"WordPress is free — why do quotes differ so much?" Because the software is free, but everything around it is not. Here is where the money actually goes.
The Free Part
WordPress core is open-source and genuinely free. So are thousands of themes and plugins. This is why WordPress is cost-efficient compared to fully custom-coded sites: flexibility and long-term cost control are built in.
Where the Money Goes
Hosting (¥500-2,000/year). Good hosting is the difference between a 1-second and a 5-second load time. Do not cheap out here.
Domain (about ¥80/year). Small money, big identity.
Themes and plugins (free to ¥300 each). Premium foreign-trade themes and functional plugins cost a little but save days of development.
Development and customization (the real variable). Installing WordPress takes an hour; making it look like YOUR brand, load fast, stay secure and convert visitors takes professional skill. This is what you are actually paying for.
Maintenance (¥900/year in our WordPress package). Updates, backups, security monitoring. Skipping this is how WordPress sites get hacked.
The Hidden Cost of "Cheap"
A WordPress site assembled from free themes with 40 plugins will be slow, vulnerable and impossible to rank on Google. Fixing it later costs more than building it right. We have taken over many such sites — the rebuild always costs more than doing it properly the first time.
What a Sensible Budget Looks Like
Our WordPress e-commerce package is ¥2,999 for the first year and ¥900/year renewal: it includes everything from our Business package plus multi-language support, full store features and an international payment gateway. For a store that can actually sell cross-border, that is the sensible floor.