210,000 Baht To Build A Website ?

[livinthailandos]

yes your reading that right when I posted on thaivisa about wanting to create a new website for my small business, I got lots of responses and I'd like to thank many of you for that I won't mention company names but one company quotated me over 200,000 baht just to create a new website my list for the website was

1. New design

2. Did not include the use of flash

3. Be mobile phone friendly meaning can make reservations, view photos, view content on a smart phone and be use able to ipad if possible

4. need about 12 webpages total for website.

5. Basic reservation page just using .asp ( active server pages )

I did not need any e-commerce, No ssl needed, no have any databases, so its that the right price for building a website.

[H2oDunc]

They are taking the royal Michael out of you. You can get the work done for a fraction of the price. PM me for the number of a company that will do all you want for a fraction of the price quoted

[nikster]

It really depends. It might very well cost that much. Or not. Depends on your requirements.

Also depends who's doing it - plenty of people got a website for cheaps, that was then unusable. So you just wasted some money, and time, and have to start over.

Good to not use Flash, I fully support that. I just wonder how you're gonna make reservations without a database? Or do you mean you're making reservations using one of the big reservation systems? The photos and content also need to be stored somewhere, unless you're showing all 3rd party stuff.

[random]

200,000 Baht???????????

I don't know what is worse, them thinking you would fall for that or you thinking about falling for that.

I used wix.com and built my own in one day.

seriously though, they are taking the piss with that price, even 20,000 baht quoted would elicit a 'piss off' response from me.

[Crushdepth]

If it was just 12 pages of mainly static content by Uncle Bob then it sounds very expensive. But if the quote included high end artwork and photography, copy writing and marketing campaigns by the top guns in town, dedicated hosting, maintenance contracts or training, translations in half a dozen languages and yada yada yada, it might be reasonable. At the other end of the spectrum, you can get a 3,000 baht website built by amateurs that really sucks, but a lot of people are happy with that.

Ask to see the portfolio of anyone you take offers from and check references before parting with any serious cash. There are no shortage of cranks and charlatans in this industry. Frankly I think its better to approach a few reputable firms yourself and avoid unsolicited offers.

[CharlieH]

Just remember the old saying "you get what you pay for"..............12 pages and assuming you will need updates or have it so you can maintain it relatively easy yourself..........as suggested, look at previous work completed, get references and follow up on them before committing any cash. 200,000 does seem excessive but only you know exactly what that entailed and you have comparison quotes which is good.

Websites can be idiot simple all the way up to professional all singing all dancing..........Good luck and hope you get what you need without spending a fortune.

[innerspace]

The reservations is the part that will make all the difference on the quality and the price of that site.

What you seem to be asking for, seeing as you say no database, is an enquiry form not a reservations page.

When I "reserve" something, I generally expect it to be reserved for me.

Without a database your website has no idea as to capacity and bookings which are needed to calculate availability.

Without a database all "reservations" are simply an email with the requested details, which get chased up by the staff when/if they get round to it.

A professional system would store all reservations, provide instant confirmations, take payments, send automatic follow up emails and much more.

Also take note that having a website optimised well for both computers and smart phones takes skill and effort well beyond the capabilities of an amateur/average web designer.

200,000B is certainly expensive for what you requested, however it could be cheap for a similar website where the developer has taken your requests and designed a far more functional product using the latest technologies.

Did the company simply give a price or did they provide it with a full proposal of what the price would include?

You generally do get what you pay for with websites, with a few exceptions as always.

I have recently finished a website for over 200,000B, with the client being very pleased at how cheap it was.

The price isn't ridiculous, it all depends on what you get for it.

[oakweb]

I've been building sites since 1995, there's a way to go about this, but doing anything local I'd have to consult with you first before I'd give it the green light. I'm not interested in building the site for you, but I'd be happy to consult with you for free. PM me and I'll give you my contact details.

[nikster]

The reservations is the part that will make all the difference on the quality and the price of that site.

What you seem to be asking for, seeing as you say no database, is an enquiry form not a reservations page.

When I "reserve" something, I generally expect it to be reserved for me.

Without a database your website has no idea as to capacity and bookings which are needed to calculate availability.

Without a database all "reservations" are simply an email with the requested details, which get chased up by the staff when/if they get round to it.

A professional system would store all reservations, provide instant confirmations, take payments, send automatic follow up emails and much more.

Also take note that having a website optimised well for both computers and smart phones takes skill and effort well beyond the capabilities of an amateur/average web designer.

200,000B is certainly expensive for what you requested, however it could be cheap for a similar website where the developer has taken your requests and designed a far more functional product using the latest technologies.

Did the company simply give a price or did they provide it with a full proposal of what the price would include?

You generally do get what you pay for with websites, with a few exceptions as always.

I have recently finished a website for over 200,000B, with the client being very pleased at how cheap it was.

The price isn't ridiculous, it all depends on what you get for it.

@innerspace - reservations are a bit more complicated than that - if it's for a hotels website, say, then you'd not need a local database - but you'd need to have access to Sabre or Amadeus reservations systems. If it's just reservation for the one hotel the website is for, then yes you need a local DB.

Good point on mobile device compatibility - not trivial by any means.

You get what you pay for.

[nikster]

BTW I once made a very detailed proposal to a client on how to fix their new product that was in development. I'd worked there as a consultant for a while and I knew what needed to happen. Some people would have to be cut out from the project - I actually recommended firing them when asked directly. And I had a plan how to make this software *work*.

My offer was declined - they decided to do it in-house, with their existing developers. I recently caught up with the boss; fast forward 10 years, what happened was: The new product never got finished. The developers eventually got laid off or left; the company went through a string of incapable developers, the last one messed up the production software so bad they lost a lot of clients, as well as reputation. He had to be marched off the premises by security. Now they have an excellent but very expensive contractor fixing things up bit by bit.

In hindsight, paying me to do this would have been the best bargain ever.

[Darrel]

"one company quoted me over 200,000 baht"

5000Euros? Silly prices. Even in Europe it wouldn't cost that. Divide by 3 or 4, maybe.

But you're not alone in being ripped-off here. I came across a local business that paid getting on for double what I would have charged to do a site, and it took 9 months to deliver instead of the 3 or 4 weeks it would have taken me. And that was also a fairly simple site with some internal database search functions and an open-source CMS. And it included no SEO or hosting.

I suppose they need to charge so much to be able to afford the over-priced condos!

[whybother]

If you don't want to pay 200,000 baht then go out and find something cheaper.

Then, when your website doesn't work as you wanted it, go out and spend 200,000 baht to get it done right.

[oakweb]

"5. Basic reservation page just using .asp ( active server pages )" - you might want to consider going to LAMP based site, asp developers are notorious for creating sites that don't work and don't scale well. Of course there are good asp developers, but they are hard to come by.

Another suggestion, whoever you get to work on it, when they are 10% into the job ask to see the code. Take that code and get a second opinion on it somewhere. Make sure you can take it to someone else if the company flakes or disappears. Many developers play dirty tricks and make it so you can't go to anyone else, then you are left with a stagnant site with no ability to fix or modify.

Elance.com would be a site I'd recommend since you can read the reviews of many other customers. There is absolutely no need to go with someone locally.

[Tatsujin]

It does sound high, but it really depends on what this "reservations" system actually does and what the full spec/brief to the developer was. As mentioned, if it's only a contact form then no way should it cost that much. Using a decent CMS-based system, simple contact form, well designed (not Thai-style) etc, you'd pay anywhere from 50k to 75k I would estimate from a half-decent design company.

As always, you do get what you pay for here in LOS I'm afraid. You pay 20k for a website and it's gonna look like that's all you paid for it.

[DTiger]

So good to have a good laugh to start a day :D

Well, obviously, you can have it for free as some said, or for a lot more than 200,000 as some suggested

The question is more how much do you think you will get from that website, and so, how much you want it different, attractive, maybe addictive... or just foundable and working.

Paying a real graphic designer can cost a lot more for example.

Reaching visitors from Thailand or from all over the world are really 2 different parameters also.

Building a contact page or an interface to some reservation engine are again 2 different things.

Not scaring people when it's time to use their credit card may also be important....

etc.

Good luck!

[homeslice]

210.000 for a site? Do you get a kiss with the <deleted>? Try guru.com

[newbie001]

I think that the OP either doesn't know what is involved with making a web page or wants a crappy site. The people that use dreamweaver or templates will not get the heavy traffic that a well designed and professional layout will give. Also if there is coding that needs to be done it can be quite a pain.

I know a woman that makes over 100,000 dollars a year as a web developer for one company. So 5,000 Euros for a professional and elegant site is worth it. But if the OP just wants some average garbage page that looks like everyone elses then don't pay more than 20,000 baht.

A good website that is well crafted and not too cluttered with details focused on visual eye patterns and visual psychology will probably bring 100 times the traffic.

I have looked at the websites of most sponsors on TV and have to say that I wouldn't buy a single product from a company that has a crappy page. If they don't take time to have good layout, or design elements and think of the interface, then why should I trust them for having a quality product to sell.

[Darrel]

I think that the OP either doesn't know what is involved with making a web page or wants a crappy site. The people that use dreamweaver or templates will not get the heavy traffic that a well designed and professional layout will give. Also if there is coding that needs to be done it can be quite a pain.

What on earth does using Dreamweaver or templates have to do with trafic? Trafic is dictated by the content and relevance of site. How long people stay and what they do once they have got there will depend on the attractiveness, ease of navigation and relevance of the site. And Dreamweaver and/or templates can both provide a nice attractive site based on good code. The relevance of site can never be changed by either. Dreamweaver and templates are in no way mutually inclusive or exclusive anyway: I use DW all the time but never use DW templates from elsewhere. Internal DW templates are great though, and save a huge amount of time.

I recoded a sigificant number of Joomla and Virtuemart php modules for one site that I inherited and that is a pain, but that was for a big online shop with 2000 lines of stock, all made to order and with multiple special ordering requirements. I also had to significantly modify the layout and function of the Virtuemart and Joomla templates (again inherited). DW handled that nicely also and the end result is very attractive and functional.

This small hotel site wth booking page sounds pretty simple by comparison (though admittedly we dont know to what extent the OP wants the entire booking and reservation procedure to be automated), and to spend 200,000B (unless he really is getting a 100% automated reservation, booking and billing system) seems completely over the top.

[Darrel]

If you don't want to pay 200,000 baht then go out and find something cheaper.

Then, when your website doesn't work as you wanted it, go out and spend 200,000 baht to get it done right.

Or, just find someone who will do a good site for less. There are plenty of decent people around who do a good job, work fast and dont think that they deserve to be paid 100s of USD per hour just because they have designer stubble and wear brand-name jeans.

[nikster]

IMO there's two ways to go:

One, you can build a one page contact site: Here's the map how to get here, here's our phone number, here's our email, and here's some pictures of the product. That's cheap and easy, doesn't cost much to do or maintain. It doesn't do much, but it can be all that's needed.

Surprisingly, even much more elaborate designs often forget the basics - like... a map?! It's amazing. Anyway, a well thought out one page web representation is a good thing.

Two you can have a really nice, functional website which looks good and works well and does things; like reservations.

The latter will cost you - you get what you pay for. You can pay some Flash cowboy in Thailand 10k and get a POS that nobody wants to use. Examples are pretty much everywhere. Or you can get a professional do it for X. Exact amount depends on the site really.