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Unread 21st Mar 2013, 04:48 PM   #1
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Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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I usually sell mobile websites for anywhere from $200-$500 depending on the site. I've seen others charging way the heck more. My frugal brain spins at the prices I've seen some say they charge.

I spoke with a client today who's ready to roll. This site will be like stupid simple to create.

He asked me how much, and I quoted a price of $250.

His exact response was:

"Ok, $250 a month. Not bad. I can do that."

I was like

No sir. $250 is a one time fee.

I was really surprised that he was ready and willing to fork out $250 a month for the site without batting an eye.

Dang. I'm charging way too little.
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Unread 21st Mar 2013, 06:46 PM   #2
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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Wow! I'm thinking the same thing. Awesome, Jarrod! So you are making a few sales now I take it? I'm planning to make a few cold calls tomorrow and see how it goes.
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Unread 22nd Mar 2013, 12:12 AM   #3
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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Two things...

1. Do what works for you.

2. Don't believe everything people claim they're doing or earning.

If you knew what I know you'd be doing what I do...
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Unread 22nd Mar 2013, 07:02 AM   #4
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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Been making sales for a while. Just not as many as I'd like to.
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Unread 22nd Mar 2013, 08:14 AM   #5
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I would never charge a client $250/month for a mobile website. Soon enough they would find out that is a complete rip off and word will spread about you.

That said- $250 is a good price for a basic mobile site. I see a lot of guys around my parts charging around $595 including hosting. Don't know how many sales they are actually making though.

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Unread 22nd Mar 2013, 08:23 AM   #6
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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I'm curious what type of business he's in that he's willing to spend $250 per month on a simple mobile site? That would be pretty extreme for most small businesses, unless of course that fee included some type of ongoing service like SEO or SMS management.


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Unread 22nd Mar 2013, 09:47 AM   #7
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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For sure, I would never dream of charging anything like that. Just the fact that he was willing to shell out that kind of $ shocked me a little and told me there are biz owners out there willing to shell out some $ and it might be worth my while to charge more and sell less. If I close 10 sales at $250 a piece, and 6 of them would have bought if the price were $450, then I could have made a little more for less work.

His business is in landscaping/lawn care/tree service.
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Unread 22nd Mar 2013, 12:19 PM   #8
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IMO:
It could be they they are testing you! If you are a closer use your third ear ( your brain) Also if the guy was serious about $250/m you could have used as closing ammunition and say
NO that is way too much for just a mobi site

But I have a few other services that will help your biz etc. Here is what I have........Then pitch the guy.

My policy is to be always closing but ethically and never price gouge as it will cost you much more later!

Andre

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Unread 22nd Mar 2013, 01:33 PM   #9
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Right on Gladiator. Fortunately, though I was a little stunned, I was quick enough on my feet to do just that and got some SEO work out of it.
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Unread 22nd Mar 2013, 01:37 PM   #10
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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Jedi


you see the proper thing you shoud have done is shut the heck up... but alas.. there are so very few sales people on this forum which is they they create these pricepoints $7.00 for thier wso's

your prices are a direct correlation to your value.. meaning you place too little value in what you do

change that mind set

and also do NOT project tis to other people

money is relative


years ago I used to be a personal trainer and such I would feel good and delivered value and got $50 an hour

a few of mine I discovered in the same business and he was getting $150 an hour

I said WHAT!!!!!

then I realized the services were the same we just catered to different clientele

peace


Originally Posted by Jedi Jarrod View Post

I usually sell mobile websites for anywhere from $200-$500 depending on the site. I've seen others charging way the heck more. My frugal brain spins at the prices I've seen some say they charge.

I spoke with a client today who's ready to roll. This site will be like stupid simple to create.

He asked me how much, and I quoted a price of $250.

His exact response was:

"Ok, $250 a month. Not bad. I can do that."

I was like

No sir. $250 is a one time fee.

I was really surprised that he was ready and willing to fork out $250 a month for the site without batting an eye.

Dang. I'm charging way too little.
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Unread 22nd Mar 2013, 10:14 PM   #11
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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I did a mobile site recently for a pharmacy and I quoted them $400 plus $20/month for hosting. The marketing lady said that their main website company quoted them $3000 for a mobile site. Whoops. They love the site I did for them, and I don't feel like I got underpaid since the site only took a couple hours to create. I think it depends on the business. My next pharmacy quote will be higher.
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Unread 22nd Mar 2013, 10:56 PM   #12
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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Originally Posted by xlfutur1 View Post

I did a mobile site recently for a pharmacy and I quoted them $400 plus $20/month for hosting. The marketing lady said that their main website company quoted them $3000 for a mobile site.
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Unread 24th Mar 2013, 12:47 PM   #13
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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Completely at the opposite end of the spectrum: I recently prepared a mockup of how a mobile site would look for a potential client. She liked it and asked what my price was. I told her $300.

She became quite offensive and asked how I could possibly justify charging $300 when I'd already done most of the work. She suggested $50 as what she considered a fair price for my "trouble".

I thanked her for her time and put down the phone.
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Unread 25th Mar 2013, 08:37 AM   #14
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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Originally Posted by AnniePot View Post

Completely at the opposite end of the spectrum: I recently prepared a mockup of how a mobile site would look for a potential client. She liked it and asked what my price was. I told her $300.

She became quite offensive and asked how I could possibly justify charging $300 when I'd already done most of the work. She suggested $50 as what she considered a fair price for my "trouble".

I thanked her for her time and put down the phone.
Now that is the way to handle this type of situation with a prospect. I use Mock sites, but rarely ever use a lot of information from their existing desktop site.

When she said you have already done most of the work, I would have stated that I charge $60 an hour and that price reflects some work already done, as well as the finishing touches and getting the site optimized for search engines (mobile) - as well as getting their new site installed on a server.
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Unread 25th Mar 2013, 09:17 AM   #15
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Depending on how much business I got flowing in, I might have done the same or might have made a counter offer to meet halfway.
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Unread 31st Mar 2013, 07:34 PM   #16
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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Hi Jarrod, we charge a recurring fee, yearly. It includes chages to the site. It work great for us. It's between $99 and $399. Good Luck.
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Unread 31st Mar 2013, 08:04 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by AnniePot View Post

Completely at the opposite end of the spectrum: I recently prepared a mockup of how a mobile site would look for a potential client. She liked it and asked what my price was. I told her $300.

She became quite offensive and asked how I could possibly justify charging $300 when I'd already done most of the work. She suggested $50 as what she considered a fair price for my "trouble".

I thanked her for her time and put down the phone.
I would walk away immediately.

Honestly, anyone like that who does not value your time is not worth fighting for. There are far too many fish in the sea.

What business was it by the way? If it were a restuarant I would have asked her how they can justify charging their prices since the food is already prepared.

What a stupid thing for her to say. It took you time to create the mockup for her. So she would be willing to pay you more if you didn't show her how the site might look? Dear god.

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Unread 31st Mar 2013, 09:12 PM   #18
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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A real (successful) business person would be very suspecious of a cheap mobile website. They know how much it costs to run a business and if you charge less than $500 for a nice site you will not get any serious business to buy from you. They will think you stole it or are just a casual wannabe who will not be in business for long.

I charge more than any price I've seen mentioned in this thread and I have no problem at all with that because I do premium work, I take care of the client and I account for the fact that sometimes you'll be spending hours and hours trying to get through to their hosts or their figuring out some archaic pre-cPanel back end. I've spent sometimes up to 4 or 5 hours just trying to figure out the tangled mess that back yarders have created for them in the past.

I give them a very high quality site, They can see that I respect my time, I don;t beg for work and I make a decent living which gives them the confidence that I'll be there in the future because I'm not charging unsutainably cheap prices for my services.

If you hired anyone and they said they would charge $5c an hour what would you think? Would you think the person respected their time, their business or were serious about either? I would personally run a mile and would prefer to do business with a real business person who was in business and knew what was a reasonable and fair (for all) fee to charge for their services.

You try to hire a plumber, mechanic, roof repair, painter or anyone who knows what they are doing for a whole day and see how much they charge you. Get real people. Start charging what you're worth and start charging a few that will keep you in business. Take into account down time, taxes, skills and time to learn and you'll find that $500 is an absolute minimum amount to charge for a decent, installed and well designed mobile website. You will win no friends by being the cheapest person in town but you will win respect and repeat business if you charge a respectable amount.

That's how I do it and I not only get plenty of work, I get plenty of referrals and I get the job from people who did their investigation, looked at all the free and cheap offerings and decided to go with someone who understood what real business is about and who respected themselves.

Anyone in a real business knows that with a good website experience they will make a positive return on even a $1,000 mobile website and that's all a thinking business owner cares about. They understand quality, workmanship and skill and the real total costs of doing business and are attracted to those who think and understand the same.
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Unread 31st Mar 2013, 10:21 PM   #19
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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At the end of the day, how much you charge should reflect how much value you provide to the client.

It sounds like you're building one off sites that you then hand over to the client with no maintenance package offered. In that case, there would be no sense in charging a monthly fee. However, seeing that this client mentioned a monthly fee, he probably expects some type of service that you're providing every month. Can you provide any analytics reports or any type of value that he would be willing to pay for? It doesn't have to be $250 a month, but maybe even $50 of value to start with. Later as you find other ways to increase your value, you can suggest additional options that he might also be willing to pay for.

You know more about the industry than he does, so he's counting on you for advice and is willing to pay you for advice that affects his bottom line!

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Unread 31st Mar 2013, 10:32 PM   #20
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Yes, possible upsells could include mobile apps. The mobile website is lead gen, and the mobile app is customer retention (plus additional revenue).
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Unread 2nd Apr 2013, 05:00 AM   #21
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I quoted one company in London £450 and they told me they had been quoted £1500 per site...so I asked them how many sites they had and I got all 4 at £450 each. They had initial reservations on the quality however after they saw the first mock up - they paid me in advance for all 4!

My normal price is $895 upwards most I have charged has been $2100 for a full ecommerce solution with an App, for a simple 4 page site I charge $450.

Originally Posted by xlfutur1 View Post

I did a mobile site recently for a pharmacy and I quoted them $400 plus $20/month for hosting. The marketing lady said that their main website company quoted them $3000 for a mobile site. Whoops. They love the site I did for them, and I don't feel like I got underpaid since the site only took a couple hours to create. I think it depends on the business. My next pharmacy quote will be higher.
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Unread 2nd Apr 2013, 06:15 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by flash3435 View Post

At the end of the day, how much you charge should reflect how much value you provide to the client.

It sounds like you're building one off sites that you then hand over to the client with no maintenance package offered. In that case, there would be no sense in charging a monthly fee. However, seeing that this client mentioned a monthly fee, he probably expects some type of service that you're providing every month. Can you provide any analytics reports or any type of value that he would be willing to pay for? It doesn't have to be $250 a month, but maybe even $50 of value to start with. Later as you find other ways to increase your value, you can suggest additional options that he might also be willing to pay for.

You know more about the industry than he does, so he's counting on you for advice and is willing to pay you for advice that affects his bottom line!
I second your suggestion.

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Unread 3rd Apr 2013, 06:02 PM   #23
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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Originally Posted by AnniePot View Post

She became quite offensive and asked how I could possibly justify charging $300 when I'd already done most of the work. She suggested $50 as what she considered a fair price for my "trouble".
I would have asked her...

Do you discount your employees pay-check because they've done the work already? :confused:
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Unread 3rd Apr 2013, 08:48 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by Jedi Jarrod View Post

I usually sell mobile websites for anywhere from $200-$500 depending on the site. I've seen others charging way the heck more. My frugal brain spins at the prices I've seen some say they charge.

I spoke with a client today who's ready to roll. This site will be like stupid simple to create.

He asked me how much, and I quoted a price of $250.

His exact response was:

"Ok, $250 a month. Not bad. I can do that."

I was like

No sir. $250 is a one time fee.

I was really surprised that he was ready and willing to fork out $250 a month for the site without batting an eye.

Dang. I'm charging way too little.
Funniest post ever lol.

http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...m-pricing.html
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Unread 3rd Apr 2013, 09:58 PM   #25
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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Originally Posted by Gladiator View Post

IMO:
It could be they they are testing you! If you are a closer use your third ear ( your brain) Also if the guy was serious about $250/m you could have used as closing ammunition and say
NO that is way too much for just a mobi site

But I have a few other services that will help your biz etc. Here is what I have........Then pitch the guy.

My policy is to be always closing but ethically and never price gouge as it will cost you much more later!

Andre
Yeah that's the way to think. Upsell some SEO (if you offer it) to them in the future. You now know they are willing to spend the money.

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Unread 16th Apr 2013, 08:35 PM   #26
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Re: Dang. I'm charging way to little.
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Never charge too little for your products / services. Companies like to pay for what they "are getting". Even though it may take you only hours to develop mobile websites, they would most likely feel better paying more, knowing they're paying for quality.

I like metaphors. Example: You are going to buy a car. You are looking at Cadillac & Ford. (Being very general here) What comes to mind usually, well atleast years ago, Cadillac is luxury. This car can have all the same parts as the Ford but you will pay more for the Cadillac because of the "quality"

So, be like Cadillac, start charging more...even if you can do what others can do for less!

My startup company fell in this same trap you have found. You begin thinking, well I will charge a couple hundred dollars for the work. It will only take me a few hours anyways. My company even waived setup fees and missed out on THOUSANDS of dollars because of this. Don't fall into this trap!

We have since then, looked back at our selling strategies and starting charging even more than we started with.

My advice is look around at your competitors and keep it in that ball park, because you can never go to price war being new. Bigger companies will stomp you in the ground.

So all in all, don't be afraid to start charging more. Businesses pay TONS and TONS of money on things you wouldn't even think of. So to them, this is just another expense they would be happy to pay if you show them value and they love it.

Hope this helped a little!

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