CODEOnline stores that keep their own margin
A custom-built store takes card payments, tracks your stock and handles local delivery, without a platform taking a monthly fee and a slice of every sale for as long as you trade.
- Price range
- R12,000–R15,000
- Typical timeline
- 3–5 weeks
- Platform fees
- None, ever
The maths on platform fees
This is the part worth thinking about before you choose. A hosted platform typically charges a monthly subscription plus a percentage of each sale, and both scale with your success. A store turning over R60,000 a month can quite easily pay several thousand rand a year in platform costs on top of the payment gateway’s own fee. Every year, indefinitely.
A custom store is a larger cost once and nothing monthly afterwards, beyond hosting. Whether that is the better deal depends entirely on your volume and how long you plan to trade. At low volumes, or if you want to be selling next week, a hosted platform genuinely wins and we will tell you so. At steady volume over several years, owning the store outright usually costs far less.
What gets built
- A product catalogue that fits your range. Categories, variants like size and colour, multiple images, related products, and search and filtering that works for the way people actually shop your stock.
- South African payments. Yoco, PayFast and iKhokha, covering cards, instant EFT, SnapScan and SCode. Customers check out in rands without being sent somewhere that looks unfamiliar.
- Stock tracking. Levels decrement as orders come in, with low-stock warnings and the option to hide or flag sold-out items rather than take orders you cannot fill.
- Delivery rules that match reality. Flat rate, by weight, by area, free over a threshold, or local collection. Courier integration for live rates and tracking where it is worth having.
- An admin area you can actually use. Add products, change prices, update stock, view and fulfil orders, without needing us for routine changes.
- Order emails. Confirmation to the customer, notification to you, and dispatch notices with tracking, all automatic.
- Built to be found. Product and category pages get proper titles, descriptions and product schema, so items can appear in Google Shopping results and rich listings.
- The legal pages. Terms, returns and refunds, and a POPIA-aware privacy policy, drafted as a starting point for you to approve.
What pushes the price up
The R12,000 end is a focused catalogue, simple products, one payment method and straightforward delivery. Costs move toward R15,000 and beyond with a large or complex range, many variants per product, trade or bulk pricing tiers, customer accounts with order history, subscriptions or recurring orders, integration with accounting or POS, or multi-warehouse stock. Telling us early which of these you need makes the quote accurate rather than optimistic.
What you will pay besides us
Being upfront so there are no surprises. The payment gateway charges a transaction fee, typically a small percentage per sale, paid to them directly. Hosting runs monthly, and is covered if you take the maintenance retainer. Courier costs are yours or your customers’, depending on how you set shipping. None of these flow through us and we take no cut of your sales.
Often built alongside
Questions we get asked
Why not just use Shopify or WooCommerce?
For some businesses those are the right answer, and we will say so if that is the case. Shopify is quick to start but takes a monthly fee plus a cut, and both grow as you do. A custom store costs more once and nothing monthly after that, and it can be built around how your business actually sells rather than how the platform assumes you do. If you want a simple store live next week with no unusual requirements, Shopify may serve you better.
What does an online store cost?
Between R12,000 and R15,000 depending on size and complexity. A focused catalogue with straightforward products and one payment method sits at the lower end. Many product variants, bulk or trade pricing, multiple delivery rules or integrations push it toward the upper end. You get a fixed quote after we have scoped it.
Which payment methods can customers use?
We build with Yoco, PayFast and iKhokha, which between them cover cards, instant EFT, SnapScan and SCode. The gateway takes its own transaction fee, which is paid to them and not to us. We will help you compare their rates for your expected volume before choosing.
How does delivery work?
Shipping rules are built to match how you actually deliver: flat rate, by weight, by area, free over a threshold, or local pickup. Courier integration for automatic rates and tracking can be added, or you can keep it simple and handle dispatch manually at first.
Can I manage products myself?
Yes. You get an admin area to add and edit products, change prices, update stock, and view and fulfil orders. It is built to be usable without training.
What about stock, if I also sell in a shop?
The store tracks stock and can decrement it on each sale. If you sell in person as well, this is worth raising early, because keeping online and in-store stock in step is a design decision rather than something bolted on afterwards.
Do you handle the legal side?
The store ships with the pages South African online sellers need: terms and conditions, a returns and refunds policy, and a privacy policy structured for POPIA. We give you a solid starting point, but you should have your own final say on the wording, since we are not lawyers.
Thinking about selling online?
Tell us what you sell and roughly how much you expect to move, and we will tell you honestly whether a custom store or a hosted platform is the better buy.