I have worked with many businesses who have both made the shift to hosted solutions and back to self-hosted solutions.
Many ecommerce brands have been making a shift to hosted solutions such as Bigcommerce and Shopify. There certainly are benefits to using a hosted solution - software management, uptime, security management, no need to worry about hosting, technical support. However there is also a still a case for self-hosted ecommerce solutions as well.
If you need to integrate with custom inventory or fulfillment systems, you may find a self hosted solution such as X-Cart or WooCommerce a good fit.
If you ever find yourself needed to "break the mold" of your ecommerce solution, you may find it difficult to do with a hosted solution. If you are okay with staying within the lines so to speak, then hosted may be the right avenue for your business.
With self hosted solutions you have full control over the code of the website unlike with hosted solutions (Bigcommerce and Shopify).
The expense of moving is six of one, half a dozen of the other. You'll find the need for both design and coding requirements from each solution; the expense of migration of customer order records and products can be expensive and most certainly time consuming to massage everything into the new platform.
If you require more specifics, feel free to setup a call with me to discuss your unique situation.
