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[scotty Friend scottyJoin date: March 2008Posts: 2339Downloads:0Uploads:13 Thanks: 76 Thanked: 827 times in 595 posts]

#134609

I am not a web designer. I have made a few sites for work and family & friends that have turned out quiet good (with the help of Joomlart) but I have never charged anyone for doing a web site.

Today I was talking to an associate who told me he had just got a new site done and it looked very well and he was very happy with the work. So this afternoon I thought I’d have a look at this new site….
(I’ve hidden the identity of the site but you get the idea)

As you can see it’s a not very much modified version of JA Larix. It’s a catalogue site and NOT an ecommerce site. My associate had to add the products himself and any further template/Joomla mods will acquire a fee.

He had told me earlier he paid €14,500 + Vat (21%) for this new website. After looking at the site later and having a fairly good idea of how much work went into it I thought he’d been ripped off big time. €14,500 for a €50 template with an hour or two spend labeling is just robbery in my opinion. I haven’t told him this and don’t intend to.

About 3 years ago we were getting a site done in work and I sent the same email to about 5 web developers and got replies of between €5K and €23K back, all for the exact same enquiry.

I have been approached by friends of friends etc to do more websites, for a fee obliviously, and was just wondering how you go about building a quote? What factors do you take into account? Do (or should) you simply try to get as much as possible? Should you have a set pricelist or quote on a site by site basis. What general advice can you give me about supplying quotes?

[jwellman Friend jwellmanJoin date: April 2008Posts: 543Downloads:0Uploads:6 Thanks: 115 Thanked: 59 times in 21 posts]

#276332

After doing our latest site (an E-Commerce with Larix), we will definitely be raising our prices. The next time we are going to charge not only for installation and customization, but also per image that is added to the shopping area. We are still trying to decide what that price will be.

Some sites go quicker and most of it depends on how much customization is involved. Most of our prices have been a flat rate but like I said, we are going to start prying a little more to find exactly what the customer needs. It never fails that a lot more work goes into the site once you finally get started. Customers change their mind about colors, photos, products etc. We have started to layout our plan of action to be a little clearer. For instance, “We will do this, this and this… here is the price.” Anything added on later will be an additional fee. It’s sad but people will take advantage of you if you don’t tell them exactly what you are going to do.

Find out what the customer needs and base your price on how long you think it will take to build it. The problem is most people do not want to pay for your valuable time. Also, if you can get in as a host as well as a developer, the residuals are nice. Once a site is finished the money keeps coming. Best of luck to you!

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