How to choose a done-for-you store provider without getting burned

If you're considering paying someone to build your online store, you've probably noticed the offers all sound the same. Same promises, same urgency, same screenshots.

Some of these services are legitimate. Some are shells that take your money and hand back a template. The language doesn't distinguish them — but a handful of specific questions does, and all of them can be asked before you commit anything.

We build stores for a living, so treat this as interested advice. Every question below applies to us as much as anyone, and we've said what our answers are.

1. Whose name are the accounts in?

This is the first question and the most important one.

Every account — store platform, domain, payment processor, ad accounts — should be created in your name, with you as the owner. A provider needing to work inside them should be an invited team member with access you can revoke.

The warning sign: a provider who holds the accounts and gives you a login to "your" store. That isn't ownership, it's tenancy. If the relationship ends, so does the business, and you have no recourse because none of it was ever yours.

Ask directly: if I stopped working with you tomorrow, what would I still have? The answer should be "everything."

2. How do they make money?

Every business has a revenue model. A provider who can't state theirs plainly has a reason for not stating it.

There are a few honest ones. Some charge a build fee. Some earn referral commissions from the tools your store runs on. Some do both.

The warning sign: a provider taking a percentage of your revenue while also controlling your accounts. That combination means they can see your money before you do, and it's the structure most likely to end badly.

Ganbo is paid a referral fee by the tools your store runs on. We take no cut of your sales and no percentage of revenue.

3. What does it cost to run, in numbers?

A free or cheap build is not a free store. There will be monthly subscriptions for the platform and the supporting tools, plus per-transaction payment fees.

The warning sign: an unwillingness to give figures. "It depends on the provider" is a non-answer for the fixed costs, even though it's fair for the variable ones like ad spend. A provider who knows their stack knows the floor.

Ask for the fixed monthly subscription total and the list of what's variable. If you can't get that before signing up, you'll be getting it as a surprise afterwards.

4. What exactly is delivered, and when?

"A complete store" means very little. Get specifics: how many products, which pages, which integrations connected and tested, what branding, and a realistic date.

The warning sign: instant delivery. A store built in an hour is a template with your logo dropped in. Real configuration — supplier connection, payment setup, shipping rules, tracking that actually fires — takes days, because it involves accounts that take days to verify.

5. What happens at handover?

The handover is where a good service and a bad one visibly separate.

You should receive access to every account, documentation for each tool, a clear list of what's live and what still needs your input, and a way to reach a human afterwards.

The warning sign: vagueness about what happens after delivery, or a support channel that's only a chat widget. Also be cautious of any provider asking you to email or message passwords — a legitimate one uses invited team access instead, and never needs your password at all.

6. Can they sell what you want to sell?

Adult products, weapons, tobacco and vapes, CBD, and certain supplements are restricted or banned on the major ad platforms and often refused by payment processors.

The warning sign: a provider who accepts an order in a restricted category without flagging it. If they take your money to build a store that can't be advertised or can't take payments, either they don't know their own tools or they don't care.

7. What proof do they have — and what kind?

Proof is reasonable to ask for. The type of proof tells you a lot.

The warning sign: revenue screenshots and income claims. These are trivially faked, and in most places making earnings claims without substantiation is a regulatory problem, not just a taste one. A provider comfortable implying you'll make money is comfortable being wrong about it.

Better proof is specific and checkable: stores you can visit, named customers, a clear refund policy, real terms.

We're a young service, so we say that plainly rather than dressing it up. You should weigh that.

The short version

Before you commit, get clear answers to:

1. Whose name are the accounts in?
2. How do you make money?
3. What are the fixed monthly costs, in numbers?
4. What exactly is delivered, and by when?
5. What do I get at handover, and what support after?
6. Can I actually sell and advertise my product?
7. What proof exists, and what kind?

Any provider worth using can answer all seven in a single conversation. If you're getting deflection on the first three, that's your answer.

Read what a Ganbo build includes — or ask us all seven and see how we do.