Hello,

 

All of my previous work has been for people I've known ("mates rates") for a long while now and I've had my first client that I don't know who is asking for a quote and I'm not 100% sure on what I should be charging.

 

He was asking for a complete re-design, content will be provided as well as the company logo, an implemented CMS so he and his colleagues could change the content...

 

It's possible for me to do all of that, but how much should I quote him?!

 

Thanks, Joe

This question gets asked numerous times a day on this forum, there is no definitive answer as each project is different, each designer has different overheads and expectations on income.

 

Check out this topic posted by Mike, a mod on this forum.

Thank-you Root,

 

I would've found it but when I search for "website cost" it didn't return any results :/.

 

Can an admin please delete this topic then?

Such a hard question to answer and we get asked it all the time here.

 

This post might help with some of the questions you need to ask yourself regarding pricing a site.

I think the only problem with pricing... You don't want to charge too little that you're struggling for money after, or charge too much that they suddenly disappear of the face of the earth.

Like any business you need to work out a way of accurately costing jobs. It's abslolutely impossible for anyone to tell you how much as we have no idea of the client or the job.

 

First I would recommend you have a document or questionnaire which you give a prospective client which answers all the questions you need to know in order to accurately asses the job.

 

Then you need to work out what your overheads are and if you have some kind of break-even point.

 

Most professional web designers/developers will charge an hourly rate. I've seen people quote per page which can be ridiculous since you have no idea of what content is going on the page.

 

Overheads wise you obviously have costs etc, bills, light, heat, electricity, you also have to take into account your tools such as you computers and software. I run my own dedicated servers so I need to take that into consideration, however I apply a standard charge for the first year hosting/email/web services for clients so that payment usually covers those costs.

 

You'll also find that you'll develop a much better relationship with your clients when they know exactly how much you charge and where their money goes. It'll create trust with whoever you're working with. When I give a quote, I break each section down into the number of hours with a brief note about the work. Your client will know exactly what you're doing and why you've quoted that specific figure.

 

Quite a few small web design companies charge per "5 page web site" or offer a complete web site for £299 etc, the kind of businesses that take this kind of offer are usually small businesses/one man operations and those on a serious budget. They're obviously trying to sell website in mass numbers to make money and often use templates.

 

What hourly rate?? What kind of experience/training/portfolio etc do you have? Does it take you while to code something? I might charge £15 per hour, but I can code very fast, perhaps three times faster than someone who charges £10 per hour. So something I can code in an hour will cost you £15 but the other guy will end up charging you £30 as he's slow.

 

I always stick to my quotes where possible, I'm always honest and completely transparent with my clients and prospective clients, if they know exactly where their money is going and that they're getting a good service, they'll stick with you. And when it comes to quotes, you'll get better as you go along.

 

Hope that helps!

Edited August 30, 201114 yr by Garyw24

("mates rates")

 

I know more than few people (not web designers ) whose 'mates rates' are actually higher than the regular ones. Now, when someone offers me that sort of a discount I just say no and ask to be charged the market rate. I am not saying that you are one of those people, I've just come to dislike the phrase.

 

A bit off topic, sorry.

Just out of interest, has anyone every exchanged their web design services for other goods or services and not cash??

Just out of interest, has anyone every exchanged their web design services for other goods or services and not cash??

Not for clients, no. A clients work is done purely in exchange for money.

 

I have done websites for friends/family for free etc. In fact my first WP site was for my dad and I spent weeks getting my head around it (still learning now ).