There's a separate line item for UI design in the quote—what is it, and can we skip it?

If you want to cut costs don't scrap design altogether. Just ask for wireframes for the homepage, the filtered catalog page, and the cart/checkout flow. The other informational or text-heavy pages can use pre-built components, which will give you leverage to negotiate the price down.

To understand what the designer is actually delivering, look for these three deliverables: 1) Visual hierarchy of page elements and button placements, 2) Modal and error states displayed when a user inputs invalid data, 3) Responsive layout blueprints across mobile and desktop. Without these, the developer is essentially coding on pure guesswork.

We cut the design line item on a similar wholesale portal last year. The developer used an off-the-shelf theme, but because buyers couldn't upload bulk spreadsheet orders, everyone just went back to texting order lists over WhatsApp. We had to spend another 90,000 rubles later just to patch the system up.

edit: fixed a few typos.

Is the agency actually delivering a clickable prototype for those 140,000 rubles? Does that fee include usability testing, or are they just handing over static mockups? Did they provide an itemized list of which specific screens are being designed?

if you leave the ui to a dev they'll think like an engineer and slap boxes and buttons everywhere. then your site ends up looking as complicated as accounting software and buyers bounce before placing an order.

If you have fewer than 200 products in your catalog and aren't using a complex discount structure, 140.000 ruble might be steep. Off-the-shelf e-commerce templates can sometimes handle basic wholesale just fine without any extra cost.

In B2B procurement processes, UI design is a functional investment that minimizes operational errors. We recommend detailing this quote in the contract with clear prototyping phases and revision limits.

Let me share what happened to me; it might be useful. The biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say.

People defend habits, not processes. Resistance comes from there. Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

Let me summarize the topic, since several different answers were given. Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late.

If you post the result here, it will help others too.

Looking at it as a process, the picture changes. If acceptance criteria aren't written when the work is done is open to debate.

In legacy systems, the most expensive thing is unknown dependencies. btw if you have questions write them; I'll answer as best I can.

there's also a measurement aspect to this. honestly start with a small trial; don't commit to everything at once.

that's all, sorry if I went on too long.

I was thinking the same thing. Most time waste accumulates in tasks waiting for approval.

Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

Let me summarize the topic, since several different answers were given. The cheapest quote is usually the least thought-out one.

That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

It's rare to find an explanation this clear.

To get into the details: People defend habits, not processes. Resistance comes from there.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

same here.

there's a trap here let me mention it. if scope grows eithr time or budget must grow. like there is no third option.

trying to do this alone is the most expensive way. btw if you have questions write them; I'll answer as best I can.

Saved. The biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say.

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