Building Pink 9 to 5: E-Commerce for Breast Cancer Survivors

When Pink 9 to 5 came to us, they had a mission that mattered: supporting breast cancer survivors through their journey from diagnosis to recovery. They needed an e-commerce platform that could grow with them without breaking their nonprofit budget.

The Challenge

Pink 9 to 5 is a nonprofit organization that provides resources, support, and community for breast cancer survivors. They wanted to sell merchandise and products that support their mission, but the typical e-commerce options presented problems:

• Shopify would take a cut of every sale and lock them into monthly fees
• WooCommerce required ongoing WordPress maintenance and plugin costs
• Custom development seemed out of reach for a small nonprofit

They needed something that was:

1. Low-cost to operate (nonprofit budget)
2. Professional and trustworthy (handling donations and sales)
3. Flexible enough to grow with their needs
4. Easy for non-technical staff to manage

The Solution: Self-Hosted Medusa.js

We chose Medusa.js for several reasons:

• Open source - No licensing fees, ever
• Headless architecture - Separate storefront from backend
• Modern tech stack - Node.js, PostgreSQL, Redis
• Extensible - Custom plugins and integrations

Infrastructure Stack

The entire backend runs on a single $50/year VPS. Total monthly operating cost: $4.17.

Technical Implementation

Docker Compose Setup

Everything runs in Docker containers for easy deployment and maintenance. The setup includes Medusa backend, PostgreSQL database, and Redis cache.

Cloudflare Zero Trust for Admin Security

The Medusa admin panel is protected by Cloudflare Zero Trust:

1. No admin panel exposed to the public - Only authorized users can even see the login page
2. GitHub OAuth authentication - Staff log in with their GitHub accounts
3. IP restriction - Additional layer of security
4. Audit logging - Every access attempt is logged

This gives us enterprise-grade security without the enterprise price tag.

Automated Backups

Daily backups to a secondary VPS ensure data safety with pg_dump running at 2 AM daily.

Results

After launch, Pink 9 to 5 has:

• Zero monthly platform fees - All revenue goes to the mission
• Complete data ownership - No vendor lock-in
• Professional storefront - Builds trust with supporters
• Easy content management - Staff can update products without developer help
• Scalable infrastructure - Can handle growth without replatforming

Cost Comparison

Lessons Learned

1. Self-hosting is viable for small orgs - With modern tools like Docker and managed DNS, you do not need a dedicated ops team
2. Zero Trust changes the security game - Cloudflare Access is a game-changer for protecting admin panels
3. Open source can compete with SaaS - Medusa.js is production-ready and actively maintained
4. Edge infrastructure reduces complexity - Cloudflare handles SSL, DDoS protection, and caching

What is Next

We are planning several enhancements:

• Donation integration - Accept one-time and recurring donations
• Membership system - Survivor support network with member benefits
• Event ticketing - Fundraising events and community gatherings

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Want to build something similar? Get in touch - we love working with nonprofits and mission-driven organizations.