How much should I charge for a basic website?

Discussion in 'HTML & Website Design' started by JohnG, Feb 3, 2008.

  1. #1
    I've setup several websites for myself over the years but never for anyone else.

    Recently 3 or 4 people have asked me to build websites for their businesses or hobbies.

    I have no idea how much to charge. The websites will be between 5 and 8 pages and will be pretty basic. Also I could offer to host them for a couple of years to make more money on the deal.

    Someone on another forum said that I would be giving people a really good deal at $750 per site with a couple of years of hosting.
     
    JohnG, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  2. Hades

    Hades Well-Known Member

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    #2
    what do you mean by build websites? Do you mean make a full website that is ready to go, out of the box? Or do you mean like a design and code it type of thing.

    Regards,
    Nick
     
    Hades, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  3. Rivolien

    Rivolien Peon

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    #3
    around $10-$15 for a domain
     
    Rivolien, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  4. Hades

    Hades Well-Known Member

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    #4
    That is a peonic answer, lol. I charge $25.00 just to code one page of a site in valid xhtml/css. (+ subpage), and you are going at $10-$15 a site? That's crazy.

    We honestly can't tell what kind of fee he should charge without knowing what his service is in the first place.

    Please don't make moronic posts that could cause the OP to lose money.

    Thank you.
     
    Hades, Feb 3, 2008 IP
    SEOLinker likes this.
  5. shallowink

    shallowink Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Hosting for those sites shouldn't be but around ~40-50 bucks for a year. Given the nature of the sites, 5-8 pages, nothing fancy, would they even use a database? min. B/W reqs. Only deal there is best check the TOS for your hosting account, most of those don't allow reselling unless its a reseller account. So say two years hosting, price $100 bucks, domain reg for 2 years, another $20, make it $30 for a profit for you. Then how much to design the pages? I would go with a flat fee if they provide body copy etc. If the pages are simple, do it for a reasonable amount. Say $100 per 4 pages and $25 per page afterwards. That would be around $230 plus $25 per page afterward.

    Here's the part were you need to think though. How much support will they require? Will they call you everytime they need something? And how picky will they be? Adjust your price accordingly.

    Graphics if complicated, up the price. So it could quickly reach $750 for a site esp if they want major stuff.

    If they say it's too much, point them to a few web design firms charging $125 per page without hosting. Best of luck.
     
    shallowink, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  6. micksss

    micksss Notable Member

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    #6
    Also consider including a price for you to do updates throughout the year. Once time fee or a fee for each update.
     
    micksss, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  7. Codythebest

    Codythebest Notable Member

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    #7
    Kids are doing full site for $5-$10 + a couple of chupa chops...
    Doing sites is not a good job anymore...
     
    Codythebest, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  8. Hades

    Hades Well-Known Member

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    #8
    Really? Im a kid, and I charge $25 minimum, and that's for DP people only. My regular prices start at $50+
     
    Hades, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  9. immortality

    immortality Peon

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    #9
    $750.... thats a joke. $200 tops would be good and still hard.
     
    immortality, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  10. shallowink

    shallowink Well-Known Member

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    #10
    Yeah everybody knows somebody doing websites for sub par prices. What do they get for that price? A site that is either a rip off of somebody else's template or total garbage. Not to say charging market prices insures a quality product, see lots of web design 'firms' with pages that look like they were made in 1998 charging the 125/page rate.
    But hey if everybody thinks the market's bottomed out pricewise, it means more work for those who stay in it and do quality work.
     
    shallowink, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  11. Codythebest

    Codythebest Notable Member

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    #11
    Hold on...I'm not saying everybody, adults or kids, are all doing sites for $5-$10...There are people doing sites for thousands of $$$...
    What I'm saying is, there are tons of kids doing sites for 5 or 10 bucks...
    My daughter made her first site at 4 in 1995 with free hosting at geocities.com...for people who remember the geocities time before it was ruined by Yahoo...
    She was 4, I taught her HTML (no dreamwaver or frontpage at that time) and she made her site hand coding...
    So, yes, young kids are doing sites for peanuts these days...
     
    Codythebest, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  12. yovishnurulez

    yovishnurulez Banned

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    #12
    I usually code single page or small budget sites for 20-30$. if the work is heavy,i charge around 50-80$.
    It may also depend how heavy the work is..
    For proxies,i take 30$.
     
    yovishnurulez, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  13. lslars31

    lslars31 Peon

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    #13
    I think he was talking about a domain name ;) not a whole site.

    I usually charge around $500-$1000+ for a fully designed and coded website. It just depends on how much extra stuff there is (i.e. server side code, databases, shopping carts, etc.)

    You could set an hourly rate and then track the amount of time you spent making it. You'll quickly find out what people are willing to pay for your work if you keep making more and more sites.
     
    lslars31, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  14. AstarothSolutions

    AstarothSolutions Peon

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    #14
    We charge a lot more than the other people on here :) - the best way to work out how much to charge is to work out an hourly rate, estimate how long the project will take and times the two together.

    If you are doing it as anything more than a one off however remember that you will not be working 100% of the time as a significant proportion of your time is looking for new clients or negotiating with them etc so you need to factor this into your hourly rate.
     
    AstarothSolutions, Feb 3, 2008 IP
  15. JohnG

    JohnG Peon

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    #15
    Thank you for all the input, that is very helpful
     
    JohnG, Feb 4, 2008 IP
  16. angilina

    angilina Notable Member

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    #16
    I agree, and u can also find people at freelance sites who are willing to work for extremely cheap rates.
     
    angilina, Feb 5, 2008 IP