Forum Moderators: phranque
I have recently built a relatively simple site for someone based upon vbulletin with several addons. the guys original plan was for me simply to build the site and he'd maintain it, but now he is asking for me to be wholly responsible for the maintenance of the site. Now, this is fine but I wonder if someone could help me out, because I'm not sure what I should be charging for work on an on-going basis.
I did the whole site for £750GBP including the software which I thought was pretty reasonable, but what I don't want to do is agree a monthly figure which then ties me into doing buckets of work for a (possibly nominal) fee, and although I could do an hourly rate (preferable) should I give the guy a discount on that rate because of all the work I've done so far?
Also I can see there being a point in the not-too-distance future when I may want to offer the work out to a third party to free up my time to work on other projects; is this something anyone has done, if so how, and how do you present it to your client if the offer-out rates are more than yours (I'm charging £35/hour typically).
Your input would be appreciated.
Thanks.
although I could do an hourly rate (preferable) should I give the guy a discount on that rate because of all the work I've done so far?
You have got a point there. Maintenance should be charged on hourly basis, and if you can afford to give him a discount (if you haven't got something better at hand), but becareful don't be very generous. The lesser you get paid, the more stressful jobs tend to be, at least for me.
Marshall
