Cost, timeline, and credentials, what does this actually cost and who’s building it?
Realistic ranges for a vet-supply distributor at $2M-$10M GMV:
- Audit: $499 fixed-fee, 5 business days, ~20h @ $25/hr. Catalog import dry-run + distributor agreement feasibility + DEA workflow + cold-chain plan + practice-management integration shortlist. Written report.
- Build: $4,999 fixed-fee, 6 weeks, ~200h @ $25/hr. Full catalog + 1 distributor drop-ship + 1 practice-mgmt API connector + DEA workflow + cold-chain rules + Rx validation. Most independent vet-supply distributors land here.
- Custom enterprise: quote in 24h, multi-week engagement. Multi-distributor orchestration (3-4 of the big four), multi-state DEA (CA, NY, FL, TX edge cases), full FDA-CVM with quarterly mock audit, equine/bovine specialty workflows, multi-region (US/UK/AU). Typical $30k-$120k depending on scope.
- Hosting: $400-$1,500/mo on Cloudways / dedicated. Vet-supply traffic is steady (no flash-sale spikes) so over-provisioning is unnecessary; cold-chain shipping APIs need outbound reliability though, so dedicated egress matters.
- Ongoing: $2k-$6k/mo retainer for distributor onboarding + new practice-mgmt connectors as your clinic customers ask + quarterly compliance audits (CSOS, cold-chain, FDA-CVM mock).
My credentials: Adobe-Certified Magento + Hyvä developer. 8+ years building B2B medical-supply Magento stores including animal-health and human-pharma adjacent verticals. Comfortable with EDI 850/855/856/810, CSOS, FDA-CVM, DEA Schedule II-V, cold-chain (Sensitech/Berlinger), practice-management integration (Cornerstone CSV, AVImark export, ezyVet REST, Provet Cloud webhooks). Hourly rate: $25/hr, fixed-fee where the scope supports it.