Wednesday August 13, 2008
No funny business over website pricing
As with most businesses, I like to check out competitors from time to time. One thing I noticed about many website designer sites in France is that they do not, as a rule, list prices. Yeah I know there are a few exceptions, but generally speaking the prices are non-existent or there is a fancy pricing scale you can’t be bothered to read. It’s always ‘contact us for a free quotation’, or ‘prices start from’, which leaves you wondering if you can afford a website for your business or not.
I have always wrestled with this question. On one hand, I think there’s a belief that listing prices for ‘packages’ somehow diminishes the image you’re trying to portray. You know, ‘if you have to ask, you can’t afford it’. The perception is that it looks to ‘downmarket’. I know on some of the websites that do list pricing, it looks more like a pizza menu, like you’re ordering something to be delivered in 30 days or it’s free. In these cases, I would agree that it is diminishing their image.
On the other hand, I know that some English website designers in France base their pricing on the clients perceived ability to pay. No two contracts are the same price, even though in reality they are the same amount of work. Pricing is based on whatever they feel they can squeeze out of you, something I absolutely disagree with on many levels.
I hate the thought of my potential clients not getting in touch with me because of a lack of pricing information. Putting myself in the client’s shoes, if I’m sitting at my company trying to decide whether or not we should have a new website, that information at my fingertips would be really really useful in making that decision. Maybe I’m the type that doesn’t realise what is involved in designing a website, and figure it should be €100. Once reality sets in after finding out the facts, I could budget appropriately. Or maybe I’ve been putting off the website for fear that it might be €5000, and get a nice surprise.
Anyway, my websites are 1 price all in as advertised. But I do put the price up every now and then so get in quick.
