For Shopify developers & agencies
A Shopify build is your fee, their plan, and a stack of app subscriptions. Say which is which.
Shopify projects look simple from the outside — 'just set up the store' — and are really a bundle of decisions: a premium theme or custom build, which apps to install and who pays for them, how many products, variants and collections to migrate, redirects from the old platform, payment and shipping configuration, and what happens after launch when the first discount code doesn't work.
ApeiroCraft sends the proposal as a link that separates your fee from the merchant's own costs, defines migration volume, and spells out launch support. You see when it's opened and reopened, the merchant signs in the browser, and the deposit and milestones are invoiced from the accepted proposal.
Where Shopify projects overrun.
Migration volume underestimated
'About 200 products' turns out to be 200 products with 4,000 variants, inconsistent images and three years of customer data. Cleaning data is the slowest part of a migration, and the easiest to underquote.
App costs blamed on you
After launch the merchant sees a stack of monthly app bills and asks why the store costs so much to run. If your proposal didn't list them as their costs, the conversation is about you.
Launch support that never ends
Every small post-launch request — a new banner, a tweak to the cart drawer — arrives as 'quick fix'. Without a support window, the project never closes.
From discovery to launch, milestone by milestone.
Your fee and their costs, separated
List your build fee, then a separate section for the merchant's own costs — Shopify plan, theme licence, app subscriptions — so nobody confuses them.
See when the merchant is deciding
Opens and re-opens are recorded on the link. A merchant reopening the proposal after a call with another agency is the moment to explain your migration approach.
Signed before the theme work
The signature records name, email, IP address and a UTC timestamp and can't be altered — so migration volume and the support window are on record.
Deposit and milestone invoices
Convert the accepted proposal to a draft invoice for the deposit, then again at design approval and launch. Your own payment link goes on each.
What a Shopify build proposal has to include.
The build itself is rarely the problem. The edges of the build are.
Theme approach
If it's left vague
The merchant expects a bespoke design on a premium-theme budget.
With ApeiroCraft
Say whether you're customising a theme (and which) or building custom, and the templates you'll design.
Migration scope
If it's left vague
Product, customer and order data volume balloons after signing.
With ApeiroCraft
State counts of products, variants, customers and orders migrated, data cleaning included or not, and redirects.
Apps and merchant costs
If it's left vague
Monthly app fees are blamed on the developer.
With ApeiroCraft
List recommended apps as merchant-paid subscriptions, separate from your fee.
Integrations
If it's left vague
ERP, inventory or 3PL integrations are assumed to be part of 'setup'.
With ApeiroCraft
Name each integration in scope and say others are quoted separately.
Launch and support
If it's left vague
Post-launch tweaks continue forever.
With ApeiroCraft
Define a support window after launch and what counts as new work after it.
- Deposit and milestone invoices from one accepted proposal.
- Care-plan retainers sent as separate signed proposals.
- Invoice currency set per invoice for merchants abroad.
Common questions.
How do Shopify developers usually price store builds?
Common models are fixed-price builds with milestone payments, packages by store size (theme setup, custom theme, migration), hourly or day rates for custom development, and monthly retainers or care plans after launch. Merchant costs like the Shopify plan, theme licence and apps are typically billed to the merchant directly. ApeiroCraft holds the model you use; it doesn't set prices.
What does a migration proposal look like?
A move from another platform: theme customisation of a named premium theme with home, collection, product and cart templates; migration of a stated number of products and variants and the customer list, with data cleaning priced as a separate line; 301 redirects for product and collection URLs; two named integrations; merchant-paid apps listed with their purpose; a 30-day support window; deposit, design approval and launch payments. The merchant reopens it after a competitor's call, signs, and you invoice the deposit.
When is ApeiroCraft not the right fit for Shopify work?
It doesn't connect to Shopify, track development hours, or bill retainers automatically each month. If you need time-based billing for every client, you'll need a time tracker alongside. ApeiroCraft fits fixed-scope builds and signed care plans.
Can I sell a care plan after launch?
Yes. Send it as its own proposal — included hours or tasks, response times, what counts as new work — and invoice it each month against the client record. The website maintenance template is a good start.
Which template fits a Shopify build?
The web design proposal template: goals, scope boundaries, a week-by-week process and staged pricing. Add migration and merchant-costs sections.
Separate your fee from their app bills.
Start from the web design template and add your migration and support terms.
Start freeStill deciding? Talk to the founder
Keep reading
Free template
Web design proposal template
Goals, scope boundaries, week-by-week process, and staged pricing that stops scope creep.
Free template
Website maintenance proposal template
Care-plan tiers, response times, included hours, and a clear line between upkeep and new work.
Solution
ApeiroCraft for freelance developers
A scoped SOW with an exclusions list, signed in the browser and invoiced by milestone.