How much should I charge an hour....

[Jonny]

for webpage design and database work?

I have been making webpages for people latley, and its time to write up some bills. Any thoughts?

 

[ForeverSilky]

Maybe charge a flat fee depending on what's done.

 

[DaddyG]

Jonny,

You know that you should have discussed this with your 'clients' before starting the work.

 

[Jonny]

DaddyG, I know that. I guess its more for a webpage that someone is asking for me too do and is wondering what its going to cost. Also, Iam going to give someone a bill tonight and I don't want him to freak out. I told him it was going to be expensive, but he kept just saying get it done, I don't care how much it costs. So, I was hoping for what YOU guys thought was fair to see if what Iam charging is in the right ball park.

 

[Sir Fredrick]

I charge between $15 and $30/hour depending on how hard the work is.

 

[RSI]

Hey Jonny, from Canada, ()

If he says he doesn't care how much it costs, just make sure you do a good job and charge him a lot, unless he's a friend whom you don't want to rip off.

I don't know how good an idea it is to charge by the hour, I think you should just charge a certain amount for the entire thing, and that's that.

See ya,

-RSI

 

[eyor]

You could charge by how many pages it is, or what size it is, etc.

 

[zippy]

Can we take a peek at your work to get an idea?

 

[Jonny]

Marc, I agree. Me and Wiz do charge a certain amount for the database work. However, I was curious to see what most people were charging per hour (if they charge per hour) since I find its easier that way for designing work since each site is different.

BTW, nice to here from ya mayn.

 

[NakaNaka]

zippys got the right idea
lets see the design to see how good it is then we can give you a guesstimate.

 

[Jonny]

Sure.

Here is a pretty small webpage that we did recently. Not too many products to see yet since the owner has to update all his products. However, there was a lot of work with this webpage since we have it set up so that all the products can be updated from anywhere with internet access. The buyer has a digital camera, and he can upload his pictures right from the webpage to a database. When you view the products it pulls them straight from the database. Exactly how the Anandech forums work.

I wanted to do it this way since I did not think my client wanted to learn html.

The Rustic Wood Company

 

[mikepeck]

The going rate for HTML design is 75-125 (us) an hour. Database work starts at 100 and goes up. This is what the company I work for charge... Although I don't think you could get away with that. I would suggest in the 40 ish range...

Good luck !!!

 

[Jonny]

Thanks mikepeck, a really appricate that, and the support.

 

[kami]

Jonny, since you are just starting... I'd suggest $30-$40 CDN per hour. If it's a quick project, charge the $40. If it's one that you know will take many many hours you should probably charge around $30.

 

[kami]

oh..and, once you develop a reputation and maybe start an official company, you will be able to charge in excess of $100/hr.

 

[Jonny]

Thanks kami Thats a good idea.

 

[piku]

Thats pretty good jonny. I figured this is going to be one of those "loser who thinks that because he knows HTML thinks he can do it for companies" deals, but that wood site looks very nice. Good job.

 

[Jonny]

Thanks piku, I really appricate that. We try as hard as we can to look proffesional, although we (Wizkid and I) are both still students. I must credit Wizkid with his ammazing database knowledge.

 

[Erasmus-X]

If this is your first "job," it's usually not a very good idea to be charging by the hour. You need to develop a reputation first; that way people will know that they're investing their money well. This doesn't just go for web designers/programmers, but also for system builders and network designers. Depending on the level of difficulty and size of this project, I would charge a flat fee accordingly.

 

[ERJ]

I think that with the little experience you have you should just make an initial bid on the site. You might be way off on your estimates (either to his advantage or yours) but it will be a learning experience and the person you are developing for will not be shocked when he gets the bill. That way you can get experience bidding and a reputation in the community. After a few projects you can change over to per hour or stick with overall pricing scheme.

ERJ

 

[DaddyG]

Jonny,

See if you can post a link to your design site from future sites that you build. Could bring in more work.

 

[Gstanfor]

Your site looks good, Jonny, but if you are going to develop for business you must ensure your accuracy matches your design. To a business, accuracy is at least as important as the layout. (you had "apoxy" instead of "epoxy&quot.

Other than that, great; you should have no problems picking up business.

Greg

 

[Jonny]

Thanks for the tips guys, I appricate the support.

 

[Train]

My standard rate is $70/hour, but my current porject has me at $95/hr

but thats just midwest pricing, when i was in San Fran, i was charging $210 an hour for web programming

 

[AU Tiger]

Though your client said he didn't care about how much you charge or what it costs to get the job done, for future jobs you may want to establish costs up front by doing time and cost estimates and having the client sign off on these estimates.

I usually write a Statement of Work for each project that I work on. In this document is listed what I am going to do, how long its going to take, and how much it is going to cost. I also include what my responsibilities are and what the are client's responsibilities. You also should identify all risks involved that may lead to costs running over your initial estimates. While this may be seen as a cover-your-ass tactic, it also ensures that the client won't be treated to any unpleasant surprises.