Being asked to cost up domain registration and hosting setup
Im a web developer, and I've been asked to provide a quote on a small ecommerce website.
Part of the quote includes domain setup and monthly fees, and by this Im presuming domain name registration and hosting.
Much as I'd like to, I don't own or manage my own server. So I can't really charge for this services.
What is the standard workflow for this? How can I charge a client for recommending a hosting company?
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This is not really about startups. Business 101 suggests a "costs plus" model here, i.e. if it costs you $1 you charge $2, or whatever numbers work for you. – Steve Jones 11 years ago
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Again Steve is right, if you're managing their hosting as well (which many web developers do) you add a couple dollars to the hosting fee and call it web hosting/management fees. You act as a middle man, many web developers have reseller hosting accounts. – Randy E 11 years ago
1 Answer
I would quote them as hard costs or material costs , just like buying chairs or equipment they are an item the business needs for you to complete your task. I would then quote the time it will take for you to configure and set these up , likely an hour or so. Also make it clear that the hosting and domain registrations are annually based and it will be an expense this company needs to pay each year. However your time is likely to be a one time fee especially if you put the renewals under their credit cards.
I would avoid markups here because the owners of the company over time might see that he is paying a higher than market value for these items and ask why. You've hidden the cost of your labor in a hard cost item and now this hard cost item looks expensive. Just be upfront cost of materials and cost of labor.
Think of it as materials and labor when you are dealing with general contractors build a house or a deck.
