How much should I charge?

[jacoboh4]

I am starting to design web pages for money, but I don't know how much to charge. What would you recommend for a site like this:

lonepeakhigh.com/drumline

 

[StudioWorks]

The link you provided doesn't work for me.

 

[will7]

Ah, the good ole' question of web design pricing.

Well, we cannot say, "Oh, for every site you make, you should charge this, that or the other." We don't know your business - only you do!

As a general rule, look at what elements the site has involved in it!

- Flash content?
- How many pages?
- How many graphics?
- Any contact forms?
- Database driven?
- E-Commerce Facilities?
- Static?
- Animated?
- Dynamic?
- Graphical User Interface (GUI) or just text-based?
- How long did it take to make?
- How much profit do you want to make?
- Any Content Management Systems (CMS's)

And the list goes on ... These are all issues you must consider when pricing a site. Some designers use the following formula:

Number of hours taken to build site
+
Cost per hour
+
Profit wanted
= TOTAL PRICE

It seems to work quite well.

As for your hourly price, well, this is based on how well and how efficiently you can do the work. Are you quick and can go right up to custom building a 1000 product shop, or are you slow and can only do a static HTML page? Your hourly rate depends on these factors.

Well, hope I helped you out. If you want any more info, please, don't hesitate to ask! Also, search the forums, there are so many threads on this topic, its a very popular subject.

Also, I can't tell you how much that site is worth because I can't see it! I just get a "Page Cannot be Displayed" error

Will.

 

[Porte]

Maybe, If we can view your site first then rate it. Thanks

 

[jacoboh4]

For those of you who couldn't reach the site, it's probably because the server was down for a while, but it is up now.

 

[mcfry]

A more advanced method of pricing is to determine the site's value to the customer rather than the cost of hiring you. remember, you're selling a product, not your services (if you're providing a service, you should be charged by the hour). this means you go after big clients and establish a sense of "intangibles" in the product you sell them. Things like brand awareness creation and development. As you get more clients, your design brand can command a premium, and that's when you start making money.

But, as you're just starting out, and taking into consideration the client you're designing for, i'd say that site is worth about $250. Let me know if you have any more questions

Ed

 

[barefoottech]

As a Web Site Design
I would say the Drumband site $50 USD tops

For a better Idea of chargeable values
List yourself on Several Freelance boards and see what other Web Designers are quoting for the posted Jobs
A couple good Freelance boards are
getafreelancer.com scriptlance.com

Plus free advice always available from me anytime ,just PM

 

[bhyraj]

i can't open.

 

[Niek]

You should ask the customer's budget , then look how much houres you worked for it , how much you made for it.
I don't think you should ask to much for this one.
It's not that good.
maybe 30
why that low?
I don't see any graphics that are made by you , except the splash page.
And the flashbuttons aren't yours , try to get that little button of flashbuttons.com out of it.

keep it up

Number of hours taken to build site
+
Cost per hour
+
Profit wanted
= TOTAL PRICE

Correction:
Number of hours taken to build site
*
Cost per hour
+
Profit wanted
= TOTAL PRICE

 

[mcfry]

$50, $30? This site is worth far more than that. I don't care if the page is just plain HTML with no graphics and made still using <font> tags, there's no reason why a webpage should ever be worth less than $150. So what, it takes you 15 minutes to do? Yeah guess how long it took for you to learn up to the point where it only takes you 15 mintues.

Here's a good anecdote: Some guy had a leaky pipe under his sink, so he calls a plumber. The plumber comes in, kneels down under the sink, takes out his hammer, hits the pipe right on the joint, and the leak stops. The plummber hands the guy a bill for $320.29. The guy, obviously outraged, says "how can you possibly charge me that much when all it took you was one hit?" And the plumber responds by itemizing his bill, "Wear and tear on my hammer: $.29. Knowing where to hit: $320."

You're of more value than you think. I stand by my opinion that that site is worth $250.

 

[dweeb]

i'd say USD$50 too. i've seen professional templates going for far less than that and they are definitely much better than the site he has created.
if web design charges were based on such a factor, being the time you took to learn how to design, people could start charging thousands for a simple html page.

you have got to be realistic if you want clients.

 

[mcfry]

I have clients and frankly I think the vast majority of the community is underpricing because they're afraid of hearing "no." That's not the right way to go about things.