Pricing, advice needed from those in the business longer

[aracaris]

So, I'm getting to the point where I think I may actually be underpricing for my sites, and that I've found I tend to also underestimate the amount of time I'm going to end up putting into a site.
Any body want to give me some tips on estimating time for the sake of coming up with a quote? Any other advice on determining rates?
Also when you raise rates, how do you explain why your sites have become a bit more expensive to clients (assuming you actually do have a good reason for doing so, what do you think is the best way to break it to them)?

I'm talking to a client right now, and so far they want a relatively simple site, still custom, probably not too graphic design intensive on my part, but it still needs to be nice of course. This site so far is going to have about 3 pages. Do you think that $300 is a reasonable rate for a student (and new freelancer) to charge?

 

[v2Media]

First tip - abandon time based quoting.
Second tip - price is relative to the client, not the work that goes into doing the site.

Why do you think corporations pay $50 000 for a basic CMS site with less functionality than say Joomla? Why do the same corps utterly dismiss quotes for anything less than say $20K?

You'll learn the hard way after you've played with these prospects a few times.

Another case in point. Lets say you have two prospects being pitched a catalog/cart/ecommerce site. One hopes to make a bit of cash in his spare time, the other has 10K items of inventory and hopes to break $250K in sales per month with it. Prospect A is quoted $7-15K. Prospect B is quoted $60K. Why, your price should factor in the potential value that the site will have to the client.

Ditch time based quoting. That, above all other business financial factors, will hold you back as a small fish in a big pond.

 

[aracaris]

Makes sense to take into account the value of a website to the client. I've been doing websites mainly for individuals, and some small start-up businesses, and doing it as much to gain experience, to build my portfolio and for references as for money.
Pricing is the one thing that gives me a headache. One worry I have is if I do things that way, won't some clients complain that they are being priced differently than others? Have you dealt with that situation being an issue? Or do people tend not to fret about those things, and just consider it a matter of taking their budget into consideration?