Sell online in rands. Get paid into your own bank.
A full online shop for R299 a month. No commission per sale, no setup fee, no bill in dollars.
No card needed to start. Moving from Shopify? We bring your products across.
Already have a shop? Log in
What R299 a month gets you
Storeforge is the online shop we run for South African businesses. It is built around how people here actually buy: on a phone, paying by card, EFT or on account, and asking questions on WhatsApp first.
Selling
- Products with photos, prices and variants like size or flavour, each with its own stock count
- Stock that counts down as orders come in, and a low-stock list
- Discount codes in percent or rands, bundles and quantity pricing
- A checkout made for phones, and a WhatsApp button on every page
Getting paid
- Card payments into your own Yoco, PayGate or PayPal account
- EFT, pay on delivery, and selling on account to trade customers
- Payment links you can send on WhatsApp
- Invoices with your VAT number on them
Delivery and orders
- Your own delivery options and fees, with free delivery over an amount you choose
- Order emails to you and your customer, with the tracking number when you ship
- Packing slips, manual orders and a customer list
Marketing
- Meta Pixel and Google tag on your shop, so your ads can see what sells
- Built-in numbers: visits, sales by day, top products and conversion
- Product pages Google can read, with a sitemap made for you
Yours to keep
- Your own domain, still registered in your name
- Products, orders and customers download as CSV whenever you like
- No contract. Cancel any time
Set up with you
- Import from Shopify by pasting your shop address or uploading the product CSV
- Want to keep your current look? We can rebuild it as your shop's theme
- A real person on WhatsApp: 073 429 5517
Where the money goes
We are not in the middle of your payments. Your customer pays your account, and your account pays out to your bank.
Your customer pays
By card at checkout, by EFT, or later on account.
Your payment account
Yoco, PayGate or PayPal, opened in your business's name.
Your bank
Paid out on that provider's normal schedule, like your card machine.
ForgeLab never holds your money and takes nothing per sale. You pay us R299 a month for the shop, and that is all.
Build your monthly bill
The shop is the main part. If you run jobs or quotes as well, switch on what you need and leave the rest off. Every part is priced on its own, in rands, per month.
- ShopR299.00
No contract. Switch parts on or off any time.
Rather have us walk you through it? WhatsApp us
Next to Shopify, in rands
Shopify is a good product. For a small South African shop the cost adds up differently, because the bill is in US dollars and there is an extra fee on every sale when you use Yoco or PayGate.
| Storeforge Shop | Shopify Basic | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | R299 | US$25 paid monthly, about R414. US$19 a month if you pay a year upfront. |
| Billed in | Rands | US dollars, so the rand cost moves with the exchange rate |
| Extra fee per sale with Yoco, PayGate or PayPal | 0% | 2% on Basic, because Shopify Payments is not offered in South Africa |
| Example: R20 000 of sales in a month | R299 | About R814 (R414 plus R400) |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 3 days, then US$1 a month for 3 months |
| Help setting up | We do it with you on WhatsApp | Help centre and support chat |
Shopify prices from shopify.com/za/pricing, checked 1 October 2026. Rand amounts use US$1 = R16.55, the ECB reference rate that day. Card fees from your payment provider apply on both and are left out. Shopify has far more apps, themes and features than we do. If you need those, it is the better choice. Read the full comparison.
Moving your shop across
Keep your old shop running until the new one is live, so there is never a day with no shop.
Start the trial
Open your shop at shops.forgelab.co.za. No card, nothing to sign.
Bring your products
Paste your Shopify address or upload its product CSV. Photos, prices, variants and wording come across.
Set up how you sell
Connect Yoco, PayGate or PayPal, add delivery fees and discount codes, and place a test order.
Point your domain
Your domain stays at your registrar. You change where it points, we connect it, and you cancel the old shop.
Not selling products? We build websites too
For trades and service businesses we build the website for you, show it to you live, and you only pay once you are happy with it.
- Starter
- R3 000 once off
- A one-page site on your own .co.za, with call and WhatsApp buttons and Google Business setup. Hosting and domain included for year one, then R600 a year.
- Pro
- R4 500 + R300/month
- A multi-page site, email at your domain, monthly updates included, and a monthly traffic report.
- Custom
- From R8 000
- Bookings, stock, customer records or dashboards for your team. Quoted within 24 hours.
How a website job runs
We talk for 15 minutes on WhatsApp. Within about three days you get a live preview on a temporary address. If you like it, you pay and it goes live on your domain. If you don't, you walk away and pay nothing.
Websites by trade
Questions people ask before they start
Can I use my own domain?
Yes. Your .co.za stays registered where it is, in your name. You point it at your shop and we connect it on our side, so your email on that domain keeps working.
Do you take a cut of my sales?
No. R299 a month is the whole fee for the shop, whether you sell nothing or a thousand orders. Your payment provider charges its own card fee, the same as it would anywhere else.
Which payment options can my customers use?
Card payments through Yoco, PayGate or PayPal, paid into your own account with that provider. You can also take EFT, pay on delivery, or let trade customers buy on account. PayFast and Ozow are not supported right now.
What happens when the 14-day trial ends?
If you have not subscribed, the shop pauses behind a back-soon page. Nothing is deleted and nothing is charged automatically. It comes back as soon as you subscribe.
If I leave, can I take everything with me?
Yes. Your products, orders and customers download as CSV files from your dashboard at any time, including while the shop is paused. Your domain was always yours.
I'm on Shopify. How hard is it to move?
Paste your shop address or upload Shopify's product CSV and your products, photos and wording come across. You set up delivery, payments and discount codes, point your domain, and cancel Shopify once the new shop is live. We are happy to do the setup with you.
Where is my shop hosted?
On a server in South Africa, with an encrypted backup taken every night.
Do I actually own the website if you build me one?
Yes. The domain is registered in your name and the site is yours. If you want to move it, we hand over the files and the logins.
Do you only work in Johannesburg?
We are in Johannesburg and work with businesses anywhere in South Africa. Everything happens on WhatsApp and email, so where you are does not change the price.
Who you are dealing with
ForgeLab is three people in Johannesburg. Jade builds the software and the sites. Garry and Charl handle the calls and look after clients. When you message us, the person who answers is one of us.
We started out building websites for trades. Storeforge came from the same problem one step further on: small shops paying in dollars for software built for someone else, plus a cut of every sale. Our prices are in writing, in rands, and we answer the phone.
Talk to us
Tell us what you sell or what you need. The form opens WhatsApp with your details filled in, and nothing is sent until you press send there.