What custom software actually costs in NZ
Honest NZ price bands for custom tools, internal systems, and platforms — and what actually moves the number.
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Notes from the workshop.
I don’t publish on a schedule — when something’s worth writing, it lands here. Shopify guides for store owners, engineering notes for builders, and none of it duplicated elsewhere.
— Engineering
Building software that stays up
Short notes on Laravel, Stripe, multi-tenant guardrails, and the unglamorous parts of shipping production apps — tied to the web apps work I do for NZ operators.
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When to replace a spreadsheet with custom software
How to tell if you have actually outgrown the sheet — and when the honest answer is to keep it.
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Build versus buy: when an off-the-shelf booking system stops being enough
When to rent booking software, when to build your own, and how to weigh it without the scope ballooning.
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Schema-safe migrations
Changing production schemas without blocking writes or losing sleep.
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Webhook-driven state machines
Explicit payment state transitions, idempotency, and audit logs — not ad-hoc flags.
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Queues: when and why
When to move work off the request thread — and when a queue is overkill.
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Multi-tenant guardrails
Tenant scoping, database constraints, and tests so customer data stays isolated.
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— Shopify
Shopify guides for store owners
Long-form notes from client work and running my own store at shop.jimny.co.nz — platform choices, performance, and when to stop installing apps.
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Shopify carrier-calculated shipping vs standard rates: when to use which
NZ-focused: when standard rates are enough, when live carrier rates make sense, and what breaks at checkout.
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Auditing your Shopify app stack — cutting monthly bloat
How to trim apps you barely use, uninstall safely, and when custom code replaces subscriptions.
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Liquid customisation vs Shopify apps — when custom code wins
A practical split: what to buy off the shelf, what to build in the theme, and how to think about break-even.
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Speeding up a slow Shopify theme — what actually moves the needle
Core Web Vitals on Shopify: images, third-party scripts, and the optimisations that aren't worth the faff.
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WordPress vs Shopify for NZ small businesses
WooCommerce vs Shopify: when WordPress wins, when Shopify wins, NZ payments and GST, and the hidden costs both sides gloss over.
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Shopify Plus vs Advanced — when the upgrade actually pays back
Break-even maths, what Plus actually adds, agency incentives, and when custom work on Advanced beats a plan upgrade.
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Trade Me vs Shopify — when to make the move
Fees, customer ownership, running both channels, and realistic expectations after you launch your own site.
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NZ-specific Shopify setup
Tax, accounting handoffs, carriers, and checkout edge cases that global Shopify blogs usually hand-wave.
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Setting up Shopify for NZ tax — GST, imports, and IRD edge cases
Tax-inclusive pricing, overseas zero-rating, imports and low-value goods rules, and the mistakes I see on live stores.
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Connecting Xero to Shopify — the integration that actually works (for NZ stores)
Direct Shopify–Xero vs A2X vs duct-tape: daily journals, GST splits, and when to pay for a proper connector.
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NZ Post vs CourierPost vs Aramex for Shopify — picking your shipping carrier
Cost, rural coverage, reliability, and how each plays with Shopify rates and apps.
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NZ rural post codes on Shopify — handling rural delivery surcharges
Flat post codes vs carrier APIs vs custom checkout logic — accuracy, cost, and customer experience.
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Prefer someone else to implement? Shopify fixes & custom work is the home for that — or book a call.