Web Site Development Pricing

Hey guys,
First I know there is a giant thread HERE that goes into detail about pricing. However, I am actually starting to price my stuff beforehand I've typically just done work for friends as favors cuz it was a hobby. But that hows now changed and I am no looking into pricing section.

I was a little more curious to see how long (how many hours) you work and what you guys actually end up charging/invoicing for the different types of jobs you do on average as I am just trying to get a feel for how to price.

For example the article I mentions says if you price yourself at $50 an hour you have x,y,z expenses so you profit $20/hr.

So my main question is how many hours do you work on the following types of sites and in the end what is the invoice amount.

Typical 5-8 page site: # of hrs , $final invoice
Ecommerce: # of hrs , $final invoice
PSD to X\XHTML: # of hrs , $final invoice
PHP custom script dev: # of hrs , $final invoice
Graphic Work (bussiness cards / logos): # of hrs , $final invoice
etc.

Thanks in advance!

It should always follow the following formula
X hours worked, $X*price on invoice

If you quote (which is often required in design and front end coding) you need to figure out how long a typical job takes you and add a little to that. If it is a quoting job it does not matter how long it took you, its an agreed price.

For programming, there is simply no such thing as a generic price. All projects are different and take different amounts of time. I only ever charge by the hour for programming, when I have time I'll be writing an article on why quotes are a bad idea for all parties involved.

Hey Village Genius,
I appreciate the response I guess I should have asked how long you take hours wise. I understand every project is different and there are bugs that you could run into that can cause you to spend more time on it. However, I'm just curious when your building the quote for the client how do you determine how long you think it might take as far as previous experiences.

Thanks

NS, it all depends on how long it takes you. Everyone works at different efficiency levels, so, what may take one programmer 2-3 hours to do, it might take another 6-7 hours. The more experience you have, the better you are at gauging an accurate production schedule. Hope that makes sense.

I know I understand that I guess I was just trying to get an estimated time cuz I have never personally timed myself. Also just wanted to see what everyone tends to average just out of curiosity.

There is no average in programming, my last project was over 300 hours and the one I am on now will be taking some 35 hours. This is because the tasks I am accomplishing are completely different.

NavySeal

As the others have indicated, you can have a standard formula but the reality is so specific to what you do and the way you work that knowing that this person takes X hours and charges $Y for it simply has no relevance to you.

You might begin to figure out the time part by thinking back on jobs you've completed: What was the time period in which you completed it, from the point you agreed to do it until the point when you and your friend declared it completed? Then, think roughly how much time did you spend on it in that period? Every evening? Maybe 3 evenings a week? All weekend?

This won't be more than an initial guideline but it can help you figure out what or how to charge for your services.

Undercharging is common among people just starting a business. But if you keep logs to track your time, and take the time to analyze them periodically, you'll figure it out. If you don't figure it out eventually you go out of business.