Discuss website design for ecommerce sites, useability, navigation and other development considerations. To get feedback on your t-shirt design(s) or website, please post a request in our Site Reviews and Design Reviews section here.
hello,
I am trying to get a real idea of how much i'd have to pay to have a website like zazzle built, vs. bad idea t-shirts, as well as a smaller site, that i also admire, masonic T-shirts (who i think posts in this forum). Basically, we are trying to figure out how much we should spend on a website.
thanks,
J-rock
I'd say spend as much as you can afford. Image is everything and your clients perception of you is strongly influenced by your presentation.
You can find someone to build what ever you want in most price ranges. I suggest determining your budget and then deciding which look you want to go with and then trying to find someone who will do what you want, or as close as possible with your budget. There's a glut of talented web developers, it's a buyers market if you look in the right places.
both look and feel, as well as functionality (like the ability to show different sizes, colors, etc at the click of a button), and probably a paypal feature and/or shopping cart. Those sites are different, so they'd give us an idea of the investment we might be looking at.
thanks!
I'd say spend as much as you can afford. Image is everything and your clients perception of you is strongly influenced by your presentation.
You can find someone to build what ever you want in most price ranges. I suggest determining your budget and then deciding which look you want to go with and then trying to find someone who will do what you want, or as close as possible with your budget. There's a glut of talented web developers, it's a buyers market if you look in the right places.
Don't let price be your only deciding factor in picking a developer. If you find a bargain basement developer at a low cost you're going to get what you pay for and it will likely cost you more in the long run. Clobbersaurus is right. Decide what you can afford first, then sit down with a design company or freelance developer and tell them what you would like. That will give them a starting point, then based on your budget they'll begin to recommend areas where you can cut to save money.
Here's a couple tips:
1) Find a reputable company/freelancer that does web design and development full time and not as a spare time hobby. Ask what programming languages and database they will be using and ensure that you will always have the ability to extract all of your data whenever you need it - especially customer data. This is important in the event that you may someday decide to switch design companies and you'll want to take your information with you.
2) It's very rare for programmers to possess both strong programming skills as well as good artistic design abilities. Asking for samples or checking that there are separate creative and programming departments that work together will increase your chances for a better end product. If you're simply "cloning" another site or buying a template, you might be able to get by with just a programmer, but you lose having a unique web identity by doing so.
3) Ask questions about their e-commerce experience - particularly questions about security. Get references from other companies they've built e-commerce sites for and call them. While some find that redirecting to Paypal during checkout can seem a bit cheesy for a professional feel, it can be a good alternative to ensuring security and save you some money as well.
thank you. But is there any ballpark price? If you looked at bad idea t-shirts, and had to guess what it costs to have that site built, what would it be?
thank you. But is there any ballpark price? If you looked at bad idea t-shirts, and had to guess what it costs to have that site built, what would it be?
There are no "bells and whistles" on that site. Depending on how much you actually needed done and how much you would do yourself after being setup, that site could be done for a couple hundred in the US and probably a 1/3 of that price overseas.
There are no "bells and whistles" on that site. Depending on how much you actually needed done and how much you would do yourself after being setup, that site could be done for a couple hundred in the US and probably a 1/3 of that price overseas.
It's relatively simple, especially compared to zazzle, but I really think you're going to have a difficult time finding a half way decent developer to do it for a couple hundred bucks.
I am (was) a web developer before growing tired of the IT rat race and I wouldn't have touched it for anywhere near that price. I would have put the bad idea t-shirts site, which personally I don't think is all that well done, at least around $2500 (US) - and even then only if it were as a huge favor to a friend or family member. You're easily looking at 60-80 hours worth of development time with a rate of $30-$40/hour for a real developer that knows what they're doing. I'd put a site like zazzle at at least $25,000.
If you find someone to do it for $200, I'd seriously question their abilities and whether or not my customers credit card information would be safe in their hands since they'd probably know very little about security.
Last edited by pwhite20; October 15th, 2009 at 11:03 PM.
I second what pwhite20 said - for a website like Zazzle, you're going to spend at least $25K in just development cost (because you need not only the website but all the back end stuff - someone has to manage the website, someone has to long all the items, and the programmer will need to create that user interface). But, then you have to consider hosting - for a site like that, you can't just use run of the mill shared hosting. First, you don't want someone breaking into your account and stealing your code (which will happen on shared hosting). This means you'll need dedicated servers (or at least one). Then, someon is going to have to load all your inventory - and it's not going to be your programmer.
Overseas developer? hahaha... sorry, had to laugh. I've heard so many horror stories I can't even believe it! In any case, you're in luck! Have you heard of the recession? You can find a great developer in the US where you have more control and more abilities to monitor their work. Plus, if they steal your code, you can actually sue them! Try posting a few ads on craigslist.com - you'll find that there are many very good developers currently looking for work.
thank you. I would obviously prefer to find a developer here, but like all people with a business have to consider costs. and thanks for the warning re: overseas devs
thank you. I would obviously prefer to find a developer here, but like all people with a business have to consider costs. and thanks for the warning re: overseas devs
A site like Zazzle would cost several hundred thousand dollars to do what they're doing.
A simple ecommerce site where people can add a product to a shopping cart, choose sizes/colors would probably be anywhere from $500-$5000+ depending on who you hire and what exactly your specs are.
The less specific you are when talking to a designer/developer, the more time it will take them to deliver what you need and the more money it will end up costing you.
cost comparisons for websites 
Try posting a few ads on craigslist.com - you'll find that there are many very good developers currently looking for work.
