Cost + timeline + credentials, what should I expect?

Realistic ranges for an ethnic + specialty food brand at $500k, $5M GMV:

• Audit (5 days, ~20h @ $25/hr): $499 fixed-fee. Covers multi-language gap, certification flagging audit, cold-chain readiness, festival calendar coverage, brand-portal authorization status. Written platform-fit recommendation + 30-min call.
• Build sprint (6 weeks, ~200h @ $25/hr): $4,999 fixed-fee. 2 store views (e.g. English + Hindi or Arabic + English), cert-attribute taxonomy + 1,000-SKU backfill, cold-chain shipping rules, 1 festival pre-order flow, Hyvä storefront migration.
• Custom enterprise: $15k, $70k+, quoted in 24h. Multi-language full pan-Asian (5+ store views), authorized brand portals (Patel + MTR + Nongshim + Maggi + El Yucateco), international diaspora shipping (US → IN / PK / MX / KR), customs declaration automation + multi-currency, B2B layer (restaurant + caterer wholesale on same store).
• Hosting: $400, $1,500/mo on Cloudways / dedicated. Festival surge needs over-provisioned for 3-8x baseline traffic. CDN (Cloudflare) mandatory.
• Ongoing: $1.5k, $5k/mo retainer through the festival calendar (Diwali + Eid + Lunar NY + Holi rotation).

Credentials:

• Adobe Certified Magento Developer (current).
• Hyvä-certified developer (since 2022).
• 7+ ethnic + specialty food DTC builds shipped across US, UK, CA, AU.
• Cuisines covered in shipped work: Indian, South Asian (Pakistani / Sri Lankan), Korean, Chinese, Mexican / Latin, Middle Eastern.
• Festival surge support: Diwali (5 years), Eid (4 years), Lunar NY (3 years), Holi (3 years).
• Public reviews on Upwork; references from past ethnic-food clients on request.

All hours billed at $25/hr, math visible on every quote.