Online store with no commissions per sale

What is a per-sale commission and why does it eat into your margin?

Imagine you sell a product for 40 €. You've paid for the materials, the hours, the shipping. And just as you get paid, someone keeps a slice of those 40 € simply because the sale went through their system. That's a per-sale commission: a percentage (sometimes plus a fixed amount per transaction) deducted from every order.

The problem isn't that it exists, it's that it scales with your success. A fixed monthly fee is known in advance and doesn't move. A per-sale commission, on the other hand, grows just when you sell the most: the month you bill the most is the month you pay the most. That's why it's worth separating two very different things that are often blurred on purpose:

• The gateway or bank commission. It's the cost of taking card, Bizum or PayPal payments. It exists almost always, on any platform, and it's legitimate: someone processes the payment.
• The platform or marketplace commission. It's an additional percentage charged by the site where you sell on top of the above, just for using their system or their shopfront. This is the one you can actually avoid depending on how you set up your store.

How much do they really take? Let's talk with figures, not fear

We're not going to run anyone down or make up figures to scare you. Each platform has its own model and it works for plenty of people. All we ask is that you compare with real figures before deciding, because that "small" percentage stays with you on every order for years.

On top of that, many shopfront-style marketplaces add their own platform commission on the order total, which varies a lot depending on the category and the site. We're not going to quote a specific number for those, because they depend too much on the case and we don't have a single source that holds for everyone: treat them as a rough industry range and always ask for the rate in writing before signing.

Per-sale commission: marketplace and platform versus your Zenith store

This is the comparison that matters. Look only at the "platform per-sale commission" column, because the bank or gateway one you pay the same in every case.

The fundamental difference isn't just the percentage: it's whose store it is. On a marketplace, your shopfront and your customers live inside someone else's house. With a custom store on your own domain, the house is yours.

What is a Zenith store with no commissions like?

We flip the usual model on its head. Instead of charging you a percentage of every sale or a big budget up front, we do this:

1. Building it costs 0 €. We build the store for you, fast and on Cloudflare. You don't pay to have it built.
2. On your own domain. The store is yours and lives at your address, not inside someone else's shopfront. Your brand, your customers, your data.
3. No Zenith commission per sale. We don't take any % of what you sell. Your margin stays with you. (Your bank's or gateway's commission always exists, on any system, and we explain it clearly.)
4. A fixed, tailored monthly fee. You pay a monthly support fee that depends on your business and your catalogue, and it includes domain, SSL and everything technical. It's fixed: it doesn't grow because you sell more.
5. We stay by your side. We don't build the store and disappear: the support includes maintaining it and working on its ranking month after month.

If you want to fully understand how the price is calculated and what moves the fee, you'll find it in how much an online store costs. And to see everything the service covers, head back to online stores.

What we WON'T promise you

No commissions doesn't mean no honesty. So we're clear about what we'll never say:

• We won't tell you that your store "sells itself" or that you'll bill a specific figure. Removing the commission improves your margin per sale, but it doesn't guarantee sales: that depends on your product, your price and your market.
• We don't sell "pay per result" or "you only pay if you sell". That would be dishonest, because the result doesn't depend on us alone.
• We don't pretend that all commissions disappear: the bank's or gateway's will still be there, on any system. What we remove is our per-sale commission.
• We're not going to run other platforms down. Their commission model is legitimate and it serves plenty of people. We just give you the figures so you can choose with the maths done.