Edge cases, single-SKU starter brand vs multi-state dispensary white-label, what changes?

The build varies dramatically by scale. Two opposite ends:

Single-SKU starter brand (e.g. just-launched 30mg CBD gummy, $50k, $300k first-year target). The right call is the $499 audit + $4,999 build. Hyvä-themed Magento, NMI + AgeChecker.net + state matrix for the 15 banned states + one COA workflow + Klaviyo + Aheadworks Subscriptions. Don’t over-build, the brand needs to validate product-market fit first, and a $50k custom build is wrong for the stage. Magento is still better than Shopify here because Shopify will deplatform you the moment they notice; the migration cost later is what makes the upfront Magento spend make sense.

Multi-state dispensary white-label brand (e.g. 200-SKU catalog across CBD + delta-8 + delta-9, $5M, $50M GMV, wholesale to 800 dispensaries + DTC + in-state delivery in 4 states). Custom enterprise quote. The complexity isn’t the catalog, it’s the multi-store Magento setup (one store per state with cannabis-license overlap, one store for federal CBD), the multi-MID redundancy (when one high-risk MID gets frozen, traffic routes to the second one automatically), the B2B layer (wholesale to dispensaries with per-state pricing + per-state COA delivery requirements), and the in-state delivery integration (Dutchie, Jane, or custom for the dispensary side). Builds in this tier run 4-8 months and $60k, $200k.

If you’re between these two, most CBD brands at $500k, $5M GMV, the $4,999 build gets you to defensible compliance + reliable payment + correct state shipping, and you upgrade pieces as you scale.