Comparing agency quotes on price assumes they describe the same work. They rarely do. One includes payment and shipping integration; another treats it as a change request. One hands over the store; another keeps the accounts in its own name.
These nine questions make quotes comparable. Ask for the answers in writing — not because anyone is dishonest, but because ambiguity is where projects go wrong.
1. What integrations are included?
A store cannot trade without payments, shipping and tax or invoicing set up correctly for its market. If a quote excludes these, it is not a quote for a working store. Ask which providers, how many integrations, and who owns the accounts.
2. How many revision rounds?
"A reasonable number" is not a number. Ask for the count and what a revision covers — design only, or build as well. This single answer prevents most late-stage friction.
3. What happens after launch?
Launch day is not the end of the work. Small fixes always surface in the first fortnight. Ask how long support runs, what it covers, and what happens when it ends.
4. Is the store fully handed over?
Theme code, app accounts, domain and the Shopify account itself should be in your name. A build that keeps you dependent makes every future change more expensive and makes switching supplier painful. This is the question we would ask first.
5. Is the theme off-the-shelf or custom?
Both are legitimate, but they are different products at different prices. Adapting a premium theme to your brand is not the same as writing a theme. The proposal should say plainly which one you are buying.
6. What is being done about performance?
"It will be fast" is not a commitment. Ask how many apps will be installed, how images will be handled, and what measurement you will receive at handover. Without a measurable output this line is decoration.
7. Is analytics configured?
GA4 with correct ecommerce events is the only way to see which pages earn revenue. A store delivered without it leaves you flying blind for the months when decisions matter most.
8. Which stores have you launched?
Ask for live URLs, not portfolio images. You can open a working store and judge its speed, mobile experience and checkout yourself — that is more informative than any deck.
9. Who does the work, and how do we communicate?
The person selling and the person building are often different people, which is fine. Not knowing that in advance is not. Agree the channel and the cadence before the project starts.
A note on price
Once the answers are on the table, price comparison becomes meaningful. A higher quote that includes integrations, analytics and a real handover is frequently cheaper over twelve months than a low quote that bills each of those separately.
How we answer these questions ourselves is set out on our Shopify agency UK page, with fixed prices on the pricing page. For what a store costs in the first place, see how much a Shopify store costs in the UK.