Prices for designing a website for someone.....

It really depends a lot on the site. How many pages will there be? How many pictures will there be? How will you get those picture, ie do you have to scan them in or grab them off of the web? Does your customer want anything special done like e-commerce, forums, mailing list, etc? Also what about the hosting? Generally I will offer to do the hosting. I'll pay my host about $3-10/month and charge the customer between $20-40. This gives you some recurring revenue.

I would generally try to figure out my time, which you have done, and add a few hours to it. Then I would try to make at least $25/hr. Then I would check around with a few places in town to see if you are over/underpriced.

But your experience has to count for something as well. A beginner with no portfolio to speak of can't charge as much as someone who's done a lot of other sites. But, if you can get the client to pay you more, go for it!

That is the key. Always quote a bit high. You can always lower your price if you are too high but you can't raise it if you are too low. Don't work for free. Let your client pay for you to learn.

Thank you both, i have one website i have created to show(mine) and that's actually what got me this job.....
Well the outline for his webpage is basically this-
1. A gallery page for his paintings and a page for a larger version of every painting(a different page for every painting, of course).
2. A section where someone can order the painting off of the website, which would include a page for personal info,
credit card info, and what paintings they want.
3.Nice graphics throughout the page to make it"peppy"
(I do my own graphics, so i would need to charge him for that, too)
well, that's basically what he wants in the site, and i am supposed to meet him this weekend and talk about prices and what else he would want on there.....

Now would a intermediate/beginner website builder be able to charge $25/hr? I just started building websites, but i have been doing graphics and 3d design for a while now and have an extensive portfolio, so i am confused.....

Any idea of what is involved with setting up e-commerce. Make sure that you find out about SSL's and so forth. Most hosts have some rudimentary shopping carts. Some you can even use their site license.

Quote: Now would a intermediate/beginner website builder be able to charge $25/hr?

You are going to charge him a flat fee. The $25/hr I would use as a guide. Some of it is in selling yourself. Don't tell him that you are a newbie. Also don't tell him $25/hr. If you calculate that it is going to take 100 hrs, then say $2500. Why don't you figure out a price and post back here and check around town to see if you are in the ballpark. There should be some kind of monthly fee for site update, search engine optimization, etc. I once saw someone design a site using Frontpage. The site was very simple, very ugly but she charged the guy $4000. Most people are not quite so idiotic as that though. Again the theory is too start out a bit high. Not high enough as to where he will walk away but high enough that he might bite.

You can use the amount of work it will take to get a good idea of the base price that you would do the project for- in other words, the price that you would not be able to go below.

Charge what you think the client can afford. You've hopefully had a few meetings with him, and gotten a feel for how large their company is. For example, I would probably charge a little more to make a site for a large corporation that will be more than willing to shell out any amount of cash I ask for than I would to make a site for a small business with a tight budget. Get to know the client, find out what their budget is like, and try to evaluate how much you will be putting into the site.

I'm not saying you should overcharge them- you want to charge something REASONABLE, that will make both the client and you happy. Also consider whether the client is going to negotiate- if the client's not a negotiating type, and you quote a little high the first time, the client may just move on to another company instead of trying to get a lower price with you.

It may seem like a stupid question but if you're designing a website for a small time company, they are going to want the biggest bang for their buck. The bigger companies won't keep track of where their money is going as long as you're getting the job done.

Another factor is age, if you're like me, and started out at an early age (first designed a company webpage at the age of 11), $10/hour or $15/page is a very steady income of money. If you're saving up for college, you probably should charge more for the people would feel more 'secure' with an older person controlling and running their website.

The last factor is content. Layout doesn't make page, the content does. You can have a beautiful layout, but if you don't arrange the content in a certain order to 'stand out,' plain and simple, the site is mediocre if that.

Since you said you have ONLY designed one page before, try $15/hour. Yeah it's cheap, but if you overcharge the person, and then do the same job cheaper to another company, you're going to get mixed emotions from your customers. Always start low and progressively go higher; rather than starting high and decreasing at times.

I'm not too sure that age is always a factor. Do you always tell your clients how old you are?

I do think that maturity can play a role. If you don't intend to really commit to doing your best for the client, don't charge them for your best work. And perhaps let them know the situation.

I would say that you should go along the lines of setting on a lump sum price based on what you think the client will be able to afford (don't assume that large companies don't keep track of their money, they are sometimes worse than small companies!)at this stage you are still trying to build up a portfolio.

What we do is say to prospective clients that we charge approx £50 per page but we would have to work out the total site cost depending on overall size & content (as more often than not a 10 page site turns into 15 when I decide how it's best laid out, but I don't necessarily charge an extra £250). This works well for us.

I would only give an hourly rate if you get a contract for maintenance/amendments. Then we charge £20 per hour.

Good luck & remember to always give out a written quotation to save misunderstandings and keep a copy yourself.