Compare scope and responsibilities, not just headline prices.
The VTECH starting point
Website Foundation starts from R75,000. This is a guide anchor, not a binding quote. Content depth, bespoke design, integrations and delivery requirements determine the agreed scope.
A price is only useful when the included work is visible. Compare the audience, content, templates, interaction design, integrations and migration described in each proposal. Two offers that both say “business website” may assume very different responsibilities and deliverables.
Ask whether writing, photography preparation, redirects, forms, accessibility review and content handover are included or supplied by your team. Record assumptions explicitly. An attractive headline figure can be difficult to compare if important work has been left undefined.
Use the public guide as an opening point for discussion, not as confirmation that your project has already been quoted. Bring your existing site and intended outcomes so the first conversation can identify which assumptions apply and which require a different scope.
What changes the investment?
A catalogue, customer portal, migration or immersive 3D journey adds different work from a straightforward business website. Identify these requirements early and keep third-party charges visible in the proposal.
Complexity often sits behind a simple-looking screen. A product enquiry may need conditional questions, file uploads, spam handling, routing to different teams and confirmation emails. A catalogue may need structured records, filtering and migration from inconsistent spreadsheets. Explain those needs before comparing page counts.
Content readiness also changes the delivery plan. Confirm who can provide approved service information, branding and images, and whether existing material needs rewriting. Decide how feedback will be collected and who can make the final decision when several stakeholders disagree.
Discuss dependencies such as third-party access, internal approval dates and staff availability. Ask how a changed requirement will be assessed, documented and approved. The objective is a clear route to a useful release, with no ambiguity about work added after the original agreement.
Plan beyond launch
Ask what handover, hosting, support and ongoing improvement include. Confirm tax, usage charges, ownership and milestones in the final proposal before committing.
Keep implementation and operation separate in your comparison. Hosting, domains, paid services, support and future improvements may have different owners and billing cycles. Request a list of recurring dependencies and clarify which are included in the proposal and which are purchased directly.
Agree what handover includes: access, account ownership, instructions for routine updates and the route for reporting a problem. Clarify the boundaries of support and how new functionality is requested. These details matter after launch when the original project team may no longer be available every day.
If the initial scope is too broad, reduce it through priorities rather than unexplained quality cuts. Keep the complete customer journey for the first release and defer secondary features deliberately. Record the deferred work so it can be reviewed against real use later.