Getting a Website Quote
You have a great new idea for your site… now to get it done!
Quote vs Estimate
We prefer to give a “Quote” rather than an “Estimate.” Based on past experience with Clients, giving an “Estimate” and then billing for actual time spent may potentially cost more, because Clients have to pay for overages, adjustments, etc. When a project goes perfectly smooth, an Estimate might save a little money because we account for the likelihood of overages in a locked Quote.
Overall, the locked Quote system (where we do not bill for overages within the scope of the original quote) is our preference because:
- It is easier for our Clients to fit into a budget, particularly when they need to apply for funding on a project and it is difficult to achieve funding at the end.
- The invoicing is much less complicated, as minor adjustments are simply covered and do not require separate invoices.
- Quotes tend to have well-defined deliverables, making it easier to launch on time and avoid scope-creep.
All dollar values or hours given will be a Quote by default, but we will consider an Estimate system with billing for exact hours used if requested, and it makes sense for the individual project. In particular large projects without a specific idea of what the end product will be tend to work best if they are broken into phases or given a loose Estimate rather than of having to build unknown time into one large Quote.
Sometimes we need to impose limits on specific types of work in order to give a Quote. For example, if we are making new business cards, the initial Quote will allow for a certain number of revisions. Beyond that number, we are still happy to help tweak the cards until they are perfect, but we may need to charge hourly after the initial block of time is used up.
How to get one
If you have a CoalJobs (support system) account, creating a Ticket and asking for a quote is the best approach. This assures that your request will get to the correct party in a reasonable amount of time. It also handles the documentation of exact requirements and work that will be done. If you cannot remember your password, you can reset it on the Password Reset Page
New customers or existing customers who do not yet have a CoalJobs login should use the in-site Contact form to get one set up. We can provide informations via email, but strongly recommend CoalJobs when possible.
Note that if you do not have a support plan and decide not to move forward with a quote that required a lot of investigation and planning, you may be billed for the time spent planning out the new changes.
Why is the cost so high?
At Coalmarch Productions, LLC. we’re serious about doing the job right. Although the sticker price may be a little higher than our competitors, we will do everything we can to make sure you get what you wanted with an accurate total cost, rather than starting low and adding surprises later.
There is a lot of work that goes into new projects that is not readily apparent (even small ones!). Here are just a few of the common costs that are factored into a Quote:
- Requirements gathering and clarification.
- Planning out a detailed solution (this is often 50% or more of an entire project’s cost, and is usually done while determining the Quote).
- Anticipated conflicts with existing systems or usability issues.
- Layout or graphics adjustments.
- Preparing the development environment, so that the work can be done accurately and without interfering with the live site operation.
- Cross-Browser testing, which can occasionally be very time consuming (IE 6 and 7, FF3, Safari by default).
- How difficult it will be to fully test a new system.
- Live push, which also involves re-testing.
- Unknown factors, such as difficulties interfacing with a 3rd-party system.
An important thing to note is that the costs for a project are often largely a product of a few design decisions. If you are having sticker shock, we can give you a good idea of what changes will give you the most benefit for the money and you may not have to give up much of anything in terms of features.
