A clear starting point. One fixed project price.
Every company has a different stack, workflow, and amount of cleanup. We publish the starting point so you can judge fit, then scope each implementation around the actual business problem.
- Kickstart — $2,500 fixed
- Custom builds — starting at $7,500
- Optional Care — starting at $400/month
- Written scope and acceptance criteria
- Larger work split into fixed phases
- No mandatory monthly contract
What does a custom ecommerce system cost?
The standardized first engagement is the $2,500 Kickstart. Focused custom implementations start at $7,500, with one fixed project price approved before implementation begins. Larger systems work is broken into separately approved phases. Optional Care starts at $400 per month for one defined, low-complexity production system. We do not publish hourly rates or use an hourly rate as the public buying model.
The complete commercial model
The Kickstart stands on its own. Continue only when the next project has a clear business case.
Kickstart — $2,500 fixed
Ten business days after kickoff and required access to interview operators, rank the top five opportunities, deliver plain-English findings, complete one tightly scoped proof build, and train your team. The full fee is applied to a qualifying custom implementation of $15,000 or more scoped within 60 days.
Custom builds — starting at $7,500
Focused work begins at this price when the workflow is tightly scoped, follows an established delivery pattern, access is available, the data is usable, and no major cleanup or migration is required. You approve the exact fixed price and written acceptance criteria before work begins.
Optional Care — starting at $400/month
For one defined, low-complexity production system: active monitoring, relevant failure alerts, next-business-day incident acknowledgement, quarterly platform review, and up to one hour of minor corrective maintenance per calendar quarter. Additional or more complex systems are quoted separately.
What makes one implementation more complex than another
The price follows the actual workflow, systems, data, risk, and support obligations—not a generic menu.
Systems and external APIs
More connected systems create more authentication, data-shaping, failure-handling, and testing work. Uncertain third-party APIs add discovery and operational risk.
Data quality and availability
Usable, accessible data makes a focused build possible. Historical cleanup, inconsistent records, or missing source data must be handled explicitly.
Workflow complexity and user roles
Exceptions, approvals, permissions, and several user roles require more design and acceptance testing than a single predictable workflow.
Migration and interface requirements
A customer-facing interface, broad migration, storefront redesign, or complex authentication system carries a different scope than an internal automation.
Business criticality and security
Systems that affect orders, money, customer data, or core operations need stronger controls, logging, rollback planning, and support boundaries.
Deadline and support obligations
Urgent timelines, launch coordination, or more demanding post-launch coverage affect the delivery plan and are stated in the fixed scope.
What you receive before implementation begins
The commercial decision is made against a written result, not an open-ended estimate.
A defined business result
We document the current process, what the proposed system is expected to change, and how success will be measured.
Written scope and acceptance criteria
The workflow, systems, responsibilities, exclusions, and plain-English tests for acceptance are agreed before implementation begins.
One fixed project price
You approve the complete price for the agreed scope. Pricing is not presented as an hourly estimate, day rate, or public rate formula.
Separately approved phases for larger work
Each phase has its own business case, fixed scope, fixed price, and written acceptance criteria. You do not commit to later phases in advance.
Compare the project with the whole current process
The cost of a broken process is rarely just one software bill. It is the subscriptions, manual work, errors, slow decisions, and lost capacity that compound every month.
Software and subscriptions
Include the tools currently covering fragments of the workflow, not just the one subscription that appears most expensive.
Manual work and lost capacity
Account for the recurring operator and founder time spent moving data, checking work, and resolving exceptions.
Errors, delays, and slow decisions
Document rework, fulfillment mistakes, delayed reporting, missed handoffs, and the cost of waiting for reliable information.
Expected operating change
Approve a build only when the before-and-after measure is clear enough to support the business case.
Efficient delivery without organizational layers
Reusable infrastructure and low organizational overhead reduce avoidable coordination work while the scope, acceptance criteria, testing, documentation, and handoff remain explicit.
Straight answers about scope and cost
What is the Kickstart?
The Kickstart is a $2,500 fixed engagement completed in 10 business days after kickoff and receipt of all required access. It includes interviews with the people who run the workflow, the top five opportunities ranked by impact, confidence, effort, and risk, plain-English findings, one tightly scoped proof build using systems and access already available to your team, and training and handoff.
What happens after the Kickstart?
You can stop, operate the proof build, or approve a separately scoped custom implementation. The Kickstart stands on its own. If a qualifying custom implementation of $15,000 or more is scoped within 60 days of delivery, the full $2,500 Kickstart fee is applied to it.
How much does a custom build cost?
Focused custom implementations start at $7,500. The exact price depends on the workflow, systems, data, risk, and acceptance criteria. You approve one fixed price before implementation begins. Larger systems work is divided into separately approved phases.
Why don’t you publish a full project rate card?
A dashboard with clean data and a multi-system operational platform are not the same project. Publishing one broad range would either mislead smaller clients or anchor larger work artificially low. We publish the starting point, then price the actual scope.
How do acceptance criteria work?
Before implementation begins, we agree on written acceptance criteria in plain English. During the acceptance period, anything that misses those criteria is corrected at our expense. If we cannot meet the agreed criteria, the final project payment is not due. A 30-day defect-remediation period follows acceptance. New requirements, client-data issues, and later third-party platform changes are handled separately.
Do I need Optional Care?
No. Your team is trained to operate the delivered system, and Care is never required. It is intended for business-critical systems where the team wants active monitoring, platform-change reviews, and faster incident triage.
Have a project in mind?
We will help you decide whether the Kickstart, a focused custom build, or no project at all is the right next step.
A short call to understand the workflow, systems, available data, and the result that would make a project worthwhile.
- $2,500 Kickstart with a tightly scoped proof build
- A real reply within one business day
- Clear technical ownership