How much do you charge to build a website?

[hollywood]

I'm building my first website for a client, but I'm only 16. My client's an artist. What are people my age charging to build a website for just one person? I really need advice on this one.

[rafiki55]

How much is a car?
We'll need more details.

Prices usually range more from experience than age. It really depends on how experienced and the quality of your work.

[longy]

Dont mean to be rude but really hate these questions, its like how long is a piece of string?

how many pages, what technology, any scripting, graphic design, etc etc could go on and on

[hollywood]

Yeah, I looked around and these threads are everywhere. I can't charge someone 50-75$ an hr. They won't hire me then, cause I'm new at this (building sites for people, not new at flash), and the guy's an artist. I was thinking charge him maybe 500$ flat for a simple Flash site with all his work on it. Is that resonable?

[nocrapchurch]

Come on, guys. This is an easy question.















One millllllllllllllllllllion dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Just kidding.

Read this article. It will help you out.

-scott

[hollywood]

Thanks. The article helped, I just want to hear from someone thats 16 what they have charged.

[JabezStone]

Originally posted by hollywood
Yeah, I looked around and these threads are everywhere. I can't charge someone 50-75$ an hr. They won't hire me then, cause I'm new at this (building sites for people, not new at flash), and the guy's an artist. I was thinking charge him maybe 500$ flat for a simple Flash site with all his work on it. Is that resonable?

Yes that's quite reasonable. Why? Because that seems to be what you're willing to make for it, and that's what really matters. Many times, with individuals or small businesses, I will simply ask them what their budget is, and then compare it to what I'm willing to do the job for. This seems to work well.

I rarely do these types of small jobs any more, but sometimes that's all there is coming in. You have to learn to work with different job scenarios and price accordingly.

Best wishes to you.

Jay

[Gloomycus]

eleventy billion.

[kallok]

Scott Manning is awsome!Theres lots of helful things on his site like the sample contract.That helped me a lot.

[citiglobe]

Well. It does not matter if you are only 16. Money is not the only game in town. Your reputation and good reference is worth more than gold. So invest in your self. Do the Site for FREE in return for your using the client as a reference. If you only charge him $500 bucks then you are just a $500.00 guy. If you do it for the recommendation and the reference, that is worth as much as you would like to charge in the future. Maybe one day you will be the $500,000 guy just because you invested in your reputation instead of your pocket. OK.. young man...

(Remember, Meditate before you Flash)
The Guru Lebu

[spparikh]

citiglobe,
i have done this before and it works a charm. Now, I have my own internet company with a handful of references!!!
:-)

[Enterfaze]

Originally posted by citiglobe
Do the Site for FREE in return for your using the client as a reference.

The client is willing to pay this guy. He can either make $500 and use it to upgrade his software, hardware, make business cards, join his local Chamber of Commerce, or anything to promote or improve himself. On top of that, if you does good work, clients are usually happy to be a reference if you ask politely.

If you give out free work, he may tell other people... he'll tell other people you'll do sites cheap or free. If you want him instead to tell others that you do regular priced sites, you're basically asking him to be a salesperson for you, and no one will spend enough time doing that to make it worth your while.

Citiglobe, if you DO do a free site, make it one that counts. A local big name charity, your local Chamber of Commerce (if you join, which if you're serious about doing this to make money, you should), or perhaps a radio station or newspaper that's willing to trade off for advertising (make sure you get it in contract).

[TrIzKuT]

make it hard to edit, and then charge the place for updates

[citiglobe]

If the Client is convinced that this guy is the best option then, sure, take the money. But, I teach scores of young bright kids here in NYC to invest first in their professional reputation in order to command the type of dollars they need in the future when it may matter most. I believe this 16 year old kid has a bright future ahead and would always advise against just going after the money initially. References are extremely important in doing web work. The freedom to express your creativity and talent without a price tag attach to it, may very well be his ticket to the lucrative world of IT.

I think if he tells the client what his policies are and why he is doing it, then the client can evaluate what the offer is worth. Remember, he can always charge him ongoing maintenance fees for any changes subsequent to the initial web site. I have seen some of my students develop into very reputable Flashers simply by understanding this aspect of strategic marketing (confidence building).

Sure, he can use the money to upgrade his machine and buy new software, but if he does not currently know what to charge, he probably has other more important issues to address: like building a professional track record. The experience is worth more than the money at this stage. By the time he is 17, he will be charging what he wants and more by virtue of his excellent references. Wanna Bet?

[hollywood]

Originally posted by kallok
Scott Manning is awsome!Theres lots of helful things on his site like the sample contract.That helped me a lot.

Whose that and where's his site?

I think I'll charge him 500 and build him simple clean site, that isn't supped up with complex AS and animations. It will be a place where he can show his art on the web without distracting animations ect. Maybe, 100 a month for updates ect. I'm not in this for the money, I'll build the site for camera gear or an internship with the photographer. It's really up to him.

[clifgriffin]

Originally posted by hollywood

Originally posted by kallok
Scott Manning is awsome!Theres lots of helful things on his site like the sample contract.That helped me a lot.

Whose that and where's his site?

I think I'll charge him 500 and build him simple clean site, that isn't supped up with complex AS and animations. It will be a place where he can show his art on the web without distracting animations ect. Maybe, 100 a month for updates ect. I'm not in this for the money, I'll build the site for camera gear or an internship with the photographer. It's really up to him.

He's "The Minister of No Crap". He's got a great website. He's gone out of his way to help people new to the business.

http://www.scottmanning.com

[hollywood]

Thx, that site helped alot.

[switchTone]

Well, if you're in the US, you're not really supposed to talk about that with other designers. It's very illegal for competitors to discuss prices/how much they charge with one another. The rule applies from large business down to freelancers..

[nocrapchurch]

Originally posted by switchTone
Well, if you're in the US, you're not really supposed to talk about that with other designers. It's very illegal for competitors to discuss prices/how much they charge with one another. The rule applies from large business down to freelancers..

Where did you hear that?

-scott

[switchTone]

I knew those business classes would pay off

It's a violation of US Antitrust laws. I *believe* the same thing applies in the EU. I've not done much study on that, so I'm not totally sure. Anyhow, you can find Antitrust information on the DOJ's site at http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/

This is taken from the HTML Writers Guild's site -
http://www.hwg.org/resources/faqs/priceFAQ.html

Is it illegal to discuss pricing?

The short answer: YES (at least in the U.S. where many of our members are).

The U.S. law specifically makes discussion of pricing between competitors (all or some) a federal offense. According to either Marshall Kragen or Lewis Rose (both practicing lawyers), several brokers in DC were successfully prosecuted for simply discussing an increase of fees at a dinner meeting.

When, where, or how doesn't matter. Any discussion of pricing by a group of people within the same industry is illegal in the U.S. The feds call it price fixing.