What Cost Factors Are Often Overlooked When Hiring Developers?

Quick thing I wish someone had told me before my first dev hire: the quote is not the cost. Not even close. I figured that out around month two, which was not fun.

The quote covers the work you described. It doesn't cover the stuff you didn't think of, and that's the list that matters:

• Ramp-up. Two weeks of a developer poking around your store before anything useful ships. Yes, billed.
• Rework. Vague instructions in, wrong feature out. Then you pay again to fix it.
• Integrations. Connecting your CRM, ERP or payment setup is always messier than anyone admits up front.
• QA. If it's not written into the agreement, expect it to show up later as an extra.
• Maintenance. Launch day isn't the finish line. Updates and bug fixes keep coming, and they cost money.
• Slow communication. Not a line item, but a week of waiting on replies burns real time.
• Turnover. A dev leaves, a new one starts from zero, and guess who covers that.

The single best habit I picked up is asking, before signing, "what's not included?" It makes people squirm a bit, but you get honest answers. A short paid trial helps too.

When you hire dedicated ecommerce developers, I'd also look for someone who'll stay on after launch rather than hand over the files and vanish. That one thing saves more than any discount on the rate.

What about you? What cost caught you off guard?