Ask what an ecommerce marketing agency costs and you will usually be quoted a monthly fee. That fee is one line. The full cost of outside help includes the advertising it spends, the creative it needs, the tools it runs on and the time it asks of you.
You will not find a market average or a typical fee range on this page. Published figures mix a solo freelancer with a large team, and ad management with full strategy, so they tell you little about your own decision. What this page does is show you how to read a quote, and set out our own terms exactly.
Separate the agency fee from media and other costs
| Cost | Who is usually paid | Questions to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Provider fee | The provider | What work does it cover, and how is it calculated? |
| Media (ad spend) | The advertising platforms, usually charged to your own card or account | Who pays the platforms, and is any of it billed through the provider? |
| Creative and production | The provider, a freelancer or a studio | Is it included, capped or charged per asset? |
| Website work | The provider or a developer | Is it ongoing improvement within scope, or a separately quoted project? |
| Tools and software | Software companies, by subscription | Which tools does the plan need, and who holds the accounts? |
| Your time | Nobody, but it is real | How many hours a week of approvals, information and meetings are expected? |
| GST | Added to fees where it applies | Are the quoted figures before or after GST? |
Media is often the largest line and the one most easily confused with the fee. A proposal that quotes a fee without saying what media budget it assumes is incomplete. So is one that folds media into a single figure without showing the split.
This page covers what providers charge. For planning the whole budget, including media, production and a testing reserve, see how to set an ecommerce marketing budget.
Compare common charging structures without false averages
Most provider pricing is built from a handful of structures, used alone or combined.
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Fixed project fee.
A set price for a defined piece of work, such as an audit, a strategy or a build. Clear upfront. Check exactly what the deliverable is and what happens if the scope changes.
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Monthly retainer.
A regular fee for ongoing work. Predictable. Check what it buys each month, in hours, deliverables or outcomes, and what counts as extra.
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Hourly or day rate.
You pay for time. Flexible and transparent for small jobs. Ask for estimates and caps, because the total depends on how long things take.
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Percentage of ad spend.
The fee rises and falls with media. Simple to calculate. Check the incentive: the provider earns more when you spend more, whether or not the extra spend is profitable. Ask about minimums.
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Performance or profit share.
The fee depends on results such as revenue or gross profit. It can align incentives when the measure is well defined. Check what is measured, over what period, how it is calculated and whether there is a minimum.
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Hybrid.
A combination, such as a minimum fee plus a percentage. Check which part applies when, and whether you could ever pay both.
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Set-up or onboarding fee.
A one-off charge at the start. Check what it covers and whether it is credited later.
No structure is right in general. The useful question is what each one rewards. A fee paid on spend rewards spend. A fee paid on revenue rewards revenue, which is not the same as profit if discounts or low-margin products drive it. A fee paid on time rewards time. Choose a structure whose incentive matches what you need, and make sure the measure is defined in writing.
Then compare total commitment, not monthly price. Multiply the monthly figure by the minimum term, add set-up, production and any committed media, and compare those totals. A lower fee with a long term and many extras can cost more than a higher fee with fewer commitments.
Before comparing prices, check that the quotes describe the same work over the same term. Otherwise you are comparing different things.
SSO's current terms, stated precisely
Here are our terms at the time of writing. The written agreement for any engagement is what governs it.
| Stage | What it is for | What it costs | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Validation Sprint | Working out what to fix, in what order, and what each fix is worth | $4000 + GST, paid upfront. Test media on a new business is additional, agreed and capped before it starts. No refund. | Four weeks from the day we have your access |
| Launch | A credible opportunity whose economics need building or repair | 30% of agreed eligible product gross profit, against a $1,500 plus GST monthly minimum. You pay the greater of the two, never both. | Twelve months |
| Accelerate | A business whose economics already work and needs more capacity | Scoped to the work and agreed in writing before it starts. Invoiced monthly in advance. | Twelve-month initial agreement |
The Sprint and the credit
Every programme starts with a Sprint. There are no exceptions: not for a referral, a bigger budget or a tight deadline. The fee pays for the investigation, whatever it finds.
If we go on to work together, the full $4000 is credited across invoices 11 and 12 of the initial twelve-month programme, $2,000 on each. It does not reduce the first ten invoices, and it does not make the Sprint free upfront. If we do not go on together, nothing further is owed and you keep the plan.
A positive finding does not guarantee an offer. Roughly six in ten completed Sprints are not followed by an offer from us. That is our September 2026 record, not all enquiries and not a promised future rate. Turnover does not decide which route, if any, we offer.
How the Launch minimum works
The greater of two amounts, never both
Launch compares two figures each month: 30% of agreed eligible product gross profit, and the $1,500 plus GST minimum. You pay whichever is greater.
In a month where agreed eligible product gross profit is $4,000, 30% is $1,200. That is below the minimum, so the fee is the $1,500 plus GST minimum.
In a month where it is $8,000, 30% is $2,400. That is above the minimum, so the fee is $2,400, not $2,400 plus $1,500.
The two figures meet at $5,000 of agreed eligible product gross profit, where 30% equals $1,500. What counts as eligible gross profit is agreed and written into the agreement before you commit.
For selected Launch businesses, we fund an agreed part of the early delivery work. What we put in, what you pay and how we recover it are written down before you commit. We take no equity. This funding does not cover your media, stock or operations; those stay yours to fund.
Accelerate
Accelerate covers the work the plan needs, such as campaigns, creative, site improvements and customer follow-up, with senior direction and specialists shared across accounts. Scope and fee are agreed in writing before it starts, on a twelve-month initial agreement invoiced monthly in advance. There is no fixed figure to quote here, because the fee follows that scope.
Check scope, extra costs, credits and commitments
Before you sign any proposal, including ours
- The fee and how it is calculated are written down, with GST stated.
- The expected media budget is shown separately, along with who pays the platforms.
- Creative, production, tools and website work are either included with limits or priced separately.
- The minimum term, the notice period and what happens if either side ends early are clear.
- Any credit, rebate or funding says exactly when it applies and what it does not cover.
- A performance-based fee defines the measure, the period and the calculation.
- Ownership of the ad accounts, email platform, analytics and creative files is stated.
- Your own responsibilities and time are listed.
- The total commitment over the minimum term is something you can fund alongside media and stock.
Read credits and funding carefully with any provider. The question is not only how much, but when. A credit that lands late in a term helps cash flow then; it does not reduce what you need to fund at the start. With our Sprint credit, for example, plan cash for the first ten invoices at their full amounts.
If you are still deciding whether to use outside help at all, when to outsource ecommerce marketing covers management load and handover, and hiring your first ecommerce marketing agency covers the questions to ask. Our ecommerce marketing work describes what we deliver. More buyer guides are in the resources hub.
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About the author
Mareike NiedermeierMareike Niedermeier is the founder and CEO of Sales Savvy Online and the creator of Survivable Distance, a theory of ecommerce viability. Since 2019 her team has worked with more than 200 ecommerce brands. The Australian Business Journal named her a Top Ten Marketer in Australia.
More about Mareike →