We build the stores everyone else turns away.
Banned by the website builders. Frozen by the payment processors. Dropped by the hosts. We’re an agency that builds and runs stores for high-risk and regulated products, and we handle the payments side too.
20+years of building websites, online stores and SaaS products.
The website was never the hard part.
Anyone can build a store in a weekend. What stops a high-risk business is everything around the store, and that’s what we fix.
The builders ban you
Mainstream site builders suspend high-risk merchants without warning, and your storefront goes with the account. Then you’re rebuilding from scratch.
The processors freeze you
One flag and your payouts are held, your account is closed and your money can sit there for months. Without card payments you don’t have a business.
The hosts drop you
Plenty of hosts and registrars ban your category somewhere in their acceptable-use policy. One complaint and your domain stops working.
Already have a store, but not the keys to it? If your developer holds the domain and the logins, or your host doesn’t allow what you sell, you need a migration. That’s a different job from a new build.
Migrate to usYour store, plus everything it needs to stay online.
A high-risk store needs four things to survive. We set up all of them and connect them for you. Hover over each one to see what’s included.
Apply to work with usIf you can’t take payments, you don’t have a store.
So we start with payments. We find an acquirer that approves your category and, on Failsafe, set up a second processor so one shutdown doesn’t stop your sales.
- Acquirers that approve your category
- A backup processor ready if the main one pauses you
- Card, ACH and crypto where they fit
- We prepare the underwriting paperwork with you
Categories we know how to launch.
Peptides are where we know the processors and the copy rules best. We set up all of these.
We only take on products that are legal to sell where you ship. More on that in the compliance section below and in our full terms.
How a high-risk store gets built.
Apply & talk it through
Tell us what you sell, then we get on a call about your goals and what's gone wrong so far. By the end of the call you'll have a fixed scope and a price.
Build & connect
We build the store while your payment application is with the underwriter, so you're not waiting on one before starting the other.
Launch & get paid
The store goes live on hosting that allows your category, with card payments working, the age gate on and the product copy checked.
Stay approved
If you want us to stay on, we watch your processors and get you back up quickly when a provider changes its rules.
Years building websites, online stores and SaaS products
Payment processors on a Failsafe store: the main one and a backup
Of our high-risk stores launch with an age gate and the right disclaimers
Paid before you've seen and approved a design
A peptide store, rebuilt and selling.
Dream Compounds and Wellness
Research peptides · Florence, Arizona · Live since July 2026
We rebuilt this WooCommerce store from the ground up and set it up the way underwriters expect a peptide store to look.
Visit Dream Compounds and Wellness- An 18+ age check on entry and research-use-only copy on every product
- A downloadable lab report (COA) for each batch, right on the product page
- Zelle and Cash App at checkout
- Cost and profit tracking built into the store admin
- A blog that explains COAs, copper peptides and what research use means
Know the price before we start.
Packages for regulated and restricted products, where payments and compliance are most of the work. We confirm your exact price in writing before any work starts. Migrations are quoted once we’ve seen what you own. Not a high-risk business? See our standard packages.
Every package starts with a free call. We talk through what you sell, who buys it, what’s gone wrong so far and where you want the business to go. If we’re the wrong fit, we’ll tell you on the call.
Book a free callGroundwork
Get the store you already have ready for underwriting.
Credited in full against Launch or Failsafe if you upgrade within 90 days.
- A free call before anything is quoted
- A full underwriting audit of your current store
- A written report of what an acquirer will find, worst problems first
- We fix the blockers: age gate, disclaimers, shipping and refund policies, state exclusions
- Product copy rewritten where the claims are what gets you declined
- One high-risk processor application prepared and submitted with every document it needs
- Every account opened in your name
Launch
A clean store, live and taking cards.
- A free call before anything is quoted
- A storefront designed around your products
- Your catalogue loaded, organised and searchable
- One high-risk processor, underwritten to your business
- Hosting that allows your category, plus domain and business email
- Age gate, disclaimers and compliant product copy
- Search basics: titles, descriptions and a sitemap
- Every account in your name, with a walkthrough at handover
Failsafe
Built to survive a shutdown.
- Everything in Launch
- A backup processor ready if the main one pauses you
- ACH or crypto payments where they fit
- Your existing store moved over if you have one
- Analytics and conversion tracking set up
- A written recovery plan for the day something upstream changes
- 30 days of support after launch
Uptime
Ongoing care so you never go dark.
- Processor and uptime monitoring
- Quick recovery if a provider changes its policy
- Store and compliance updates as rules change
- Backups kept and test-restored
- A call every quarter on what's working and what isn't
- First in line when we add new processors
What Groundwork doesn’t include
So you know what you’re paying for.- A new store or a redesign. That's Launch.
- A guaranteed approval. We prepare and submit the application, and the underwriter decides.
- Ongoing monitoring. That's Uptime.
Migration & recovery
Already have a storeFor moving off a platform that doesn’t allow what you sell, or getting your store back from a developer who holds the domain and the logins. There’s no set price because it depends on what’s in your name. We check that first and tell you what we find, even if you don’t hire us.
If you already control your store and accounts and just need the site to pass underwriting, Groundwork costs less and has a fixed price. Migration is for when part of the job is getting your own property back.
- A free call and a check of what you own, before any invoice
- Catalogue, content and customers moved where access allows
- Old URLs redirected so your search rankings carry over
- Payments re-underwritten in your business name
- Every account handed over in your name at the end
We’re careful about what we take on.
High-risk doesn’t mean anything goes. Being picky keeps both of us out of trouble and keeps your processors happy.
What do you take on?
Products that are legal to sell where you ship, including categories mainstream platforms refuse because of their own policies rather than the law. Think peptides sold for research use, supplements, and hemp where it's allowed.
What won't you do?
We won't launch products that are illegal to sell where you operate, and we won't write false health or earnings claims. Claims like that are what get merchant accounts closed.
Who is responsible for the products and claims?
You are. We build the site and connect the services behind it. We don't make, stock or ship anything. Our agreements put product, labeling and regulatory responsibility on the merchant, and we help you with the basics like age gates and required disclaimers.
Is this legal advice?
No. We build websites; we're not lawyers. For labeling, licensing and regulatory questions, we'll ask you to check with a qualified attorney where you operate, and we build to what they tell you. Our terms spell out who is responsible for what.
Everyone else told you no.
Tell us what you sell and where you got stuck. If we can launch it, we’ll give you a fixed price and get you live.
Not ready to apply? Book a free call instead and ask us anything.
What we’ll ask
- 01What you sell
- 02Whether this is a new build or a move
- 03Who dropped you, if anyone did
- 04Rough monthly volume
- 05Your current site, if you have one
- 06What you want the business to do next
- 07A good time to call, and your timezone
It takes a couple of minutes. A person reads every application and replies, and we won’t quote you anything before we’ve talked.