account so that they can move on shopping even if they switch devices
- Stored credit cards – make it easier for your customers to check out by enabling them store their card information conveniently.
Companies who chose this Plan can take advantage of BigCommerce’s customer classification features to segment the audience and have more customized shopping experiences (e.g., showing reduced prices to a particular group of users).
BigCommerce Pro: $399 per month
The Pro plan, which costs $399 a month and has a long list of features, is intended for large companies with large budgets.
This Plan is for you if your shop is doing well and your annual profits are between $150k and $1M. Keep in mind that if you sell more than $400k a year, you will have to add $150 per month to the price on an additional $200k in annual sales. In other words, if you make over $800,000 in revenue per year, you’ll be spending more than $700 per month.
The “Faceted Search,” which helps online shoppers to sort and select items, is one of the most intriguing aspects of this Plan. This Plan also enables shop owners to use third-party SSL certificates (which allows you to customize your checkout domain).
This package combines the best features from both the Standard and Plus plans, intending to bring the company to the next level.
You can gain access to:
- Google customer reviews – a tool that allows you to collect customer feedback and access product ratings
- Product sorting – make it easier for consumers to identify the things they like by using filters like size, color, and brand.
- Custom SSL – if you’ve already purchased an SSL elsewhere, you can transfer it to your BigCommerce store
Enterprise Plan: Custom
BigCommerce Enterprise:
- Ample service and support features – API support, express routing, priority support, and strategic business analysis
- Suitable for companies with yearly revenue of more than $400,000.
This Enterprise Plan is designed for eCommerce shop owners who require excellent customer service. The plan includes priority support, personalized search options, a staging production environment, and a dedicated account manager to assist you in growing and optimizing your online store, among other things. However, you’ll need a lot of money. You plan on spending at least $400-$500 per month. To get an exact price, you will need to submit a quote from BigCommerce.
The Enterprise plan allows you to take advantage of all BigCommerce has to offer.
- Custom product filters – use custom product fields as filters in faceted search, which allows consumers to narrow down their options
- Price lists – show different prices to different types of customers, such as wholesale or discount pricing.
- Unlimited API calls – you can send your server an unlimited number of requests.
Why you may have to invest more and more money in BigCommerce?
When you are signing up with a new platform, it’s understandable that you want to hear about all the additional or secret costs that might arise, either at the time of purchase or later on.
This is why we’ve compiled a rundown of the most common additional fees you’ll face while using BigCommerce.
Upgrade
BigCommerce pricing is different than other eCommerce platforms. It is because you have to upgrade as your company expands. In other words, BigCommerce will upgrade you to a more premium plan if you reach a minimum annual revenue threshold.
Here’s a rundown of each Plan’s “caps”:
- Standard – $50k. Great for smaller eCommerce stores.
- Plus – $180k. For medium-sized or rapidly-growing businesses, this is a great pick.
- Pro – $400k; after that, you spend an extra $150 a month on every $200k of additional online transactions, up to $1 million. Great for stores that generate between $150k and $1 million in sales.
BigCommerce’s offering might not be worth it if you’re a retailer selling a lot of low-margin items. You may find that you’ve reached the revenue threshold but are still struggling to make money
If you reach your specified threshold, it is in your best interests to update. In reality, you may sometimes be better off upgrading well before reaching the cap.
Let’s imagine you’re on BigCommerce’s Standard schedule, and your shop brings in more than $50,000 a year. You won’t have a choice: you’ll have to move to the Plus plan.
And don’t worry, upgrades don’t all occur out of nowhere. Customers are informed of upgrades through dashboard reminders and emails once their ‘trailing twelve-month sales value’ exceeds their plan cap. BigCommerce doesn’t evaluate revenue by tax or calendar year, but just the previous 12 months.
Do You Have the Option to Downgrade Your BigCommerce Plan?
You may be concerned: what if my sales drop and I can’t afford my BigCommerce plan any longer? Is it true that plan shifts can only be made in one direction?
Don’t worry if your profits are declining and the subscription premium is eroding your profit margins: you can always downgrade to a lower BigCommerce plan. All you need to do is to contact BigCommerce.
Domain Names
Another thing you need to factor in is the domain names.
A domain name is similar to a storefront logo. It introduces your website to visitors by telling them who you are and what your site is about.
The price of a domain name from BigCommerce starts at $12.27 for a year. This price is comparable to Shopify (domain names start at $13), but Wix will offer you a domain name for free for a year if you register a Premium plan (such as Wix eCommerce).
Credit Card Rates
You will be charged a fee any time a customer makes an order on your store using a credit or debit card. This fee is paid to the credit card issuer (a bank, for example). The fee is for assisting you in collecting money from your customer and transferring them to your bank account.
It is a fee that all merchants have to pay. That is how the eCommerce industry runs.
BigCommerce’s debit and credit card processing fees start at 2.9 percent + $0.30 per payment, which is fairly normal. Also, your credit card payments will be cheaper if your BigCommerce price plan is higher.
The credit card fees charged by BigCommerce are somewhat higher than those charged by Shopify, but merchants selling in small quantities are unlikely to recognize the difference.
One important aspect to remember is that BigCommerce does not charge commission fees, unlike many other eCommerce platforms. The absence of a commission fee means that the only fee you ought to be concerned with is credit card fees – it’s that easy!
This distinguishes BigCommerce from its competitors; even Shopify charges a fee unless you use its in-house payment scheme.
Themes
There are some free templates on BigCommerce, but unless you want your store to look just like your competitors’, you will probably choose to use a premium one.
Each premium theme costs between $135 and $300. The theme cost is a one-time fee, which means you can use the theme for as long as you want!
See more at:
What are the benefits of using a premium theme? Since there is a greater range of designs to choose from, it is less likely that several other stores can use the same template. Premium themes also have more features out of the box, making you a more powerful shop right away.
Did you know 94% of first impressions depend on your site’s interface? And visitors only need 0.05 seconds to have that first impression, so be extremely mindful of your store’s theme!
Apps.
The fact that most of BigCommerce’s tools and functionality are built-in is one of the reasons it is such a successful eCommerce developer. It distinguishes BigCommerce from its competitor Shopify, which is heavily dependent on its app store.
BigCommerce does, though, have its own app store, so if you’re looking for a specific product, you can look there.
There are a variety of free apps available, as well as premium apps of varying prices. BigCommerce’s top paying games, for example, range between $9 to $50 a month (including ShipStation and Google Shopping).
Many applications have a free trial or a free subscription, allowing you to decide whether or not they meet for needs.
There are so many apps to choose from that it can be difficult to decide! An effective communication type is one attribute that is always ignored – customers are more likely to trust a company that is easy to contact, so check for applications that can help you develop strong customer relationships.
BigCommerce Partners.
If you want to give your store a bump up and hire experts to collaborate with you on your store’s growth potential, you can find a BigCommerce Partner to help you out.
BigCommerce has over 4,000 agency members who specialize in everything from web design to marketing, so you’ll be able to find the right match easily. BigCommerce Partnering is completely optional, and costs vary depending on the agency – you will need to get a quote from them directly.
BigCommerce Cancellation
BigCommerce’s monthly Plan is great because it’s customizable, convenient, and a great opportunity to see whether BigCommerce is correct for you after the 15-day free trial.
If you chose BigCommerce’s monthly Plan and then find it isn’t for you, make sure to cancel two workdays before the end of your contract. Otherwise, BigCommerce will continue to charge you even if you don’t plan on using its builder in the future.
Customers who were unaware that this was the case always moan about it, but don’t be caught off guard. Don’t wait for the last minute to cancel – set a reminder for yourself and do it a few days ahead of time just to be sure!
Conclusion.
To sum up, BigCommerce does not charge a transaction fee.
Note that the transaction fee with a PayPal credit card is another story. You can see more at Credit Card Rates
BigCommerce prices seem to be very appealing at first glance: there are no transaction fees, and all plans have fascinating features (e.g., gift cards and real-time shipping quotes).
However, BigCommerce has quite a few hidden costs that you need to factor in. So, if BigCommerce is your way to go, keep these drawbacks in mind.
