Hi Guys,

 

Im looking to set up an e-commerce website for my clothing range but am really unsure about how much I should be paying all in all??

 

Ive had a couple of quotes but i have no idea if I am being ripped off or if the website I get will be complete value for money.

 

The site is quite in-depth as it needs to give a history of my brand, link to my blog and link to my online store. (all of which needs building from scratch).

 

With the price I have been quoted, there is NO marketing whatsoever! Should this be included in the price? The quote I have been given for marketing is only slightly less than the quote for the website.

 

The reason I am so unsure about the pricing is that after talking to different people, I have been informed that I should be able to get a great site for a few thousand pounds with marketing into the cost.

 

I am in desperate need of help as I have no idea how much all of these things cost!!!!

 

Any advice you can give me would be great!!

Essentially, "marketing" is nothing to do with building a web site so should be considered as an "extra".

 

For the type of site you're proposing - a shop+blog setup - you're probably looking around £1500-£2500 from a good freelancer, and up to £5k-ish if you go to an agency. Marketing would most likely be extra.

Oh ok thanks!

 

The quote ive been given is double that of what you say I should expect from an agency, with a further £8k for marketing.

Im guessing that going ahead with my quote would be a bad idea!

 

Thanks for helping!

 

 

 

 

Essentially, "marketing" is nothing to do with building a web site so should be considered as an "extra".

 

For the type of site you're proposing - a shop+blog setup - you're probably looking around £1500-£2500 from a good freelancer, and up to £5k-ish if you go to an agency. Marketing would most likely be extra.

This totally depends on the reputation of the agency or the freelancer and the quality of their existing work. Yeah you'll get the odd "amazing" deal, however, they don't come around too often - Especially when it comes to Web Developers.

 

 

MARKETING is NOT cheap. If you want results you'll have to pay for them. You should gather quotes from at least 2 companies and compare them and check they're picking up on the same points. A good agency will mention that marketing isn't just a one off investment, it's an ONGOING cost.

 

Do not buy into marketing before the site has been developed. You'll know if you trust and can work with the agency/freelancer that developed the site when the project is finished. If the quotes are combined then what happens if the relationship between the agency and yourself deteriorates?

 

Don't think of the upfront cost - think of the revenue you'll generate through the site. You'll tend to find most agencies wont reply to you if your budget is under 5K for marketing alone (in most cases 10k) and either way the average salary in the UK is over 10k, therefore you should be looking to exceed that anyway.

Not sure if there's any right or wrong here, but I charge £1000 for a bog standard e-commerce solution, something like Zen Cart. I then charge on top depending on how many products the client needs loading and whether they require a lot of attributes (drop down boxes for t-shirt sizes, that kind of thing), I've been caught out before when someone wanted 1000 products loading and thought that was including in my original quote, oops!

I would say that it would completely depend on what your scope was.

 

There are many factors that will cause a huge variation in prices, to eliminate this you must have a good idea of your requirements and perhaps a few URL examples of other shops you like.

 

The quantity of products will also make a huge difference in cost.

 

£10,000 for a clothing store.. it's difficult to say this is alot or not without knowing what your requirements are.

 

Good luck!