What a webshop build includes at each step

en 2026-09-17 6 min read

A webshop that takes payment on your own site is a step 04 build: EUR 3.500 to EUR 7.500, 6 to 12 weeks. If your products can be ordered by enquiry and invoiced afterwards, the same catalogue sits at step 03, EUR 1.500 to EUR 3.500 in 3 to 6 weeks. What separates those two numbers is checkout.

That is the whole pricing question for a shop, so it is worth being blunt about it. Product pages, categories, search, a content system you can edit yourself, delivery and returns information: all of that fits inside step 03. The moment money moves through the site, the build picks up a set of jobs that have to be right every single time, and that is step 04.

What checkout adds to the build

A payment flow is not one more page. It is an order that has to exist exactly once, a stock count that has to drop at the right moment, a confirmation that has to reach both the buyer and you, a tax rate that has to be correct for where the buyer is, and a refund path that works without anyone editing the database by hand.

It also means handling what goes wrong, because that is where a shop loses money quietly. A card is declined. The buyer closes the tab while the payment provider is still thinking. The provider sends the same confirmation twice. A buyer picks up in person and should not be charged shipping. None of this is visible on a finished shop, and all of it is work. That is why payments set the step in a new build. Added to a site you already have, they are the payments and subscriptions add-on at EUR 600 to EUR 1.500.

What you get at each step

The full list is on packages. Read as a shop build, the steps look like this.

Step 01 suits one product with one offer. Step 02 suits a short catalogue for people who already know you and will message or call. Step 03 suits a real business site where the catalogue is one part of a larger story and the buyer gets in touch. Step 04 is the shop proper, with the buyer paying on your site. Step 05 is a different animal: a database-driven product with its own workflows and admin, which other businesses log into and pay for on a plan.

What moves the price inside step 04

Four things move a shop build up or down inside that range.

• How your products vary. One fixed price per item is straightforward. Sizes, colours, bundles, quantity pricing and stock counted per variant each add a layer to the data model and to every screen that touches it.
• How you ship. A flat rate to one country is a setting. Zones, weight bands, pickup and a carrier account are rules the site has to calculate correctly before the buyer pays.
• Where your product data lives. A clean spreadsheet imports. An existing system that holds its own stock counts has to be connected and kept in step, which is API work and belongs in the quote.
• How much of the design is drawn. A shop built on an existing brand moves faster than one designed from nothing. Both are honest choices, and the quote says which one you are buying. How we work on that is on design and engineering.

Product photography and descriptions are the part that waits on you. The build can be finished with placeholders in it; the shop cannot open on placeholders. If you want the launch date to hold, write product copy while the design is still being approved.

Process and timeline

We scope first: what you sell, how you want to be paid, where you ship, what has to exist at launch and what can wait. A fixed quote follows that scoping, so the number you approve is the number you pay unless you ask for something new. Then design, then build, then a full run through checkout with the payment provider in test mode, then launch. For step 04 that is 6 to 12 weeks. The build itself is Next.js, which is the subject of our Next.js development page.

You own the result. The code, the repository and the database are yours. Hosting is agreed per project and settled during scoping rather than assumed.

After launch

Two things continue if you want them. Care is EUR 100 to EUR 300 per month and covers updates, monitoring, backups and small fixes. SEO growth is EUR 500 to EUR 800 per month and covers technical and on-page work, service and location pages, internal links and reporting. Care is not redesign and not new features; when you want either, we quote it as work.

SEO foundation is a separate one-off at EUR 450 to EUR 750: Search Console, analytics, indexation, technical hygiene, titles, internal links and a 3 to 6 month plan. You buy it once, and you can buy it without committing to anything monthly.

When to spend less

If nobody has bought the product from you yet, do not start at step 04. A single-page landing at EUR 600 to EUR 900 in 1 to 2 weeks, with a form and analytics, plus an invoice or payment link you send yourself, will tell you whether people want the thing. You can put the difference into stock, photography or ads.

If you sell a short list of items to people who already know you, step 02 at EUR 900 to EUR 1.500 does the job. If your catalogue changes daily, runs long and needs no unusual rules, a hosted shop platform may serve you better than a custom build, and we will tell you that instead of quoting. A shop we build should earn its price by doing something the hosted version cannot.

Questions buyers ask

Can I get a shop for less than EUR 3.500?

Yes, if it does not take payment on the site. Step 03 at EUR 1.500 to EUR 3.500 gives you 4 to 7 pages, a CMS you can edit, product and service pages and a booking or contact flow. Buyers enquire, you send an invoice. When money has to move on the site itself, the build is step 04 at EUR 3.500 to EUR 7.500.

Do I own the shop and the customer data?

Yes. The code, the repository and the database are yours. Nothing is held hostage, and another developer can pick up the whole thing.

Can I add and edit products myself?

Yes. A content system is included from step 02 upward, so products, prices, text and images are yours to change without calling anyone. We set it up around the way you actually work, and we show you how it works before launch.

What if I want accounts or subscriptions later?

Customer logins and a dashboard are step 04 with the shop, or an add-on at EUR 1.500 to EUR 4.000 afterwards. Recurring billing with plans, trials and self-service cancellation works the same, with an add-on at EUR 600 to EUR 1.500.

How firm is the quote?

Fixed, once scoping is done. The range on this page is what a shop costs before we know what you sell; the quote is what yours costs. It changes only if you add something that was not in the scope, and then you see the new number before we build it.

Tell us what you sell and how you want to be paid, and we will tell you which step that is before you commit to anything. Start with a scoping conversation.