Questions
The ones we are actually asked, answered without hedging.
Getting started
Do I need my own Amrod account?
Yes, and we cannot get you one. Amrod supplies registered and approved resellers only, and the application, the vetting and the once-off administration fee are between you and them.
Is an Amrod account the same as Amrod API access?
No, and this catches people out. API access is a separate permission granted against your account, and you have to ask Amrod for it. Our guide on getting API access approved covers what to ask for.
How long does the build take?
We give you a date once we have your logo, your company details and working credentials, and not before. The build itself is short. The waiting is usually Amrod granting API access, which is not ours to hurry.
What do you need from me?
Your logo, your company details, your Amrod API credentials, a starting markup percentage, and your trading terms so the policy pages state your rules rather than invented ones. How the build runs lists it all.
What it does
Will it place orders with Amrod for me?
No, and nothing can. Amrod's API is read only, with no order endpoint. Your site captures a complete, correctly priced order and hands it to you with the supplier codes already against the quantities. Somebody on your side still places it.
Can my customers pay on the site?
Branded work goes out as a quote, because branding is priced by print position and by quantity band and cannot be settled at a checkout. Unbranded stock can be bought outright through a normal cart if you want that switched on.
How current is the stock?
A full snapshot three times a day, and changes every fifteen minutes. Every size and colour carries its own figure, and out-of-stock lines show the date more is expected where Amrod publishes one.
Can I change prices myself?
Yes. There is a pricing screen in your admin: a default markup, rules for a brand or a category, volume breaks and a floor. Save and quotes recalculate at once.
Can I edit the product descriptions?
Yes. It is WooCommerce underneath, so you can edit any product, category or page text yourself. That is also how you make the site read as yours rather than as everyone else's.
Do you write the content for me?
Not in the build price. The site launches with the supplier's own descriptions, which is what every reseller starts with. We quote separately if you want category and product copy written.
Money and ownership
What does it cost?
R18 999 to build, then R399 a month for the first six months and R499 after that. Both figures are on the pricing page, along with what the same job costs another way.
Is there a contract?
The monthly is month to month, with one calendar month's notice to stop. The build is payable up front, before work starts.
Who owns the website?
You do. The domain is registered in your name, the content is yours, and the customer data is yours. Ask for an export at any time and you get one.
What happens if I stop paying?
You keep the domain, the content and the customer data. The sync worker and the pricing plugin are licensed while the monthly runs, so those stop. Nothing of yours is held back.
Why is the monthly so low?
Because it covers hosting, the domain, mail and keeping the sync running, and not much else. It is not a retainer for work. Anything outside the package is quoted before it starts.
Will the price go up?
It moves from R399 to R499 after six months, which is stated up front. Beyond that, any change comes with two months' notice.
Risks worth knowing
What breaks a site like this?
A password reset. Amrod API credentials are usually the same login your staff use on the trade site, so resetting that password stops the sync, and it stops quietly. Ask Amrod for a separate API user, and we alert on failed syncs. Both are part of the build.
What if Amrod changes the API?
We fix it. That is part of what the monthly covers, and it is the main reason there is a monthly at all.
Do you work with resellers of other suppliers?
Today we build for Amrod resellers, because that is the catalogue we know in detail. The way the site is built does not tie it to one supplier, so ask if you carry others.
Does Amrod endorse you?
No. We are an independent web developer with no relationship to Amrod beyond building against their published API, the same as any other developer can.