WebGlo
The Shopify Trap
You have a successful blog. You have loyal readers. You want to sell a t-shirt or an ebook.
So you sign up for Shopify.
Suddenly, you are paying $39/month for the plan, $15/month for an email app, and $10/month for a reviews plugin. You haven’t sold a single shirt, and you are already $64 in the hole every month.
Shopify is an incredible tool for dedicated e-commerce brands. But for bloggers and creators? It is often overkill.
The Static Commerce Stack
At WebGlo, we believe in Lightweight E-commerce. You can add a fully functional store to your existing static website without a monthly subscription fee.
Here is our preferred stack:
1. Snipcart (The Shopping Cart)
Snipcart is a piece of JavaScript that lives on your site. It turns any button into a “Add to Cart” button. It handles the cart, the checkout, and the shipping calculations.
- Cost: 2% per transaction. No monthly fee.
- Why we love it: It keeps the user on your site. They don’t get redirected to a separate store domain.
2. Stripe Payment Links (The Quick Fix)
If you are only selling one thing—say, a PDF guide—you don’t even need a cart. You can create a Payment Link directly in your Stripe dashboard.
- Cost: Standard credit card processing fees (approx 2.9%).
- Why we love it: It is the fastest way to validate a product idea. Paste the link, get paid.
3. Gumroad (The Digital Specialist)
For digital goods, Gumroad is king. It handles file delivery, license keys, and even taxes (which is a nightmare to do yourself).
- Cost: 10% flat fee (decreases as you earn).
- Why we love it: It handles the “boring stuff” so you can focus on creating.
Start Small, Scale Later
Don’t build the empire before you sell the first brick.
Start with one product. Use a lightweight tool like Stripe or Snipcart. If you start selling 1,000 units a month, then you can migrate to Shopify. But until then, keep your overhead low and your profits high.
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