As a Designer, how much do you charge these days?
-
-
- Fred Dun...
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 136
- Thanks: 0
-
Yes, very good info. As I'm starting out now with a design business, I'm doing 50% down payment with a 30 day money back minus the hours put into it at an hourly rate. Then 25% when the client approves the layout, graphics, and structure. Then final payment when the site is launched. I've never thought about doing a non-refundable of the down payment.. that just seems like it would redirect people away from using you at all.
As of right now, I'm not giving my clients backend access because I'm not in fear that they may steal stuff, I'm more in fear that they will mess things up and create problems. Though all my clients thus far don't want to touch anything and said it's all on me, which works out great because that means there will be a monthly maintenance fee for them since they don't want to work on the backend at all.
I know a few years back, it was my first ever site I did for someone else other than myself and I got completely screwed over. I got the entire site done, graphics, logo, and about 15 pages of content. When it was all done and ready the launch the guy just stopped communicating with me and I never heard from him again. Thankfully I had it on my own server, but that was 2 months of labor wasted. Since then, I've decided that I would only do local businesses and face to face clients rather than anyone from around the world.
-
-
-
- David Goode
- Preeminent Rocketeer
- Posts: 17058
- Thanks: 890
- Web Designer and Host
-
The important part about my non-refundable deposit is that it only kicks in after the 7 days cooling off period and it is negotiable. Once someone has reached the point of paying a deposit/retainer it is usually because we have built the relationship and agreed to proceed as a partnership so it is unlikely a refund would be required anyway.
Here is what I did after negotiating a recent deal...
16. Refund Policy.The client may halt work and request for a refund within 7 days of the date of this contract by mailing a certified letter to the Proprietor of 3cellhosting, (My address here). If at any time of the request for refund, work has been completed beyond the amount covered by the initial payment, the client shall be liable to pay for all work completed at the hourly rate of £50, which could result in higher fees then the quote prices given.
I also have an hourly rate at £50 but when I do larger projects I lower that to £40 for calculating the whole project cost, a sort of bulk discount if you like. This means that partial work can be more expensive than the project fee.
When negotiating, if anyone queries the non-refundable element I always point out that they are buying my time and expertise. If they cancel or fail to meet agreed timeframes then I am not earning money as I am unlikely to be able to sell that time at such short notice. After all, if you make an appointment with your dentist and fail to show they will still bill you for that missed appointment. :cheesy:
Hope this clarifies my 'non-refundable' element.
Please search forums before posting. Please make sure your post includes the version of the CMS you are using and a link to the problem. Annotations on screenshots can also be helpful to explain problems/goals. Please use the "secure" tab for confidential information
-
-
-
- Virya Technologies
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 189
- Thanks: 0
- Director, Virya Technologies
-
Really useful, I hadn't thought about making the deposit non refundable however I explain to the client that it is, so perhaps I need to make that clearer in my T&C's!
Fred: Have you not considered making use of the back end ACL's so you can give the client restricted access? Mine start with uber low level access and as they get more confident or need to do more stuff, I gradually increase what they can do. I rarely, if ever, give them a super admin account unless there is need to do so.
David: I'm surprised you drop your hourly rate on larger projects - in my experience I work twice as hard on bigger projects, plus there is the added element of project managing them! Great explanation on the non refundable element though, yes I guess it covers the time spent on technical meetings, drawing up sitemaps and wireframes and whatnot.
Ruth - Virya Technologies Ltd.
Virya Technologies - Suffolk Joomla User Group
-
-
-
- Cliff Pfeifer
- Preeminent Rocketeer
- Posts: 8444
- Thanks: 20
- Website Developer
-
This is good stuff. I use a method similar to David's. My deposits are all non-refundable, but I suppose if anyone ever made a stink about it I would work with them, I never have been in that situation. I also will bring my rate down for larger projects, mainly because it's better job security working on a long term project.
I protect my work by doing everything on a development area on my hosting reseller account, that way clients can see the front and back as much as they want. That site won't get moved to their server until it's paid for and signed off on. Seems to work well for me. - The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer.
-
-
-
- David Goode
- Preeminent Rocketeer
- Posts: 17058
- Thanks: 890
- Web Designer and Host
-
I do the same as Cliff - all client sites are developed on my server. That way I know they work, the client knows their site works, and when moved, any failure is down to their hosting.
Please search forums before posting. Please make sure your post includes the version of the CMS you are using and a link to the problem. Annotations on screenshots can also be helpful to explain problems/goals. Please use the "secure" tab for confidential information
-
-
-
- Houston
- Elite Rocketeer
- Posts: 1077
- Thanks: 2
- I do it just like JEM. Works fine for me and I have never had a client complain. I just finished a very large job for a law firm of 20 lawyers and they didn't blink an eye at it. I figure as Long as I have the keys, they cant run off with the collateral until the site is fully paid for. Quite a few of my clients have admin access but still ask me to make changes. LOL. Oh well. More income for me.
- Houston Brown -
www.splitlightdesigns.com
Apache Version = 2.2.2 / PHP Version = 5.2.17 or 5.3.15 (dual)
mySQL Version = 5.5.21
Joomla Version = 2.5.8 / Web Servers OS Version = CentOS 6
-
-
-
- Marcus Westin - NZD.Securities, Inc.
- Rocketeer
- Posts: 52
- Thanks: 0
- Programmer
-
We take between 30-50% upfront, on some highly trusted clients, no downpayment required since we know they going to pay after all. Our billing department normally take credit reports on the businesses that wants to pay very little to none downpayment.
Then the client pays another 10-25% after approval of design and structure. Pays the balance in full in same time you handle over all the work.
We also having a deadline guarantee that we give a 15% discount if we passed the deadline and the fault where on our side. In other words, the client has not asked for any changes or additional things to the original contract.
Remember to always write receipts and contracts! My boss had problem with some clients 2 years ago because of lacking in just papers. Keep your papers straight and you will be all safe! - Marcus Westin
Programmer
NZD Securities, Inc.
1 Penn Plaza, Office 6271
Manhattan, NY 10119 USA
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: nzdsecurities.com
-
Time to create page: 0.066 seconds