[zibizibi]

Hi,

Came across this price grid. This agency seems popular & successful. I'd like to know your opinions about this.

What do you think of applying prices based on the number of web pages ? As a freelance, would you practice this kind of prices ?

[MikeChipshop]

Typical 'package' price really.
Takes no consideration for what the client needs or wants.

[oakleaves]

Hi Zibizibi

You might also find this thread on WDF interesting:-


http://www.webdesign...__1#entry348366

[brightonmike]

To be honest, "Package" web design has it's place. It suits client who like to know exactly how much it will cost, and who aren't too bothered about having a templatey style website and just want a fairly basic online presence.

E.g. for people like builders, it suits them. They're just filling a gap in the market that people like us do not fill.

[Jason Dexter]

I understand why many people are opposed to using pricing structures on their websites but for me, I find they're extremely useful for potential clients when they're pricing up the cost of a website.

I also offer quotes for custom work, and any additional work such as SEO audits and backlinking campaigns.

At the end of the day, I see as i'm offering a product and a service and my prices are readily available on my website. It's easier for the client to look at my prices, compare them to other agencies and decide which is the best to go with. It's a hook to get them to contact me and take it from there.

It all comes down to how you sell yourself and sell the product you're offering. I needed to do it to get a competitive edge and it works for me. I'm not saying it will work for everyone but it works for me.

[rallport]

zibizibi, on 15 November 2011 - 10:37 AM, said:

Hi,

Came across this price grid. This agency seems popular & successful. I'd like to know your opinions about this.

What do you think of applying prices based on the number of web pages ? As a freelance, would you practice this kind of prices ?

That's not an amazing example to use.

They are a huge company - not many places can offer what they can for £395.00. The page has since been removed, but they used to have a team page - they had 100 plus staff iirc.

I'm just guessing here, but I imagine companies offering all that for £395 have insanely tight project timescales to offer so much, for so little. The latter isn;t a bad thing I guess, as I'm sure they have a profit built in there somewhere. As a result, I wouldn;t be using such a large company as template for a pricing structure personally.

I'm all for having a "prices start from xxx", but I think pricing grids really don't reflect a potential client wanting a website.

Someone said above me that they fill a gap in the market to clients who aren;t as bothered. Well for me, after dealing with hundreds of clients I'm yet to find a single one that fits into that category. They all want something more - "when the user goes to this page can we do xxxxxx" etc is very common.

[Jason Dexter]

rallport, on 15 November 2011 - 10:48 PM, said:

That's not an amazing example to use.

They are a huge company - not many places can offer what they can for £395.00. The page has since been removed, but they used to have a team page - they had 100 plus staff iirc.

I'm just guessing here, but I imagine companies offering all that for £395 have insanely tight project timescales to offer so much, for so little. The latter isn;t a bad thing I guess, as I'm sure they have a profit built in there somewhere. As a result, I wouldn;t be using such a large company as template for a pricing structure personally.

I'm all for having a "prices start from xxx", but I think pricing grids really don't reflect a potential client wanting a website.

Someone said above me that they fill a gap in the market to clients who aren;t as bothered. Well for me, after dealing with hundreds of clients I'm yet to find a single one that fits into that category. They all want something more - "when the user goes to this page can we do xxxxxx" etc is very common.

Mine are tailored to what I've noticed clients would go for. It's a guide for people to use, and if they stick to exactly what my price package says then it'll cost that much. If they want to deviate then the price will change, but they can use that as a ball park figure. I also offer the client a quote if they want something thats different.

[pilgrim_fgau]

rallport, on 15 November 2011 - 10:48 PM, said:

That's not an amazing example to use.

They are a huge company - not many places can offer what they can for £395.00. The page has since been removed, but they used to have a team page - they had 100 plus staff iirc.

I'm just guessing here, but I imagine companies offering all that for £395 have insanely tight project timescales to offer so much, for so little. The latter isn;t a bad thing I guess, as I'm sure they have a profit built in there somewhere. As a result, I wouldn;t be using such a large company as template for a pricing structure personally.

I'm all for having a "prices start from xxx", but I think pricing grids really don't reflect a potential client wanting a website.

Someone said above me that they fill a gap in the market to clients who aren;t as bothered. Well for me, after dealing with hundreds of clients I'm yet to find a single one that fits into that category. They all want something more - "when the user goes to this page can we do xxxxxx" etc is very common.

Im only getting to grips with pricing myself, are you saying you would charge more than £395 for that package? I actually thought that was quite expensive :/

[oakleaves]

zibizibi, on 15 November 2011 - 10:37 AM, said:

Hi,

Came across this price grid. This agency seems popular & successful. I'd like to know your opinions about this.

What do you think of applying prices based on the number of web pages ? As a freelance, would you practice this kind of prices ?

These fixed pricing structures do not sit well in the world of web design.
It's trying to quantify a service that really is a bespoke service.

As for the point "This agency seems popular & successful" - maybe they are successful in that they are making a lot of money, but I am not convinced the client is getting the best service. They are getting bundled some crap in the package to make it sound good and the average Joe may not realise that fact:-

eg: Level 1 Flash animation

[brightonmike]

The type of clients that go for packaged products such as this rather than bespoke results are probably not the kind of clients you'd want to do business with anyway.

So I really don't see the problem with businesses like this. Let em get on with it, doesn't affect us.

[oakleaves]

brightonmike, on 16 November 2011 - 10:13 AM, said:

The type of clients that go for packaged products such as this rather than bespoke results are probably not the kind of clients you'd want to do business with anyway.

So I really don't see the problem with businesses like this. Let em get on with it, doesn't affect us.

Absolutely. I am not on a crusade to change what other people in the web design business do, that's up to them. Just trying to illustrate to zibizibi why it may not be a good idea if you care about what you do and want to give your clients the best possible service.

I mentioned before on another thread that I know of a company quite local to me that made a lot of cash peddling cheap websites to sole traders. They did well out of it financially but at the same time they have a shocking reputation when you investigate and it makes me wonder whether the whole tactic has really done them any favours - especially thinking long-term. I doubt they will get any repeat business or referrals and that's currently how I generate most of my (best) business.

[rallport]

pilgrim_fgau, on 16 November 2011 - 09:37 AM, said:

Im only getting to grips with pricing myself, are you saying you would charge more than £395 for that package? I actually thought that was quite expensive :/

Personally, yes £395 isn't much at all for the amount they are offering (logo design, unlimited design revisions, cms functionality, Flash etc.) . I'd be charging a little more. This is because I don't churn out as many sites as those guys.

Just rember for £395.00 you'll need to include the following "hidden" costs, aswell as the actual design and development:

• Client correspondance - emails, telephone calls etc.
• Producing a brief / detailed quotation
• Meetings - travelling to the client and the physical time it takes to have the said meeting
• Answering follow up questions

I'm totally guessing here, but I imagine that £395.00 is meant more as a way to gets customers interested E.g. as a way to setup meetings and genrate leads. I;d imagine once they have a client in the meeting that price increases somewhat. I'd also guess that if someone did literally go for the £395.00 option and nothing else they;d be working at a loss.

I'd imagine it's very common for that £395.00 to be inflated due to extra pages, additional functionality and things like blogs. For instance, if you chose to have an image gallery upon a £395.00 site the price suddenyl goes up to £495.00. Add a couple of pages and the cost jumps even more sharply to £595.00. Have a look at their pricing guide and look for yourself http://www.webcreati....com/eguide.pdf

Again, this type of thing is very very common and there's nothignb wrong at all with offering extras to clients. But as said, only larger companies can really offer such a lot at the lowest level and expect to make money.

However, saying all that, some of the sites that have obviously been done for the cheaper prices aren't great in my opinion and I can tell they've been through a big production line pretty quickly. E.g. charingxprint[dot]com

Paranoid disclaimer (lol): all are my own personal opinions

[oakleaves]

rallport, on 16 November 2011 - 09:11 PM, said:

Personally, yes £395 isn't much at all for the amount they are offering

It's a one page site! Quote:- 'the amount they are offering' isn't actually a lot when you remove the flowery wording and crap.

It's actually no more than any good designer would do anyway. This example from the OP looks like a conveyor-belt piece of poo to me.

Personally I would actually charge less than that for a 1page site and probably give the client a much better end product too (imo)

This post has been edited by oakleaves: 16 November 2011 - 09:33 PM

[rallport]

oakleaves, on 16 November 2011 - 09:32 PM, said:

It's a one page site! Quote:- 'the amount they are offering' isn't actually a lot when you remove the flowery wording and crap.

It's actually no more than any good designer would do anyway. This example from the OP looks like a conveyor-belt piece of poo to me.

Personally I would actually charge less than that for a 1page site and probably give the client a much better end product too (imo)

Yes I saw

But that 1 page site includes:

• Unlimited design revisions
• Flash animation
• Logo Design
• CMS
• TLD domain
• Use of stock images
• No templates used

Now personally, I think that's a lot. When you factor in the hidden time I mentioned previously £395.00 isn't much at all.

Also, I think you;re failing to realize that the only reason webcreationuk can offer that price is because of their size.

This post has been edited by rallport: 17 November 2011 - 12:47 PM

[RobbieD90]

rallport, on 16 November 2011 - 09:11 PM, said:

Personally, yes £395 isn't much at all for the amount they are offering (logo design, unlimited design revisions, cms functionality, Flash etc.) . I'd be charging a little more. This is because I don't churn out as many sites as those guys.

Just rember for £395.00 you'll need to include the following "hidden" costs, aswell as the actual design and development:

• Client correspondance - emails, telephone calls etc.
• Producing a brief / detailed quotation
• Meetings - travelling to the client and the physical time it takes to have the said meeting
• Answering follow up questions

I'm totally guessing here, but I imagine that £395.00 is meant more as a way to gets customers interested E.g. as a way to setup meetings and genrate leads. I;d imagine once they have a client in the meeting that price increases somewhat. I'd also guess that if someone did literally go for the £395.00 option and nothing else they;d be working at a loss.

I'd imagine it's very common for that £395.00 to be inflated due to extra pages, additional functionality and things like blogs. For instance, if you chose to have an image gallery upon a £395.00 site the price suddenyl goes up to £495.00. Add a couple of pages and the cost jumps even more sharply to £595.00. Have a look at their pricing guide and look for yourself http://www.webcreati....com/eguide.pdf

Again, this type of thing is very very common and there's nothignb wrong at all with offering extras to clients. But as said, only larger companies can really offer such a lot at the lowest level and expect to make money.

However, saying all that, some of the sites that have obviously been done for the cheaper prices aren't great in my opinion and I can tell they've been through a big production line pretty quickly. E.g. charingxprint[dot]com

Paranoid disclaimer (lol): all are my own personal opinions

--RANT--
This is my personal opinion, some of the websites they have created are rubbish!

If I was making these websites I would be ashamed of charging for it. If I can't create something better than the example above (for whatever price) then I won't even bother.
--RANT OVER--

I personally would put a have starting prices but make it quite clear that they are just that. I don't see what the point is in getting a client because you advertise a package cheaply then inflating the price with extras and the client walking away because the cost becomes to much. It just wastes the time of both parties involved.

This post has been edited by RobbieD90: 17 November 2011 - 01:17 PM

[oakleaves]

rallport, on 17 November 2011 - 12:46 PM, said:

• Unlimited design revisions
• Flash animation
• Logo Design
• CMS
• TLD domain
• Use of stock images
• No templates used

Yes, I saw that too

I know everybody will charge different prices you may charge more I may charge less for a similar service.

The whole package thing however is what doesn't sit right in the web design business, it doesn't take into account the real needs of the client, and hence I feel a tailored solution for each is the best approach rather than bunging in a whole bunch of stuff to make it sound good.

I just thought it ironic that I could offer a tailored approach for a one page site with the other important elements in their list that would actually be slightly less expensive than the conveyor belt solution they are offering and I am a much smaller business than they are.

Disclaimer: I may have been drunk when I wrote the above comments.

Disclaimer Two: I may or may not endorse drinking depending on what kind of week it has been.

Parental Guidance: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

This post has been edited by oakleaves: 18 November 2011 - 11:21 AM

[rallport]

oakleaves, on 18 November 2011 - 11:19 AM, said:

Yes, I saw that too

I know everybody will charge different prices you may charge more I may charge less for a similar service.

The whole package thing however is what doesn't sit right in the web design business, it doesn't take into account the real needs of the client, and hence I feel a tailored solution for each is the best approach rather than bunging in a whole bunch of stuff to make it sound good.

I just thought it ironic that I could offer a tailored approach for a one page site with the other important elements in their list that would actually be slightly less expensive than the conveyor belt solution they are offering and I am a much smaller business than they are.

Disclaimer: I may have been drunk when I wrote the above comments.

Disclaimer Two: I may or may not endorse drinking depending on what kind of week it has been.

Parental Guidance: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Yer

I'll summarize my rambling. The OP shouldn;t use webcreation's pricing structure as a template for himself, as webcreation are bloody huge.

[SandipanD]

If you need a fixed price package you can opt for templates.

[Hava]

Here at <snip> you can find cheap <Snip>, just have a look!

Edit: Please keep advertising in the classifieds section - MC

This post has been edited by MikeChipshop: 01 December 2011 - 12:04 PM

[a1digitalmedia]

I've found with my clients that packages just don't work. With Web Design every single client is different and the amount of work me or my team withh complete greatly depends upon the task required. For such a bespoke business I've found that package prices lead to problems with increasing costs and extra updates etc.

[Jason Dexter]

a1digitalmedia, on 01 December 2011 - 12:45 PM, said:

I've found with my clients that packages just don't work. With Web Design every single client is different and the amount of work me or my team withh complete greatly depends upon the task required. For such a bespoke business I've found that package prices lead to problems with increasing costs and extra updates etc.

Good job you don't advertise web packages on your website

[rallport]

a1digitalmedia, on 01 December 2011 - 12:45 PM, said:

I've found with my clients that packages just don't work. With Web Design every single client is different and the amount of work me or my team withh complete greatly depends upon the task required. For such a bespoke business I've found that package prices lead to problems with increasing costs and extra updates etc.

Rofl, lol, rofl.

A quick look at your site and what am I presented with? Tons of generic packages: "Business Basic", "Business Pro", "Business Pro Websites".

So lol.