When starting out in e-commerce, should we build the website ourselves or work with an agency?

If you decide to set it up yourself, watch out for SSL cert deployment, webhook URLs for real-time payment callbacks, and hosting memory limits. If there is a PHP version mismatch on your server, the virtual POS will charge the customer's card, but the order confirmation might never populate in your admin panel.

Giving 50k TL to an agency and hoping to drive sales with the remaining 10k is a recipe for heartbreak. Just rent a hosted e-commerce package for around 12-15k TL a year. Payment gateways and courier modules connect with literally one click. Dump every single lira left into high-end packaging and ad spend.

Two years ago, I thought "I can handle this myself" and tried to build an online store from scratch. You think the design is finished, but suddenly shipping labels won't generate and the 3D Secure checkout gets stuck in an infinite loop. I ended up paying a freelancer extra just to clean up the mess. If you have zero technical background, DIYing it will easily eat up three months of your life.

product imagery is literally everything for olive oil and handmade soaps. even if you hire the priciest agency around nobody is buying anything if your product shots are dark and grainy. keep the site setup dead simple and hire a solid photographer instead imo.

Do not overlook the statutory legal requirements under any circumstances. Having a valid distance sales contract on your site, providing explicit disclosures regarding the consumer's statutory 14-day right of withdrawal, and completing your ETBİS registration are legal duties. Failing to comply can expose you to administrative fines whenever consumer complaints are filed.

Most low-to-mid agencies just spin up ready-made open-source CMS templates in the background anyway. They just slap on a pre-built theme and inflate the invoice. If you are reasonably tech-savvy enough to navigate a modern web dashboard, bringing in an agency just adds communication friction and unnecessary costs.

Here's our real-world cost breakdown from year one for our own soap brand: Domain and hosted platform 14,500 TL, virtual POS setup fee 1,500 TL, thermal label printer 4,000 TL, professional product shoot 9,000 TL. We launched smoothly spending a total of 29,000 TL.

note: I wrote this based on my own experience, it might not apply to everyone.

Don't let it intimidate you at all. As long as your company paperwork is in order, virtual POS approvals go through in two business days max these days. Major courier services also offer plug-and-play modules for low-volume accounts. If you tackle it step by step, you can totally build it yourself without any hassle.

i agree with this. btw processes without records never improve because you dont know what to fix.

proen by experience.

This approach has a cost, which isn't discussed. When making a decision, first look at what data you have on hand.

I have a question. Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

I didn't know that.

My questions are cleared up, thanks. If acceptance criteria aren't written, when the work is done is open to debate.

There's one point I'm curious about. Start with a small trial; don't commit to everything at once.

This is my opinion, I'm not claiming it's absolute truth.

you're right.

There are three things to check when doing this. If you don't write this down from the start, it leads to arguments later.

Looking at it as a process, the picture changes. When making a decision first look at what data you have on hand.

This is my opinion, I'm not claiming it's absolute truth.

You're right, I've been down that road too. Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.

Hope this helps.