What to charge for this?

[Enigmabomb]

Someone has asked me to install a website for them. It uses smarty php templates and a mysql back end. The guy making it for him, from china, all but up and dissapeared before it was to be installed.

I have, for free, installed the website on one of my servers and shown him it can be done. They sent him a corrupt copy of the database, and he refused to be believe me that what he was sending me wasn;t going to work. He found a db copy that worked, but not before I was into this for 10+ hours.

He wants a quote. I've worked for this guy in the past, and didnt get a list of shit he wanted, and he kept tacking on stuff that wasnt even really part of the original job, until I told him enough. So this time I got him to make a list. It includes a lot of customization I guess he just neglected to mention when he said "Install it and just change a couple of things..." He wants all kinds of email transactions with the shipping etc. Big PIA. Not in the original code, and oh... the code? All commented in chinese.

I have no idea what to bid a job like this. And I cant help but feel I should charge a premium for cleaning up someone elses mess. He tried to cheap out on this website when I know he has the means to do it right.

I'm thinking something ridiculous ... say ... $1000 dollars.

Not ridiculous enough?

Josh

 

[JustLloyd]

"Not ridiculous enough?"
No, not at all.
Seems to me that $1000 would be a good start. I have a sneaking suspician you're going to regret working for this guy.
I'd tell him that a significant portion of that money is for services already rendered, the remaining is your retainer and you'll be submitting another retainer fee invoice shortly. Keep an honest time record and bill the guy when it's appropriate(or wevenearly. What are the odds the guy's a foot-dragger when it comes time to pay). Or you can file as a nonprofit business.
I've worked for people like this before & it was NOT a profitable experience. I learned alot though, so I chalked up the $$$ I didn't make to "tuition".

Good luck man.

 

[Enigmabomb]

Im down with the time record. What's a good hourly for this jack of all trades type work?

 

[JustLloyd]

That's really up to you, isn't it? What do you think your time is worth? Are you good at the work or just average? Do you like doing it or hate it?

If this isn't what you do for "daily bread", is the time spent going to take away from you making your regular wage? You'd better get at least that much per hour, eh?

I charge for monthly hosting, setting up the site, designing the site(if they have no idea what they want, which most don't) and creating the site(with extra for copywriting, image capture/creation, etc).

I get anywhere from $500-$1000 for a 5 page site, depending on the amount of work involved and I don't like to spend more than a couple/few of hours putting it all together.
I also give them their 1st 3 months of hosting for free(it's all profit anyway) and figure an hour or 2 of gratis collaboration and easy site tweaks which makes my clients drool in appreciation.
I try hard to undersell and overproduce.
It makes it easier to sell them on seo services and the like, later on, when they've figured out that I'm there to help them succeed.

Again, though, I think you'd be smart to include a hefty aggravation fee for this client of yours. He strikes me as the type to steal time you could devote to cultivating and maintaining high-quality clientele/projects.

And definitely get some of that money upfront.

 

[bb_wolfe]

Im down with the time record. What's a good hourly for this jack of all trades type work?

Why not do it the right way and create a project plan based on his written requirements?

That way, you map out the specific requirements for an hourly or flat rate, and any scope changes cost extra. That's how it should be done if you want to profit anything.

 

[Enigmabomb]

Do you have any examples you've sent people that you could maybe send me?

 

[bb_wolfe]

Do you have any examples you've sent people that you could maybe send me?

???

If you are, here's what you do. The client either dictates to you, or writes out exactly what he wants done. Start with the business functions, then break those functions down, then break them down even further. Make sure that any feature, workflow, or purpose to the site is clearly documented. Once that is done, send a outlined copy to him for his approval and sign-off.

You then go by the 10-50 page sheet you both cranked out and do the fucking site. Don't forget to charge for the time it takes to create the project plan.

If he wants changes, then your contract with him should specify that you both write up a change request documents and charge extra for anything not in the original project plan.

Outline the requirements like this:

1. top level purpose (Search Pages)
1.1 Important features (Should have pagination)
1.1.1 Requirements for important features (Pagination should have no more than 5-8 links, plus first, last, next, previous.)
1.1.1.1 Details of requirements (Order of links: First, previous, page link, next, last)
1.1.1.2 Details of requirements (Font color: Purple)
1.1.1.3 Details of requirements (hidden goatse link)


And so on until you can point to each low-level requirement and check it off as done.

If your project is too small to do this, then it's likely you A) aren't that good, or B) haven't upsold him enough. Either you sell him on why he needs a $6K+ site or he sells you on why he doesn't. $1000 a day is shit. If he thinks his site is profitable, he'll crank out the cash, otherwise you're just dealing with a dog with fleas.