How much should I charge?

[lorne17]

Hello all,

I am wondering how much to charge for webpage design. I have recently completed a site for the Architecture Firm I work for. I already have done this and was paid very low, because it was for my boss and I gave him a deal. But now that I finished this site, I have a construction company looking at it and wanting a site done. They probably don't want as much flash but probably want a flash menu and html pages. This site: www.scotbarchitects.com is all flash but I put the html pages together in DreamWeaver. Just curious to know what to charge? Thanks all,

Lorne Bourdo

PS- I do have a certificate in Web Design and Graphic Design from the ATLAS Institute on the CU Boulder campus. I don't know if that changes the estimate or not?

 

[eto]

This question pops up every once in a while. Not a lot of attention is paid partially
because of legality in the US. Discussing and or setting costs for services among
businesses that provide provide the same service is called Price Fixing.

I'm currently going through this book,"Talent Is Not Enough: Business Secrets For Designers", and am finding
tons of useful info including pricing models. I highly recommend it.

 

[grapes911]

This question pops up every once in a while. Not a lot of attention is paid partially
because of legality in the US. Discussing and or setting costs for services among
businesses that provide provide the same service is called Price Fixing.

I think you are taking the idea of price fixing a little too far.


OP: How much is your time worth to you? $10/hr? $20/hr? $100/hr? How much per hour can you make doing something else? Remember that your level of skill can adjust this. If you have 10 years of web design experience, your time will be worth more than a beginners. Get a good estimate. We cannot tell you what your time is worth.

Next estimate how long it will take you to complete the site. Remember to include all time, not just coding. Design, getting specs, testing, etc. are all billable (training time, if needed, is probably not billable unless you make it known that you are going to have to learn new things specially for the client).

Once you have both estimates, multiply them and come up with a total estimate.

 

[buymeaniphone]

This is the forumula I use to figure out how long a site will take me and how much to charge, its pretty simple.

•For every page that you'll be creating (every html document) multiply by 2, this equals 2 hours per page to build(yes i know it doesn't take 2 hours to build every page, but just stick with me here)
• Multiply the number you got from the first step by what ever you'll charge per hour, for example $30 - 50 if your pretty good at designing sites. Thats it!

I'll give you an example, you have a site with the following pages:
Home
Services
Portfolio
About us
Contact

5 pages x 2 hrs. per page=10 hrs to create the site
10hrs x $50 an hr. = $500 for a website

you might want to charge less so as to not scare people off, but this formula usualy is pretty accurate for me, you might be faster/slower so you'll have to play around with it.

ps. if theres flash elements on a page, multiply that page by 4 hrs., it'll take longer. Hope this helps

 

[heehee]

5 pages x 2 hrs. per page=10 hrs to create the site
10hrs x $50 an hr. = $500 for a website

you might want to charge less so as to not scare people off, but this formula usualy is pretty accurate for me, you might be faster/slower so you'll have to play around with it.

You charge that little? And you say charge less not to scare people off?

To the OP, you might want to add in the "little" stuff too, it adds up. Meeting up with your client (2nd and 3rd time), travel time and travel expenses, phone calls (that can take ALOT of your time), design concepts, design changes...etc.

 

[lorne17]

Thanks. This helps alot. Any other suggestions on what method I should take in order to find the price would be greatly appreciated!

Lorne

 

[adom]

just for ***** and giggles, I made THIS website for a friend's business.

Being my first website, I did it for him for virtually nothing (plus that fact that he was a friend )

But I am of kind intrigued as to how much this could retail for - based anyones experience as like minded web designer!

 

[timmillwood]

just for ***** and giggles, I made THIS website for a friend's business.

Being my first website, I did it for him for virtually nothing (plus that fact that he was a friend )

But I am of kind intrigued as to how much this could retail for - based anyones experience as like minded web designer!

I think you could get a lot for that, i would charge about £1000 for that, i charged £200 for this http://www.herculesstands.co.uk/ and yours is loads better

what did you use to make the site and where did u get the JS from for the photos

 

[lorne17]

I think you could get a lot for that, i would charge about £1000 for that, i charged £200 for this http://www.herculesstands.co.uk/ and yours is loads better

what did you use to make the site and where did u get the JS from for the photos

Just curious as to why you quoted him on his site with one reply? Would anyone want to quote this? Just curious how much this could retail for? As stated before the site was done for my boss and I gave him a really good discount.

 

[buymeaniphone]

Hey Adom, nice site, very clean. I too would like to know what script you used for the photos. I know $500 is cheap but not if ur starting out. Besides you charge em cheap for the site and rack in the real doe for updates

 

[guifa]

Just curious as to why you quoted him on his site with one reply? Would anyone want to quote this? Just curious how much this could retail for? As stated before the site was done for my boss and I gave him a really good discount.

I'd ask for a discount for the misspelled word in the main navigation (résumé has two accents). Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[njmac]

lorn17: I'm not a web designer, but I've been checking out prices for basic web designs for my site. I've been finding, pretty consistently, about $1500.00 to about $3,000 on the high end. Really complicated sites with online stores and cms seems to be starting at about $5,000- $10,000+

Someone else will have to tell you if there is a premium on top of that for flash, I've just been looking at html.

The site you made is really outstanding. It loads quickly and I love the portfolio. It looks like the firm you are working for should be able to pay you good money for your work

 

[lorne17]

I'd ask for a discount for the misspelled word in the main navigation (résumé has two accents). Sorry, I couldn't resist.

you are correct...Dang that's why I put this up to find mistakes too. I appreciate it. Don't apologize it's an honest mistake. Thanksk for pointing it out.

 

[purplelizzard]

I am working on this site for a friend and I charged a percentage of the profits. It seems like a good way to go, but it is my first website I have sold, so I am hardly a pro.

 

[cookie1105]

A percentage of the profits. Bah!!

Once you start selling your websites, you are going pro. So please do a professional job.

Just banging up some site in dreamweaver and then leaving this sort of thing in your code is IMO unnaceptable.

fet<html>
<head>
<title>InnexDigital :: Services</title>

I don't think you should be charging for this site, at least I wouldn't. Maybe put it in your portfolio and work on your skills before you start charging for your work.

@ Lorne17: You made a really slick Flash website. As to how much to charge for your work, how long did it take you? Be honest. Include all hours. Then multiply this number by your hourly wage. As buymeaniphone says $40 - $50 is not a bad starting point.

I don't work in Flash, but it normally takes me 35-40 hours, for a basic dynamic site. Yeah, I'm a bit slow. This would work out to about $2000. It's only a ballpark figure, but I hope it helps.

Just a tip for the next time. Sort out all of these details before starting work on their site. It helps in preventing dissapointment for either party.

@ adom: Great work. Nice use of prototype library. But your first site??

 

[adom]

@ adom: Great work. Nice use of prototype library. But your first site??

May I ask what a 'prototype library' is? Sorry im a dummie. And yea..although I have dabbled for years with websites, they never left my desktop. This is the first website I had an actual purpose for to build it, and one which i have running on a domain!