Mainteance cost?

[ctini]

Hello, I have a question about what fees do you usually apply to the client after deploying the shop.

 

Do you propose a monthly or annual mainteance covering any need ro requirement? This covers what? What price do you often suggest?

 

Or on the other hand,do you charge specific costs as customer requieres you for specific actions?

 

Thanks in advance!

[SuperCharlie]

My web services are Joomla-centric but the model also applies to Prestashop sites. We offer two different payment methods. One is a cash and carry. It is a one-time cost to the client usually 1/2 down 1/2 on launch. We include a year of hosting but they can host it elsewhere if they like as we have hostgator reseller and can pop up a cpanel/domain pretty much at will. For this model, we charge by the hour for anything after the launch.

 

We have another model, which we prefer and try to push, that is a low down, then monthly model. The downs are usually in the $500 or so range and the monthlys are from $30-$100 or so up depending on the site and functionality. It usually comes out to around a 2 year pay-out of the cash and carry model. In this model, we provide hosting and any security related updates as included and charge by the hour for updates outside the site original scope. We prefer this model, and clients do in general, since its low out of pocket for them, we get a long term relationship, and almost always get the redesign/new site biz since we are in at least monthly contact.

 

We also find that we get more regular requests for hourly work this way for site upgrades out of the original scope. The huge benefit to us in this model is to try and level out the feast or famine of the one-shot payments. We also make sure to put it in writing as to the cost if they bail out early.

 

We dont do it, but I guess you could also do the cash and carry and offer a kinda insurance policy for additional money where updates and such for a certain period..like a year, would cost $x tacked on to the price.

 

Exact pricing for the stuff is really dependent on your market and who will buy your stuff. Thats a number you have to come up with yourself after trial and error. In general, be fair with people, dont rip yourself off and spend weeks for a few dollars, and try like hell to keep the client happy is about the best advice on pricing I can give.