Guest Jono1 Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Hello to all, I have a client who wants me to create a shopping cart with approx 1000 products, installation of cubecart, data entry & buy a licence. What would be a reasonable price to charge for this project? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated Thanks in advance John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gwizard Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 If that means for you to enter 1000 prods manually, I would say 400$US at least. If the client has previos store installed, then there are converters available or a new one can be built perhaps. If it's just store install + license then I would say 170 would be enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jono1 Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 Hello gwizard, Thanks for the reply, yes I will be inputting all the data by hand, creating the graphics, seo work & site submission. Also I will be responsible for the updating & managment of the site. Thanks again John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brivtech Posted August 24, 2006 Share Posted August 24, 2006 GWizard isn't far off the mark, his prices are a good starting guide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jono1 Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Cheers guys.. very much appreciated John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Work out how long you think it will take you in hours and from there apply your hourly rate. That will give you a rough idea. If he/she is a good client give them a discount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vrakas Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I agree with Brivtech and sorry to say that 400 dollars is only just a starting price Check the hours spent + hosting + designing + license. Thats where i would start from :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EverythingWeb Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 We would be looking at multiplying that by 5 for the design/setup/category setup. To import 1000 products would cost £1/each or blocks of 100 for £80 (roughly speaking for new clients) We have office costs, staff costs, overheads, accountancy bills, tax bills, insurance, policy documents, and need to earn a profit to be a viable business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I've got to agree with Will on this one. $400 is WAY too cheap. $300-900 just to get the store completely setup and configured assuming you'll setup all the categories, cat images, custom skin, site docs, etc. And that's with NO products put in. If they had all their product details in some digital form such as a spreadsheet, then the inventory import would be no big deal (of course I use an automated CSV import utility). However if you plan on or expect to enter 1000 items individually, then $0.50 per item is the cheapest I'd even dream of doing. $1 - $4 each is more like it depending on how much copy/pasting you can do or if you have to type everything in. Then you have to think about the images....do they have them all? Do you have to take pictures? Are their pictures usable as is or do you need to tweak them in Photoshop? As you can see, there are simply way too many variables for us to tell you what to charge. But remember that it takes money to make money. Anybody serious about having a viable e-commerce store should be willing to spend some money to have it. :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyjoe Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I'm in complete agreement with both Sir William and Everything Web and Vrakas. Your calculation of expected time must be complete and then multiplied because the reality is, no project - read my lips - NO project ever is completed in the number of hours that you calculate based on simply the work itself. You will expend at least as much time dealing with a client's second-thoughts and delays as you will on the actual work - and that time is your money. You will spend hours chasing the client for material and approvals. I would not do a 1,000 store project for less than $2,000 US and then ONLY on the condition that the client fills out a spreadsheet such as Sir William's or the less-feature rich freebie or some similar tool - both available over at the ORG forums. I would not do it unless the client agreed to provide the images to a uniform spec such as width, plus having been optimized for the web by something like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Image Ready. That failing, the client should be charged for image preparation. Even so, with all that, I require a non-refundable downpayment up-front, of 50% of the expected price and 100% of the first year of hosting before starting. I've also learned the hard way that you must have a provision in your agreement that if your client delays more than 30 days in providing the materials described in the agreement or in approval of work submitted during development, then the entire balance is due and owing, with the stipulation that you will finish the job, but only after that balance has been paid. I don't think that in the past 12 years I have ever built a web site where the client came forward with the materials when promised. The suggested clause gets you paid. If a client balks at ithat provision, be warned that you will be burned. Hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brivtech Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 I think in conclusion, this tells you that different people have their own price set on their abilities, experience reputation, and location. I've just had a bad experience on RentACoder, when I let the higher bidder do some work, so a higher price isn't always a finite indicator of quality - But don't undersell yourself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jono1 Posted August 25, 2006 Share Posted August 25, 2006 Wow what can I say. Thank you all so much for your input in this matter, I will now have to sit down with my client & work out his needs & wants. Had a quick chat with him today & now he wants 2 commerce sites biuilding using cubecart. So it looks like I've got my hands full for a while.. Thank you ALL again this is very much appreciated. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Brookbanks Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 Oh and 75% commission comes to us. LOL!! Only joking. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyjoe Posted August 26, 2006 Share Posted August 26, 2006 Oh and 75% commission comes to us. LOL!! Only joking. You mean we still have to kick back the usual 90%? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Captain Bags Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 the reality is, no project - read my lips - NO project ever is completed in the number of hours that you calculate based on simply the work itself. Brilliant post, Joe. My day job is an IT programme manager and by now that truth is ingrained, but it took many years of over-optimistic estimates that left me with egg on my face time after time to thump the lesson through my thick skull. These days I can take one look at estimates from my project managers and point out that they have not allowed for factor X, customer Y's tardiness, the annual leave season, the leaves on the track season, the wrong kind of leaves on the track excuses, sudden illnesses, . . . you name it, it will crop up on the most important, in-the-public-gaze, "this plan is watertight" projects. If I were quoting for the good contract that Jono1 has landed, I know what I would do now. Do my estimates according to Joe's advice and that given by the other contributors here. Then multiply the time I think it will take x 3. Work back from that a little and you will be in the right ballpark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseyjoe Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 multiply the time I think it will take x 3. Work back from that a little and you will be in the right ballpark.Actually, times 3 is the formula I use. To those starting out, stop worrying if your price is low enough. That's not what wins projects worth having. Also, accept the fact that there are many more wannabe online store owners than there are those who know what they need - not just what they think they want, why they need it and are willing to pay for professional service that knows how to do it. Most important question of all - ask if they have money to spend. If they waffle on the response, you probably are wasting their time and yours. Long before you float an estimated price, ask your prospect many, many questions. Go look around on the net and you will find developers who have been kind enough to share those questions. There's a pretty good book, worth the money the first time you want to make a profit from a job, not just win the contract, at http://www.sitepoint.com/books/ and scroll to The Web Design Business Kit. I don't agree with everything he suggests, but then Bill Gates totally ignored me when I tried to talk sense to him, too. Stupid kid. There's another book there on SitePoint - "Deliver First Class Web Sites: 101 Essential Checklists" - I haven't read it but now that I see it again, I'm going to buy it today. I'll post my review here after I read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jono1 Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 Thanks again everyone who contributed. I thought I'd stuffed up the qoute, not hearing from my client. Then Today the client rang me & said start the projects as soon as I can.. Thanks again John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brivtech Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 There's a lesson to be learned there. Even clients who demand deadlines but don't go ahead with the work sometimes come back later. Their reasons for delay are not always understood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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