JT Thompson - 07 July 2011 12:49 AM

First off, I didn’t read all the replies here so this post may be completely moot. if so I’m sorry.

This is one of the misconceptions that creates a problem.

those saying “how much work do they do in an hour for that price” need to understand, you are not paying for the work, you’re paying for the knowledge and experience the developer has. How much work is a doctor doing in an hour for his $900? you’re paying for his vast knowledge and ability.

There are thousands of ways to accomplish things in a development environment. Doing it correctly, efficiently and cleanly is not cheap. just because something gets accomplished doesn’t mean it’s done right. it could tax the server load, create problems down the road, not be expandable etc.

I don’t think $100 is out of line at all for a professional, good developer.

I am glad somebody mentioned this. It’s not just the amount of work per hour, but rather the experience, maybe also customer support. How fast does the developer respond, does he respond at all, how is communication etc.. If you think about an easy development project like html and css coding, I am not sure that the $150/hour dev can be three times as fast as the $50 dev for same quality work.

Boyink! - 30 May 2011 02:35 AM

How much a web developer charges depends on many things - like any profession.  Skill, experience, resources, results, quality of work are all factors.

Shop by price and you’ll get what you pay for.

Why is the hourly rate such a concern?  If price is a main concern why aren’t you getting project estimates instead?

Hey Mike! When you did the San Antonio Train-ee class, you briefly mentioned a formula you use to calculate how much you charge for a project. If my memory serves, it was based upon the number of weblogs/channels and templates needed times a set amount of hours for each and then multiplied by your hourly rate plus a small percentage for the unknown… or something like that (my memory probably doesn’t serve me too well)?

Could you share your formula for pricing an EE project?

When I see this rates I want to cry :(
Im from Bosnia and we can only charge based on project which price “very rare” goes over 2000-3000 euro per project and job is done in max. one month, for company websites.

Guys you are lucky

Todd D. - 14 July 2011 06:03 PM

Boyink! - 30 May 2011 02:35 AM

How much a web developer charges depends on many things - like any profession.  Skill, experience, resources, results, quality of work are all factors.

Shop by price and you’ll get what you pay for.

Why is the hourly rate such a concern?  If price is a main concern why aren’t you getting project estimates instead?

Hey Mike! When you did the San Antonio Train-ee class, you briefly mentioned a formula you use to calculate how much you charge for a project. If my memory serves, it was based upon the number of weblogs/channels and templates needed times a set amount of hours for each and then multiplied by your hourly rate plus a small percentage for the unknown… or something like that (my memory probably doesn’t serve me too well)?

Could you share your formula for pricing an EE project?

any luck finding the formula? I’d love to see it too

I actually expounded on that theme at the first EECI conference.  Matthew Pennell has a summary and link to the video here:

http://www.thewatchmakerproject.com/blog/michael-boyink-quoting-and-planning-expressionengine-projects/

Basically I shared the idea of a formula based on indicators that seemed to define scope, but you’ll need to determine the exact numbers on your own.

Thanks Mike! That really was a solid presentation. I need to incorporate the white board idea into my processes.

Holy zombie thread Batman!

Thanks mike and Todd.. It’s a valuable discussion here.