"...building a website is like building a house. Without knowing the budget, you can’t possibly know how many rooms the client can afford or what materials you should use to build."
Pricing of Web sites is tough and one of the hardest parts of our jobs. You'll hear me bitch about it on regular basis. It's not that I don't know what this stuff is worth or what it costs me to get the job done. The challenge is guessing the response from the potential client when they see the proposed number. Will it be so low that they will think I am an amateur or will it be so high that they will call and ask if that was a typo? The same number could have opposite reactions by two different potential clients who are both asking for the same thing. I often ask, why can't potential clients let me know what their budget is and I will let them know what I can do for that amount rather than playing this game?
At smashingmagazine.com I found a great article about how a web designer or developer can work with their client to help them understand why a web site was priced the way it was. The article is intended for a designer/developer audience but I think there is some great insight to how the pricing process works and how a client and provider can work together so that the numbers are understood neither side feels like they are being taken advantage of.
From: Is John The Client Dense or Are You Failing Him? @ smashingmagazine.com:
Before giving John his quote, you ask a little more about the project. After chatting for a few minutes, you ask him about his budget. A fair question, you think. After all, you could approach the project in so many ways. Without knowing the budget, knowing where to begin is impossible. In your mind, building a website is like building a house. Without knowing the budget, you can’t possibly know how many rooms the client can afford or what materials you should use to build.
John, on the other hand, is instantly suspicious. Why would you want to know about his budget? The only reason he can think of is that you want to make sure you don’t charge him less than what he is willing to give. Besides, he doesn’t really know his budget. How the heck is he supposed to know how much a website costs? Read More
My previous rant on the topic: What Does a Web Site Cost?
Posted on
Tue, February 23, 2010
by Shane Larrabee