"Paid $8,000 for a custom B2B portal that broke after a Shopify theme update." — actual merchant, Reddit r/shopify.
Why B2B portals are so expensive
Custom Shopify B2B development typically involves a Liquid theme developer, a backend developer for wholesale logic, and several weeks of QA. The result is a solution that is tightly coupled to your theme version and breaks on updates.
The cheaper approach
Apps that sit at the Shopify API layer — not inside your theme — are theme-update-proof. They add functionality without touching your theme files.
What a B2B portal actually needs
- Approval-based account registration (not everyone gets wholesale pricing)
- Tiered pricing per customer tag or company
- Minimum order enforcement
- Net terms display (net 30, net 60)
Build vs buy: the real numbers
Custom development: $8,000–$15,000 upfront + $200–$500/month maintenance. B2B Portal app: $79.99/month. ROI breakeven in under two weeks.