Charge for a client's online store in two parts: a one-time build fee (your hours times your rate, plus a buffer for revisions) and a monthly care fee (the platform cost plus your upkeep time and a margin). The platform changes both numbers, so check its price and any cut of your client's sales before you quote.
I run LotsCommerce, a store platform built with agencies in mind, so I spend a lot of time on this math. Below are the platform costs you'll pass on, checked on each vendor's own pricing page on 19 October 2026, a pricing method you can reuse for every client, and a worked example. I'm not going to give you an invented "agencies charge $X to $Y" range. Your rate depends on your costs, your market and your client, and a made-up range doesn't help you quote.
What one public marketplace shows
Most rate lists online aren't sourced. One that is: Codeable, a marketplace of vetted WordPress developers (WooCommerce runs on WordPress), shows an $80 to $120 hourly rate, and then adds its own service fee on top (checked on 19 October 2026). Use it as one reference point for vetted, marketplace-matched work, not as the rate you must charge.
Step 1: Price the build from your hours
Write down every task for this client and estimate the hours. A typical store build covers:
| Task | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Setup and discovery | Call with the client, store created, brand assets collected |
| Look and pages | Logo, colours, home page, about, contact, store policies |
| Catalog | Products, variants (sizes, colours), categories and collections, stock per variant; a spreadsheet import saves hours on a large catalog |
| Payments | Connecting the client's own payment account and testing an order |
| Shipping and domain | Shipping zones and rates, the client's own domain with HTTPS |
| Launch and handover training | Test orders, a walkthrough of accepting, shipping and refunding orders |
Then: build fee = estimated hours × your hourly rate × (1 + buffer). A 10% to 20% buffer covers the round of changes every client asks for. If you quote a fixed price, put the number of revision rounds in writing.
Step 2: Price the monthly care fee from your costs
After launch, the client's store costs you money and time every month. Charge for both:
Monthly care fee = platform cost + paid apps or extensions + your upkeep hours × your rate + margin
Upkeep usually means adding products, updating prices and stock, setting up discount codes for a sale, checking orders are moving, and answering "how do I…" questions. Track your real hours for the first two months, then adjust the fee.
Step 3: Check what each platform costs per client store
This is the part most quotes get wrong: they use last year's prices, or forget a transaction fee that comes out of the client's sales. Here's what each platform costs today.
Checked on 19 October 2026, US dollars before tax, monthly price first, then the per-month price when billed yearly.
| Platform | Monthly cost per store | Cut of the client's sales | Payment processing |
|---|---|---|---|
| LotsCommerce | Starter $12 ($10 yearly) for 1 store; Pro $29 for 3 stores; Business $79 for 10 stores | 0% on every plan | The client's own Stripe account (in the countries Stripe supports) or Razorpay account (businesses registered in India), plus UPI and WhatsApp orders; the provider's own fee only |
| Shopify | Basic $39 ($29 yearly), Grow $105 ($79), Advanced $399 ($299) | 0% with Shopify Payments; otherwise 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced | Shopify Payments online cards from 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic |
| Squarespace | Basic $25 ($19 yearly), Core $39 ($29), Plus $65 ($49), Advanced $139 ($99) | 2% online store fee on Basic; 0% from Core | Card rates from 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic and Core |
| WooCommerce | Plugin free; hosting, domain and paid extensions are separate | None stated | WooPayments: no setup or monthly fee; 2.90% + $0.30 per card payment for a US store, +1.50% on international cards |
| Big Cartel | Gold free (up to 5 products); Platinum $15 ($144 a year, up to 50 products); Diamond $30 ($288 a year, up to 500 products) | 0% ("we never take a cut") | The client's own Stripe or PayPal account |
Two things in that table change your quote:
- A cut of sales is a cost to your client, even if it isn't on your invoice. On a store selling $5,000 a month, a 2% fee is $100 a month. That's Shopify Basic with a payment provider other than Shopify Payments, or Squarespace Basic. If your client wants to keep a different provider, Shopify's Grow or Advanced plan lowers that fee; on Squarespace, Core removes it. Put the real number in the proposal so nobody is surprised.
- Self-hosting isn't free for you. WooCommerce has no platform fee, but hosting, updates and security become your job or the client's. If it's yours, price those hours into the care fee.
Step 4: Decide who pays the platform
You have two clean options:
- The client pays the platform directly. Your care fee is only your time and margin. Simple, and the client always sees the platform bill.
- You pay the platform and bundle it into the care fee. One invoice for the client, and a margin for you on the platform cost. This is where a plan that covers several stores helps.
On LotsCommerce, every store you build sits in your one account. Pro covers 3 stores for $29 a month and Business covers 10 stores for $79 a month (two months free when billed yearly), and every plan has every feature, so a small client doesn't get a cut-down store. Products, orders, customers and teammates are unlimited. Each client gets the role they need on their own store (admin, manager, staff or viewer), and each store connects that client's own payment account, so their sales go straight to them. LotsCommerce never holds the money and takes 0% of the sales. Full plans are on the pricing page.
A worked example
Here's the method with example numbers. Swap in your own rate and hours.
Say your rate is $75 an hour and the client sells 40 products with sizes and colours.
| Build task | Hours |
|---|---|
| Setup and discovery | 3 |
| Look and pages | 5 |
| Catalog (40 products from a spreadsheet, with variants and stock) | 6 |
| Payments, shipping zones and domain | 3 |
| Test orders and client training | 3 |
| Total | 20 |
- Build fee: 20 hours × $75 = $1,500, plus a 15% buffer = $1,725.
- Care fee: 2 hours of upkeep a month × $75 = $150, plus the platform. If you bundle a LotsCommerce Starter store ($12 a month), that's $162; round to $175 a month. If the store sits on your Business plan with nine other clients, $79 a month covers all ten stores and the difference is your margin.
- The client's sales: with LotsCommerce, the client pays only their own payment provider's fee. No platform cut comes off their sales.
On a platform with a 2% cut, add a line to the proposal that shows the fee on the client's expected monthly sales, so the comparison is honest.
What to put in the proposal
- The build fee, what it includes and how many revision rounds.
- The monthly care fee, what it covers (hours, the platform, any paid apps) and what is extra.
- The platform cost and any cut of sales, with the date you checked them.
- Where the money from sales goes. On LotsCommerce, it's the client's own Stripe or Razorpay account (how to connect Stripe, how to connect Razorpay), or UPI and WhatsApp orders settled with them directly.
- What happens if the platform bill lapses. On LotsCommerce nothing is deleted: the storefront stays readable, new orders pause, and orders already placed can still be fulfilled and refunded.
Manage client stores from ChatGPT or Claude
Everything above works in the LotsCommerce dashboard. If you or your team use ChatGPT, Claude or another assistant, you can connect it and handle the routine upkeep in plain words, which keeps the care-fee hours low. It works with the AI agent you already use. For example:
List my stores. For the Maple & Thread store, show orders waiting for me to accept and any variants running low on stock.
Every change shows up in the dashboard. Here's how to connect your assistant.
FAQ
How much should I charge to build an online store for a client?
Price it from your own hours: list every task (setup, pages, catalog, payments, shipping, domain, training), estimate the hours, multiply by your hourly rate and add a 10% to 20% buffer for revisions. For one public reference, Codeable shows an $80 to $120 hourly rate for vetted WordPress developers, before its service fee (checked on 19 October 2026).
Should I charge a monthly fee after the store launches?
Yes. A monthly care fee covers the platform cost (if you pay it), any paid apps, your upkeep hours and a margin. Track your real hours for the first two months, then set the fee from them.
Should the client or the agency pay for the store platform?
Either works. If the client pays the platform directly, your care fee is only your time. If you pay and bundle it, the client gets one invoice and you keep a margin. A plan that covers several stores, such as LotsCommerce Pro (3 stores, $29 a month) or Business (10 stores, $79 a month), lowers your cost per store.
Does the store platform take a cut of my client's sales?
It depends on the platform and plan. LotsCommerce and Big Cartel take 0% on every plan. Shopify takes 2% on Basic unless the store uses Shopify Payments, and Squarespace takes 2% on Basic. Payment providers charge their own fees on every platform (checked on 19 October 2026).
How do I run many client stores on LotsCommerce?
All your client stores sit in one account. Business covers 10 stores for $79 a month, each client gets the role they need on their own store, and each store pays that client directly into their own Stripe or Razorpay account. LotsCommerce takes 0% of every store's sales. New accounts get 15,000 free credits, valid 90 days, no card.
Sources
Checked on 19 October 2026: LotsCommerce pricing, Codeable pricing, Shopify pricing, Squarespace pricing, WooPayments, WooPayments fees, Big Cartel pricing, Big Cartel plans and features.