Pricing a project

Discussion in 'General Business' started by HCLPFan, Jul 5, 2007.

  1. #1
    So I have designing sites for years not but mainly just for my own company. I have done a number of freelance jobs as well but they were mainly for friends and family so I never really charged them that much so I was wondering if you guys could help me price one of my first real freelance projects. Heres the general idea:

    - A website for a couple that sells antique furniture imported straight from Europe (each piece ranges from $1,000 to $10,000)
    - The website is a simple "view by category" / "search items" format that pulls from a database.
    - Each product has a number of images, title description and product number.
    - There won't be any actual eStore backend. People just browse and call them saying they want product # blah blah.
    - I'll be making an admin panel to add/edit items and everything
    - I'll also be designing their logo and installing the project on their server once they purchase it

    I know its kinda hard to price something like this without actually seeing everything yourself but about what range you think i could charge for this? A few hundred? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
     
    HCLPFan, Jul 5, 2007 IP
  2. w3bmaster

    w3bmaster Notable Member

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    #2
    300$ without ecommerce capacity (and that a good price on frelance sites you find guys doing it for 100$)

    Knowing how to price things is one must skill

    Good luck with the projects
     
    w3bmaster, Jul 5, 2007 IP
  3. websiteresell

    websiteresell Peon

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    #3
    I owned & operated a full-fledged design & dev firm for about 4 years. 2 physical offices, full-time designers & developers in-house, usually more business than we could handle... and from my experience there are 3 basic methods of pricing whether it's per hour or per project:

    Competition based - Quoting based on the competition's value when bidding on a project via freelance sites or high-competition markets. Project values via freelance sites are usually very diluted.

    Budget based - Quoting based on your assumed (or actual) budget the client is aiming for. Many designers/developers find it hard to say no to projects, so they'll tailor their features & quotes down or up to meet what they think they can get. This is the most common trap when quoting.

    Value based - Quoting based on the value you're providing to the client. This method usually involves sales skills and demonstrating how your solution will be the most valuable. This method is the goal of every service provider... quoting what you're worth and proving (or convincing) your value regardless of perceived budget or competition.

    I know I didn't give you a figure to quote, but that's up to you. Hopefully understanding these methods can help you value your services.
     
    websiteresell, Jul 5, 2007 IP
  4. ablaye

    ablaye Well-Known Member

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    #4
    Well, it depends. If you have to code the script for the ground up, I would charge about $1,000.
    However, if you are using an off-the-shelf script and only has to customize it, I would charge around $200-$300.
     
    ablaye, Jul 5, 2007 IP
  5. SUSH

    SUSH Peon

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    #5
    The site you mentioned is quite easy to code up, specially when there's no "actual" e-commerce / shopping on the site itself." Basically it's just pulling data from database, and displaying it properly. (Admin panel would be the difficult part. )
    I'd charge like $70-$115 to code this site from scratch. (Frontend is just 3-4 pages.)
    This is without the design, and admin panel.
    Add another $50-$60 for design.
    Another $105-$150 for admin panel depending on what they want in there, and it's security.
    That would be my breakdown. You might charge higher/lower depending on how long it's going to take you, and what others are charging in your area with similar expertise.

    If rates are quite high in your area, don't charge too low as that would depriciate the value of your time and skills amongst your competition.
    regards :)
     
    SUSH, Jul 5, 2007 IP
  6. HCLPFan

    HCLPFan Peon

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    #6
    Yeah its completely from scratch. And like you said the site itself will be a super quick code job. The design/database entry/admin panel will be the most work but still not to bad. I just didn't even have a clue what i should be charging. Does $350 sound reasonable? Also, this isn't some random person looking for a designer. This is my dad's assistant's parents who are going to do it through me regardless so the competition price doesn't really matter. I just wanna charge her a reasonable price without being an ass and overcharging.
     
    HCLPFan, Jul 5, 2007 IP
  7. sk8boarder1414

    sk8boarder1414 Guest

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    #7
    if you know these people in real life then its a difference of how you should price things, because people won't really take you seriously if you price it too low, personally on-line I'd do this for $250 but from previous experience I can easily see you getting paid double if the design is quality and the coding is sketchy and unstable. I'd definitly quote over $300, if you're putting more than 8 hours into this project.
     
    sk8boarder1414, Jul 5, 2007 IP
  8. AstarothSolutions

    AstarothSolutions Peon

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    #8
    $350 sounds very cheap

    Basically, break the project down into the consituant parts and estimate the time taken for each element. For this it would be something like

    1) Design logo
    2) Design template
    3) Create db
    4) Create login
    5) Create database updater
    6) Create database reader
    7) Incorporate copy
    8) Install on server

    Add a contingency amount and then times by your hourly rate.

    Weak dollar isnt helping us at the moment so we would charge about $1000-$1500 for the job in the current climate
     
    AstarothSolutions, Jul 6, 2007 IP
  9. HCLPFan

    HCLPFan Peon

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    #9
    Wow, thats a lot more than I was expecting. And on top of things I just got in my first car accident today ( grrrr ). So maybe I'll factor that into the quote lol.
     
    HCLPFan, Jul 6, 2007 IP
  10. luckyNumber

    luckyNumber Active Member

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    #10
    And that ($1000-$1500) sounds cheap for the UK!
     
    luckyNumber, Jul 23, 2007 IP
  11. muiomuio

    muiomuio Active Member

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    #11
    You got to consider the country and market you're working on.
    I'm in Portugal, if I alone was to charge 1000 euros the client would certainly go find someone else. So here 350 euros would be acceptable.

    But for example in Spain you could easily charge 600 euros for that. In france probably around 800 euros or more, UK over 1000€ for sure.
    On the USA I have no clue, never worked in that market
     
    muiomuio, Jul 23, 2007 IP