How to Read a Website Quote: What Every Line Item Actually Costs, Item by Item
I collected three website quotes: one for ¥1,500, one for ¥8,000, one for ¥30,000. The cheap one is hard to trust, the expensive one is hard to understand — a lot of factory owners get stuck at this step. Not because they lack money, but because nobody has ever translated the line items on a quote into what they actually cost.
This article is that translation. After reading it, you can take any website quote, check it line by line, and spot the padding in one minute.
1. The overall framework: where the money actually goes
A legitimate B2B website quote spends money on only four things:
| Where it goes | Terms you'll see on the quote | Nature |
|---|---|---|
| Hard costs | Domain, server/hosting, SSL certificate | Unavoidable for anyone; market price is checkable |
| Labor | Design, development, content filling, multilingual | Biggest price variance; estimate the work hours |
| Services | Basic SEO setup, maintenance, training | Ongoing; beware "free year one, expensive year two" |
| Assets | Source code delivery, data files | Decides whether you spent money or invested it |
Remember this framework. With any quote, ask first: how much is written under each of these four blocks? Which block is missing? — the missing block is where the extra charges will come from later.
2. Item by item: what each term is worth
1. Domain (hard cost, ~¥60–100/yr)
A .com domain costs $10–15/year internationally. If a quote charges you ¥300–500 per year for the domain, decide for yourself whether the markup is service or information asymmetry.
The trap: whose name the domain is registered under. It must be registered under your own name, in your own account. A domain registered under the provider's name is like a street address that belongs to your landlord.
2. Server / hosting (hard cost, ¥0–3,000/yr depending on type)
Three common forms, often not spelled out on quotes:
- Shared virtual hosting: a few hundred yuan a year; hundreds of websites crammed onto one machine — speed and stability are a lottery;
- Cloud server (Alibaba Cloud / Tencent Cloud / AWS): ¥1,000–3,000 a year, dedicated resources, but you need to know how to configure it;
- Static hosting (Cloudflare Pages / Vercel / Netlify): free or nearly free, fully sufficient for a B2B showcase site, global CDN, HTTPS included.
If your site is just product display plus an inquiry form, the third option is the best answer — but many providers won't mention it, because there's no way to charge you for something free.
3. Design / template (labor, ¥0–8,000)
When a quote says "custom design", ask first: custom to what degree?
- Template with colors and images swapped: 1–2 days of work;
- Template plus layout adjustments: 3–5 days;
- Truly starting from a design draft: 10 days minimum.
At the market rate of ¥1,000–2,000 per day for a seasoned developer, do the math on whether the "design fee" makes sense. Using a template is nothing to be ashamed of — a B2B export website needs clarity, speed and indexability; a proven template plus industry-specific content is the best value route. That's exactly the route our ready-made templates take.
4. Development / features (labor, the most inflated block)
The vaguest block on any quote. Standard features today — responsive layout, inquiry form, product management, language switch — are mature, off-the-shelf solutions; they're not worth much. What's worth money is custom work: member systems, online quoting tools, ERP integration.
How to check: ask them to price every feature separately. A "package price" they can't break down is where the padding lives.
5. Content filling (labor, often "thrown in free")
Who fills in the product data? Many quotes say "content provided by client" — translation: they build you an empty shell and you upload dozens or hundreds of products yourself. Is your time worth nothing?
A proper quote states: how many pages of content filling are included, and whether product data organization costs extra.
6. Basic SEO setup (service, ¥0–2,000)
This line should spell out concrete actions, not just the four words "SEO included free":
- Full-site TDK (titles / descriptions / keywords) written — yes;
- Sitemap generated and submitted — yes;
- Google Search Console and GA4 connected — yes;
- Responsive on desktop / tablet / mobile — yes.
If they can't even explain these terms, "free SEO" is a placebo. For how long these steps take and what they should cost, see my earlier piece: What does a B2B export website really cost?
7. Maintenance and renewal (service — look at year two)
Year-one quotes are all smiles; year-two renewal is the real face. What renewal costs and what happens if you don't renew is the easiest trap to fall into — the "year-two maintenance" line on a quote matters ten times more than the year-one price.
8. Source code delivery (asset, ¥0 — but it must be in the contract)
If this line is missing from the quote, that's the biggest red flag.
Source code delivery means: all the website's code and data files handed to you, so the site keeps running no matter who maintains it later. A legitimate provider writes it into the contract proactively; when they don't, there's usually only one reason — once it's written down, you're free to leave.
Our own rule: source code is delivered at signing, item by item on the acceptance checklist. Bring me anyone's quote and I'll go through it line by line with you.
3. The one-minute sweep: four places to check first
- Sweep the total: how much under each of the four blocks (hard costs / labor / services / assets)? Ask "how do you charge for this" about any missing block;
- Sweep for "to be discussed" and "billed separately": wherever these two phrases appear is an ambush for later surcharges;
- Sweep domain and source code ownership: both must be written down as belonging to the client;
- Sweep the renewal price: write year-one and renewal prices side by side, and compare the three-year total.
4. A plain judgment standard
The scariest thing about a quote isn't a high price — it's opacity. A provider who dares to break every item out, write down who owns what, and state the year-two price in black and white often charges more because real costs are higher. A provider who gives you one package total and urges "order today for a discount" — the few thousand yuan you save will find its way back out of your pocket.
You inspect factories, check goods and compare quotes every day in this business. When it's your own factory's website, use the same method.
*By WrenchSite · Bin — 15+ years in manufacturing: supply chains, factory audits, production lines. Now building independent B2B websites for export factories. Can't tell if a quote is fair? Send it over — I'll review it for free.*
