Magento FAQ

We get a lot of emails asking questions about Magento, and we’ve tried to answer some of the more common ones here. We’ve also thrown in a few of our own that might provide some insight if you’re trying to weigh up whether or not a Magento solution is right for your business. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, as always, we are here to help...so feel free to drop us a line!

Is Magento right for me?

Magento is an “enterprise level” ecommerce platform. What that means is that it’s ideally suited to already established retailers who want to take their website to the next level, and to new ecommerce businesses who would prefer to start with a powerful and comprehensive solution from day one. If you’re just looking to run your business in your spare time or wish to start your ecommerce project on a very small budget, then Magento is possibly not right for you. There are many other ecommerce products out there that are much better suited to smaller businesses.

How much does a Magento website cost?

Magento is an incredibly versatile ecommerce platform with a range of flexible features you are unlikely to find in other open source or licensed solutions, and with these features comes a certain level of complexity during the build. This makes developing for Magento a time consuming process (especially if you want something unique produced to a high standard). As such our Magento projects can range anywhere from around £7,000 - £20,000 depending on the amount of development work required.

We do offer flexible interest free payment plans for established businesses, to spread the cost of your project over an agreed period of time. If you would like to find out more about this please give us a call.

Why is it so expensive? Isn’t Magento open source?

Magento is open source, which means that the core code is free. This means that your website can have access to a range of ecommerce features that were previously only available in expensive high-end proprietary software. Because the Magento software is free, all of your money goes into the actual time we spend developing your site. This means the finished product is available to you at a lower cost when compared to having a proprietary solution developed. You are saving tens of thousands of pounds by taking advantage of Magento’s open source architecture.

To develop a unique website design for you, that fits with your brand and meets the needs of your customers, coded to a high standard by experienced professionals is a time consuming process. Our pricing reflects the amount of work we put into each and every project.

I am setting up my own Magento website, can you help with ...?

We get a lot of requests asking technical questions about Magento and if we can help with very minor tasks like moving something from one page to another, changing a logo or the colour of a box, fixing something someone has broken or modifying the default layout slightly. We regret that this is not the kind of work we take on. We use Magento as a platform for developing complete professional web solutions for our clients. If you would like help developing a Magento website yourself then please read the excellent documentation on the Magento website, or visit their forums.

We are a web design company, and we’d like to outsource some Magento development work. Is this a service you provide?

We usually only take on full projects, offering a complete design and development service for Magento. However, this is not set in stone and we would not discourage other web design companies from talking with us about how we can work together on Magento projects!

We have been let down by another web design company, who were building our site with Magento but were unable to finish it. Can you help?

Believe it or not, we get a lot of these! Usually a web designer has taken on a project without realising the complexity of Magento and has been unable to finish it for their customer. Sometimes we can help, sometimes we can’t. Usually these aren’t the kind of projects we take on, but we’re nice people and believe in karma! So if you’re having problems with another web design company feel free to give us a call, we may be able to help.

Why should we have our Magento website designed by Limesharp?

We are an established reputable business, and we love creating outstanding, clean, modern B2C ecommerce websites, especially for businesses who are image and brand conscious (e.g. those in the fashion industry, an area we specialise in). If that sounds like music to your ears then we’re probably a match made in heaven!

But aside from our unhealthy interest in cool fashionable websites, we also understand the business of ecommerce. We understand that you are choosing Magento as a platform to allow your business to compete in a global marketplace, and that you need a finished product that will set you apart from the competition. We carry this ethos through from the initial planning to the final testing and handover of your website. And after that, because we want long-term relationships, we’re always on hand to help ensure your website reaches your customers, wherever in the world they may be.

Do you have any examples of your Magento work?

We sure do. For now check out Retrospecs, Steatite Rugged and End Clothing. Many more coming soon!

Find out more...

Want to know more or get in touch with us? Follow the links below.

• Check out the End Clothing Magento Case Study
• Read our blog post 10 things we love about Magento
• Why we love using Magento for fashion websites
• Download the Magento Feature List PDF
• Get in touch - call us on 0191 645 0170, email us, or fill out our online enquiry form