You have decided to start selling online. Great.

Then you start looking at your options, and suddenly there are Bumpa, Shopify, Chowdeck, and ten other platforms promising to help you sell.

But the cost, subscription, and features also matter, and you have to set up your overhead costs properly.

Because choosing where to sell is not only about which platform looks better. A ₦10,000 sale on one platform may not leave the same amount in your pocket as a ₦10,000 sale somewhere else.

So, we compared what it actually costs to sell on Bumpa, Chowdeck, and Shopify in Nigeria, and more importantly, which one makes sense for different kinds of businesses.

Bumpa is probably one of the more familiar names on this list if you run a small business in Nigeria, especially if most of your customers currently find you through Instagram or WhatsApp.

Bumpa has different plans depending on the size of your business.

The Starter plan costs ₦50,000 yearly, which works out to about ₦4,166.67 per month.

The Pro plan costs ₦100,000 yearly or roughly ₦8,333.33 per month.

For growing businesses, the Growth plan costs ₦250,000 yearly, which comes to approximately ₦20,833.33 monthly.

Then there is Scale at ₦750,000 yearly, or ₦62,500 monthly, while Premium starts at ₦1.5 million per year for larger businesses with more specific needs.

As you move up the plans, you get more tools for managing staff, customers, inventory, multiple locations, analytics, and orders. For example, Growth supports two locations and five staff accounts, while Scale supports three locations and ten staff accounts.

So, a business selling 20 products from one Instagram page probably does not need Bumpa Scale.

But a growing fashion or beauty business with several staff members and more than one location may eventually need the extra structure.

Bumpa also offers up to 20% savings when you pay yearly.

Chowdeck works very differently, because you are not paying a yearly subscription just to have your restaurant listed. Instead, the major cost comes from commission on the orders you receive.

Selling on Chowdeck does not require an upfront registration fee, but commissions can fall between 15% and 30% per order depending on the arrangement.

Imagine you sell a meal for ₦10,000 and your commission is 20%.

₦2,000 goes to commission, and you receive ₦8,000 before considering your own food costs and other business expenses.

Sell 100 of those ₦10,000 meals, and you have generated ₦1 million in orders, but at the same 20% commission, ₦200,000 goes towards platform commission.

That does not automatically make Chowdeck expensive or bad, because someone who has never heard about your restaurant can open Chowdeck because they are hungry, discover your business, and order from you. That kind of customer discovery is something you would normally have to generate yourself through marketing.

Unlike Chowdeck, Shopify is not bringing hungry customers to a marketplace where they can discover your store.

You are building your own store; that means yourbrand.com, your products, your design, and your customer experience.

Shopify plans range from around $5 per month for Starter to $2,300+ monthly for Shopify Plus.

But if you are building a proper ecommerce website, you are more likely looking at one of the main store plans.

A Basic Shopify setup generally falls around $29–$39 monthly depending on the billing arrangement. More advanced plans can rise to $79–$105 and $299–$399 per month.

And remember, you are paying in dollars.

That matters for a Nigerian business because your actual Naira cost can move as the exchange rate changes.

If you are a small Nigerian business that simply wants a website and tools to manage orders without paying in dollars every month, Bumpa can be the more predictable option.

Chowdeck is different because you can start without an upfront subscription, but your cost grows as your orders grow.

If you sell ₦100,000 worth of food at a 20% commission, that is ₦20,000 in commission.

At ₦1 million, that becomes ₦200,000.

At ₦5 million, that would be ₦1 million.

Of course, those sales may include customers who would never have discovered you without Chowdeck, which is why looking at commission alone does not tell the full story.

So, the cheapest platform and the best-value platform are not always the same thing.

And this is exactly why knowing your numbers matters. If you do not know what you make after platform fees, product costs, delivery, marketing, and other expenses, you can have plenty of orders and still wonder where all the money went. We have a simple guide on how to track your business's monthly revenue that can help you get a clearer picture.

If you are a small fashion, beauty, or product business that currently sells mostly through Instagram and WhatsApp and you want more structure, Bumpa is your best bet.

If you run a restaurant, bakery, or food business and customer discovery and delivery are important to you, Chowdeck may make more sense.

If you want to build a standalone ecommerce brand, have more control over how customers experience your business, and possibly sell internationally later, Shopify is the stronger option.

If you are still at the stage of deciding what kind of business to start in the first place, our guide to businesses you can start in Nigeria with ₦500,000 might be a better place to begin.

Bumpa's Starter plan costs ₦50,000 when billed yearly, which works out to approximately ₦4,166.67 per month. Its other yearly plans include Pro at ₦100,000, Growth at ₦250,000, and Scale at ₦750,000, while Premium starts from ₦1.5 million.

Bumpa has a free Paperless option for businesses that do not yet want to subscribe to one of its main paid plans.

Chowdeck vendors pay commission on orders, with the supplied research putting the range around 15% to 30% depending on the arrangement.

Shopify pricing is in US dollars. The Starter option is around $5 monthly, while a full Basic ecommerce store generally falls around $29–$39 monthly depending on billing.

It depends on your business. Bumpa is locally focused, and its Naira pricing makes costs easier to predict. Shopify offers a much larger ecommerce ecosystem and is better suited to brands looking for greater customisation or international expansion.

Till next time,

Team Thrive

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