what cost are relevant in making the decision to start  an E-commerce Business?

Hi! Thanks for the question. I am now ready to answer your question.

The following are the usual cost elements in an e-commerce business.
The article even has sample figures but the author notifies that the
article will be updated to reflect current costs so be sure to check
it out again.

-Web Hosting

-Merchant Account Fees
“Fees exist on two levels here for on-line credit card clearance, the
payment gateway who process the transaction and the acquiring bank
(your bank). Note that dishonour fees also apply for transactions
which are denied by the user or which may have been fraudulent (not
shown in the table below).

-Marketing (Search Engine Submission as an example.)
-Setting Up the Online Store

“E-commerce costs”
http://www.stevenknighttraining.powerup.com.au/training/costs_of_building_an_e.htm

In an article at the E-Commerce Times, it provides additional costs to
the ones mentioned above. Moreover, it mentions the hidden costs that
usually follow the growth of an e-commerce business.

-liability and fraud insurance fees
-maintenance fees
-customer support via e-mail and call centers
-Customer acquisition

“The Hidden Costs of Running an E-Commerce Site”
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/18159.html 

In this website from Australia, another good enumeration of possible
cost could be seen and should be taken into consideration as well. It
shows how each cost affects companies depending on the size of their
e-commerce business.

Our first link shows the initial investment for a typical company and
the next article talks about the cost of continuous operation.

“The investment”
http://www.noie.gov.au/projects/CaseStudies/Ecommerce/SummaryReport/investment.htm

“Ongoing costs”
http://www.noie.gov.au/projects/CaseStudies/Ecommerce/SummaryReport/costs.htm

Plus there is a case study on this site, which shows how a particular
company coped with the challenges.

Case Study (Australian company)
http://www.noie.gov.au/projects/CaseStudies/Ecommerce/ShortForm/industry/color.htm

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Easterangel-ga           
Google Answers Researcher

Hi! You might want to take a look at this website.

http://www.webwebweb.co.za/5_0pricing.htm

If you find this as adequate, I will post it as an answer and collect the fee.

do you have more information on E-commerce business?