By Nicolas Avila · October 10, 2026

What selling online really costs when you add everything up

Photo: Avila Ops Tecnologia

Selling online costs six things: the store platform, the payment processor’s fee, shipping you absorb, packaging, sales tax, and your time. People counting only the store’s monthly fee get a surprise later. Those adding all six lines before starting know what price to charge and which product is not worth selling.

Margins are tight, and the decision is yours. There is no finance department to warn you that a R$ 49 sale with free shipping made a loss.

What are the fixed costs?

Photo: Avila Ops Tecnologia

Fixed costs are those you pay even without selling anything that month.

Other platforms charge lower monthly fees and make up the difference with a commission on every sale. That changes the calculation: at Avila Ops, Pix, card, and boleto have no platform commission, so the subscription is the entire fixed cost. To compare the package with a website and online presence, see what creating a professional digital presence costs.

What are the costs per sale?

Variable costs grow with each order. They determine the margin.

1. Payment intermediary fee: a percentage of each sale, different for Pix, boleto, and card. The amount is in the intermediary’s public fee table (Mercado Pago, PagSeguro, and others). The guide what a payment intermediary is and how much it charges explains how to read it.
2. Absorbed shipping: everything the customer did not pay. If you offer free shipping above R$ 150, each order above that carries the shipping label cost.
3. Packaging: box, protection, tape, printed label. It looks small per unit; multiply by 100 orders.
4. Tax: depends on your tax regime. Under Simples Nacional, a percentage of revenue; under MEI, a fixed monthly amount with an annual revenue limit. Confirm with your accountant before pricing.
5. Returns and exchanges: the 7-day right of withdrawal (Consumer Protection Code, article 49) exists, and return shipping is your responsibility. Set aside a portion.

For shipping, what shipping is and who pays for what details the three ways to split the bill.

How do you calculate a product’s costs?

Take a real product and fill in eight lines. Use your numbers, not an example’s.

1. Selling price.
2. Minus product cost (what you paid or spent to make it).
3. Minus the intermediary’s fee (selling price times your contracted percentage).
4. Minus shipping you absorb, if any.
5. Minus packaging.
6. Minus tax on that sale.
7. Minus a reserve for exchanges (a small percentage you adjust over time).
8. What remains is the margin per unit.

Now divide monthly fixed costs by the margin per unit. The result is how many units you need to sell to pay for the platform before making a profit. If the number seems impossible for your volume, the problem is not the store; it is the price or product.

What about time?

Time is the line nobody adds. Entering products, taking photos, answering messages, packing, going to the post office, checking payments. If you do everything alone, each of those hours is one you are not selling or producing.

The store immediately reduces two of these tasks: payment confirmation becomes automatic, and the product listing answers “is it in stock?” The others remain yours. With Pro Store, Avila Ops enters the products, taking another task off your list at the start.

What to do now

Choose your three best-selling products and build the eight-line calculation for each. If any is negative, remove it from the store or adjust the price today. Your store online in one day, without sales commission, at the prices you saw here: avilaops.com/loja-virtual or contact us on WhatsApp: wa.me/5517997811471.

Frequently asked questions

What does opening an online store cost?

At Avila Ops, setup is R$ 497 (Website and Store) or R$ 1,490 (Pro Store), plus R$ 79, R$ 119, or R$ 349 monthly. Per sale, add the payment intermediary’s fee, shipping you absorb, packaging, and tax, as the lines above show.

Are online sales taxed?

Yes, the same as in-person sales. It depends on the company’s regime: MEI, Simples Nacional, or another. Tax invoices are required in most cases; a MEI selling to an individual is exempt but must issue one if requested. Confirm the rate with your accountant before setting prices.

Is a free platform worthwhile?

It depends on what it charges per sale. A commission on each order becomes more expensive than a fixed monthly fee beyond a certain volume. Calculate using your revenue.