WAHM Forums

I always have a difficult time with pricing. It's not easy to price web design because you're selling your creativity and not just a tool or a service. I've been burned by pricing too low and regretting it, and then I've priced too high and lost business.


I recently had someone come to me with a mortgage brokering site that was put together with a sitebuilder template and they were generating plenty of business with it - approx. $8,000 per month, they said. What they wanted was for it to be remodeled to look more professional and custom made, also to add interactivity via scripts that would respond to the visitor's input, such as, analyzing what type of mortgage they would qualify for, etc. They also wanted to add features like message board and email newsletter.


The site is already up and running, like I said, they just wanted a rework. I struggled over it and then finally said $300, plus additional for the custom scripting - which I planned to farm out because it is out of my comfort zone. I imagine I could have found a premade script for it though.


But taking into account the remodel and setup -- was $300 too much? I didn't feel it was at the time, but the person just kind of dropped out of our discussion at that point so I get the feeling he thought it was kind of high. What do you all think?

I think that is a fair price.

I don't believe it was too much at all. (Possibly under what you could have fairly priced).


Teresa

I agree with the others. It definitely isn't too much and you could have quoted more.


I don't think some people realize the value of our services. I had a discussion with my brother-in-law about this very same thing about a week ago.


It's kind of funny. People won't spend $6 on a box of oatmeal at the store, but they will pay $4 for one serving at a restaurant. They will pay up to $1,000 for brochures that they can hand out that will only reach a certain number of people, but they won't invest (let's use your example) $300 on a web site that has the potential to reach millions. smileys/smiley36.gif

Sometimes if you drastically underbid that will also turnoff the prospect. They may well have a solid idea of what the work should cost, and a low ball bid is seen as someone who really is not qualified or doesn't understand the scope of the project.


As a general rule we never give our bottom price to start, we can always come down if needed, but it is very hard to go up if needed. We wouldn't touch the project you described for less than $500, and quite likely more.

I don't think that was too much and I agree with Harold - sometimes quoting too low will turn off some prospects. Especially if his website is actually generating the traffic/income he stated it was.

Thanks for all of the responses!


I agree about the underbidding too. I tried to purposely be low because it was someone that I knew, and in this case, they had seen my work so I don't worry about them questioning my ability. I think in this case they probably wanted me to be as close to free as possible. I tried to leave a little wiggle room with the CGI scripting that would have been extra. But with a job like that, I might have ended up unhappy getting to the finish line if I wasn't compensated appropriately and it would be no one's fault but mine.


Is there any type of general pricing guide online that we could use as a reference?

I do not use them personally, but have heard good things about http://www.creativepublic.com/


They have a pricing guide available.


This article does not give exact prices, but goes over how to figure your rates: http://webdesign.about.com/cs/salaries/a/aa022403a.htm


You might alsotry visiting other web designer/programming websites and see what they charge for their services. That will give you a good idea of what the going rate is for different services.


Hope that helps smileys/smiley1.gif

I think it was a very low quote. Did they want you to do any artwork or just scripting? I would've charged $500 just for additional coding. Have you followed-up with them?

I agree with the other's I think you are cutting your own throat. I mean don't get me wrong, I cut my fair share of discounts, however, I live in a small town and the smallest I charge for upgrades is $500-$600/ site upgrade. I know what you mean about not sure what is fair to charge though as I struggled with this for a while. Just remember don't underbid your own talent. Not everyone can do what we do.

Thanks so much for all of the responses. He hasn't really gotten back to me -- he did in a way but he said he was working with a marketing consultant who was telling him what he should do. So either way, I'll just take it as a lesson learned! Besides, if you underquote yourself to get a job with somebody that you know wants to be really cheap, that person will probably work you to the bone for the little bit they paid!


Years ago, Ioffered to "help" someone out with a website for $150. It started out basic but he kept wanting more and more until it was a really nice site worth several hundred more, but he was a friend from church and everytime he came around for changes, he would start quoting the bible to me, lol, telling me about how the Lord was going to bless both of us for this, lol. I had to update two years in a row and all I asked him for was to pay his domain renewal fee and he squawked about that, plus the site was one of those free sites so he had ads all over the place because he didn't want to pay to have them removed. I finally had enough when he mailed me a ton of new pics he had taken and wanted me to scan them and put them on the site which included making thumbnails. I sent everything back along with all of his passwords and told him he could take it to another designer because I just didn't have the time anymore.