How much does it cost to set up a website for an online business?

I want to set one up to sell gift bags online for parties and presents, etc. I was wondering how much it costs because I want to get an idea of how much money my partner (in business) and I need to save and have to pay to set up the website and buy the inventory.

It truly depends on what you want...first you need to find a designer you like (my site designer is Mama's Design Shop) she sells custom websites (expensive), Limited Edition Websites (meaning she'll sell it 5 times then retires it - around $100) or an unlimited edition (around 30-40). She pretty much will have you up and going in a matter of days. Then you'll need a web domain and web hosting - I use Pappa Pak and have Paypal as my merchant. This cost me $12.95 a month. To be honest my business launches September 1st and I'm still adding products...

to see if you like her work check out my site
at www.shopoodlesofdoodles.com - this was a limited edition site for $89.00 - everything was set up so all I had to do was add products. There is small learning curve but you don't have to have html to use their webhosting and it so user friendly. Scroll down to the end of my home page and you can click the links I mentioned above. Obviously I'm a satisfied customer. Good luck with your business.

I have a Yahoo site. If you have yahoo mail, click onto the website button and they explain it all. I pay $12.45 a month for basic and you can chose different programs and templates for your pages. And the money comes out of your checking account or credit account.

As little as $9-12.00 per month depending on the package you choose.

Try this:

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhostin...

I recommend using Site Build It, which is easy enough to find n Google. They have a yearly fee of approximately $350. But the tools you receive are invaluable. Not only can you customize the site to how you want it, but you also get a lot of help with how to satisfy search engine spiders for a more results driven site. Hope this helps.

I wish you the best of luck in all your business ventures.

for hosting you should consider free host that don't put forces ads on your site. people would argue that if you want to run a biz you should have a paid hosting. i know they are still right but for just starting up a free host is the best option. it takes time on your learning phase of building a website and while at the same time have to master other aspect of biz too such as marketing. actually you can transfer your site to a paid hosting later on when your site is fully finished or already received maybe 200-300 visitor per days where free hosting would be having trouble in supplying enough bandwidth or when you need a mysql database or other tools that free hosting does not provide. to reach 200-300 visitor sometimes take 6 - 12 months if your are not using PPC advertising because it is quite costly and risky. the only thing you must have in the beginning is domain name. this domain can be pointed to any web hosting because you own it. domain name range from usd8 - usd40 per year. the wide difference of the cost is because the domain name seller has other package. they put this thing low but other thing high. so you need to look at that too if you don't have too much money to just waste here and there. hope that helps. if you need additional info you can check my profile.