Just seen contents of a private email plastered on a web design forum

[Gambler 10]

Why dont you and elance get a room!

 

I do, quite often, they are called workrooms, another great feature of elance as you can communicate with designers in real time.

 

It's fine to reveal a budget on elance as you are revealing your budget to a global audience of designers who if interested in your project all bid to secure the job. With this being the case, obviously a lot of bidders come in well below your budget to secure the deal. This is vastly different to revealing your budget to one web design company in the UK lol. I've reread my post and to me this is obvious.

 

I only gave brief details of one website as an example. I have absolutely no reason to lie. I'm not advertising anything, I don't work for elance in any way. But, I'm very happy to promote the likes of elance to small businesses especially start ups who get ripped off by web design sharks.

[Right 10]

That isn't how sales work. If you go into a car showroom, the salesman doesn't just pick the cars he wants to show you, you tell him the sort of thing you want. You do not however mention budget.

 

Isnt it?

 

But it is exactly how they work.One of the first questions you will be asked is how much A MONTH you want to spend.You obviously havnt got a clue about sales nor any proffesional background to base your facts on.

[Gambler 10]

I set up websites all the time, I have continuous design and build work being carried out. The cheapest price is not the main thing, however, not being totally ripped off is very important.

[anywebsite 10]

Totally disagree, telling a web designer what your budget is, is a very quick way to have your full budget spent lol. There is absolutely nothing wrong with telling a designer what your requirements are and asking them to quote without even a mention of a budget. If they won't quote you without a budget, drop them fast.

 

Spot on.

 

I saw the email referred to, he asked for a quote & the designers response was 'how much have you got?'.

 

No other type of business would do that.

 

Then they got pulled on it, so they decided to post the entire email on a public forum with the topic 'Daily Joke'.

 

I'm amazed by how unprofessionally some web developers can act.

[anywebsite 10]

so you would be quite happy to be shown £10,000 cars all day then when you have a grand to spend?

 

This is how it should work -

 

The client contacts the web designer with basic specifications of the site they want.

 

The web designer gives an estimate of the cost of producing that specification.

 

If it is over the client's budget, then the designer explains which parts are costing more to do & suggests ways of doing it cheaper.

 

If it's under the client's budget then everyone is happy.

 

If you wanted a wall building, the builder should ask 'how big?' not 'how much have you got?'.

[jezzyjj 10]

I wouldn't defend the web designer's posting of a private email as that is a bit stupid. But speaking from the other side, if you are dealing with someone who won't give you an idea of their budget that is equally daft and they are not someone I want to deal with as they can be difficult and awkward clients. And it's very hard to quote appropriately when that is the case. Particularly if the customer doesn not know what the job will entail well enough to give me accurate details to enable a good quote.

And customers who simply want the lowest price are always the ones who demand the most work and suck your time away.

 

If I have an idea of budget, I would try and work out how to give the best service for that amount, not do the least amount of work I can get away with. And usually as clients underbudget for their demands whether it be web design or photography, I can then inform them what they can realistically expect for that amount of money. Bear in mind that any fool can quote cheaper and will.

 

All businesses want to make money and there is nothing wrong with that. But resenting paying others enough for them to also make a reasonable profit from a job is a common issue it seems. People do not value other's time or ability and simply do not appreciate how much work may go into producing a well designed and coded website, a good photo or a joiner making a chair by hand.

[anywebsite 10]

you should quote based on their requirements, not their budget. if their requirements are bigger than their budget then you start to compromise. at least that's how i work.

[jezzyjj 10]

If you wanted a wall building, the builder should ask 'how big?' not 'how much have you got?'.

And he should also ask what do you want it made of, what would you like it to do etc, as if the builder gives him breezeblocks when client wanted marble....

It's not quite so simple as people like to make out.

Sometimes it can be much easier to say, I've got this much money what can I get for this. Other times asking for quotes is better.

[Cyclone 10]

Oh and your ok telling a car salesman i want elec windows power steering this that and the other when hes spent 2 hours sorting it out,adding it up only to find you cant afford it.Doesnt work does it?

Alot easier to show you goods you CAN afford isnt it?

 

To extend your analogy, when you ask the salesman for a px value and he asks what you want, do you tell him? I don't, or I vastly exaggerate. If I inadvertently name a price that is too low he'll be very happy to give me that value.

It's the same with a budget, just because you can stretch to 10k, doesn't mean that you want to spend it all if it turns out that 5k will do the job nicely.

[Gambler 10]

This is how it should work -

 

The client contacts the web designer with basic specifications of the site they want.

 

The web designer gives an estimate of the cost of producing that specification.

 

If it is over the client's budget, then the designer explains which parts are costing more to do & suggests ways of doing it cheaper.

 

If it's under the client's budget then everyone is happy.

 

If you wanted a wall building, the builder should ask 'how big?' not 'how much have you got?'.

 

Sounds about right to me.

[jezzyjj 10]

you should quote based on their requirements, not their budget. if their requirements are bigger than their budget then you start to compromise. at least that's how i work.

People's requirements usually drammatically exceed their budgets as they have no clue how much it costs to do my job for example, so you often have to educate them. But sadly most people only see the cost and have no clue about quality or anything else.

 

I could turn your suggestion around. People should base their budget on their requirements and tone down their requirements if they do not have the money.

I want a new car and it has to be a Rolls Royce but I only have £10K - the real world solution is I buy a small Ford, a second hand Rolls or save up more money. You do not expect the Rolls Royce dealer to just sell you the wheels which would be a compromise of sorts.

[jezzyjj 10]

It is indeed easier, but you will not get as good a deal

Not always and that is the point people seem to be missing on this thread, sometimes a known budget is better, sometimes it is not. Everyone assumes whoever they are telling their budget to is out to screw them, which is not always the case. By talking to people before discussing money you can get a better idea of which approach to take.

Basically it seems those who oppose admitting to a budget want to pay as little as possible, yet resent the other person wanting to make as much money as possible. Double standards it seems.