Hey Guys, I'm a little tired and stressed so I feel like venting a bit. Now, Digital Point is a great site, and it's thanks to it and it's members that I have gained so much experience in my field, not to mention the other fields i've gained experience it, but why do the people on here charge so low? I mean honestly, I have to developer friends, and they charge out the vazoo for coding and designing. My next door neibhor charges aroud $600.00 (starting) for a site, and my fraternity brother charges $300.00 a logo, so why is it that on Digital Point you can get an amazing logo for $50 bucks, and get a site coded for $10? Do you people realize that the only reason people expect these low prices is because you offer them? I mean, if you are offering a quality service such as coding or designing, then you should charge the quality price for it. What are they gonna do when you charge them $50 to $100 instead of $10? Learn to code themselves? Yeah right.. Maybe 2/10 people would be able to do that, and very rarely 1/10 would even be any good at it. They need you, you don't need them, so have them come to you, and charge them the price that it is worth, not the price that everyone is charging, because by competeing with everyone, the price just keeps going lower and lower. I won't be surprised if in a couple of months, there will be coding jobs done for $5 or $1. I am serious. Realize what your service is worth, and charge the right amount. Now I know I am bringing up coding examples, but this applies to every type of service. I'm just a coding guy and know more about that then other things. Regards, Nick
Maybe some the high price is for local market who don't know where to find resources ? So, they sell script here for $10, but outside DP they sell $100 ? That why you and I thanks to DP, many valuable resources here, with end of goal : to sell it outside or for local market. Agree ?
IMO,the price is not determined by the coder. Market force determine the price of the product. Yes,you can charge it at high price at your will,but no client will buy from you coz other people provide the same service for lower cost than you.
Hey Nick. I think the reason why a lot of people offer their services here cheaply is because they don't know any better. They tend to look at what they do as something of a commodity where price is the determining factor. What they don't realize is that they're offering a service and the price depends on the quality of work that they do and their particular area of expertise. I admit I didn't know any better too when I started out as a freelance copywriter. But seriously, if you're doing something for a living, be it coding, copywriting, graphic design or whatever, I really couldn't imagine living at least decently with the outrageous rates here. And to think I'm in the Philippines and the cost of living here is much lower than the States or in Europe. Ever tried asking for higher rates and looking for clients who can afford that service? If not, I suggest you give it a try. If people were to compete on price, that would be the end for them. But if they know that they're offering true value to their clients, then they'll appreciate more what their work is worth. Let's say for example a newbie copywriter competes with an experienced copywriter in terms of price for a sales letter. The newbie is affordable but of course he/she has still a lot to prove. Meanwhile the experienced one may ask for several times more the amount the newbie is asking but this experienced copywriter already has a proven track record of sales letters that sell. If you were the one looking for a copywriter, would you spend your money on somebody who offers a lower price over somebody you can trust to write a persuasive copy that will help you earn more money?
You have to charge what the market will pay or what you think your work is worth. Many members on DP will not pay what the going rate is on the commercial market for a good copywriter, so if you want or need to pick up some extra work/money, you drop your prices to what this market will pay or what you think you can get. I do copywriting on the side for three companies. I charge them $75-$125 an hour depending on the project. I would never advertise on DP because I won't work for less, and I won't get what I am worth. Now, if I needed the money desperately, or didn't think I produced qaulity material, that might be a different story. Jim
It's market forces. Most local companies will go for someone they can see face to face rather than gamble on something online, hence local designers etc can command a higher price. A lot of those cheap design prices you see are merely a wordpress theme or a css template that has been quickly altered to sell.
Many people here just keep undercutting, ending up with unrealistic prices that the rest must adhere to or have no customers. This is especially for those who are building up their portfolio etc. and must work on here in their free time, then once they've got enough to show their ability, they probably won't much (if any) funds saved during that time because of the low rate (spent it renewing their domain or whatever) but they can then take that and find decent pay from other people, so this is really just a training ground (the way I see it anyway) although if you look through the BST section you will see some who have created something(or provide a service) at a cheap cost, then sell it possibly 50 times, if the product sold for $10, then that's $500 for them(before fees, of course). It's unfair to most of us, but that's how a market economy works(supply&demand, with the producer having a small degree of control over price). As someone once said to me, they find it more worthwhile running an "online" business, "offline".