Cost estimate

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Ardeaem
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Cost estimate

Post by Ardeaem »

I'm looking to find out how much I'd have to spend to get a PHP programmer to do the following work:

1. Design a website (including logos, all the graphics, etc)
2. Program a custom PHP store interface with
a. full administration capabilities
b. user log in, log out system
c. Bulletin Board
d. full merchandise searching capabilies and shopping cart
e. I want to own the code

3. Setup a mySQL database to hold all the user and product information

What's the average going rate for that kind of work?
nincha
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Post by nincha »

hmm, i think it would depend on the coder. What you guys thing?
kettle_drum
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...

Post by kettle_drum »

Yeah you may get somebody who just wants to code something so they can add it on their CV. But if your a professional php programmer then i dont think its worth their while if its less than 3000 or so.
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m3mn0n
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Post by m3mn0n »

Why not get an open source shopping cart system and ask someone to install/customize it?

It would save you hundreds and save time aswell.

What you want: $500+
Customized: $100 and down
pootergeist
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Post by pootergeist »

As Sami mentions, your best bet is undoubtedly going to be componentizing the project and using already existing distributions.

I'd reccommend getting a quote from a graphic design forum purely for the template page look - you rarely get a programmer who can design as well as code.

Then just get a programming quote to install a shopping cart and forum into a template.
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m3mn0n
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Post by m3mn0n »

It's rare but there is still some out there.

<--- designer/coder

;)
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phice
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Post by phice »

20% designer, 80% coder
Image Image
will
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Post by will »

do you have to own code? as previously suggested, you will save a mint by using open source projects and having a programmer tweak them to your liking and integrate them together. totally off the cuff though, I'd say you're probably looking at $2K, give or take a bit. I've never done a lot of design, so it's hard for me to estimate that part... but you will find that a lot of coders have designers that they usually work with and vice versa.
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Fredix
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Post by Fredix »

...own the code

just wanted to add that this feature is handeled strange by "developers". I mean if I get the script I get the PHP source code as well (becuase it is not compiled). Indeed I saw a crappy shoutbox yesterday that costed $35 for the license for one site and sth. like $300 for the full source (it is written in ASP). I think that is just natural that you own the code when you get a copy of a webapplication.
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Stoker
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Post by Stoker »

..owning to change and do what you want... its what GPL is all about..
With proprietary licenses, even if you get the source it does not grant you the right to change or redistribute..

Proprietary, with scriptstuff like this, I find that commonly a User-license is "Change and use at will on your own (1) site", a developer license is "change and do what you want as long as the licensed lib/script is not the major part of your product"..

In general I charge $55 to 100 per hour for development work, if I develop for someone they own the code, meaning I can not re-use any of it, although sometimes I let them know I will be using some parts of my standard libraries that I have been and will be using elwehere as well.
I usually cut the price down with $10-20 per hour if the work is on Open Source licensed stuff, this is a sample of a lib that I had 2 different clients giving me 3 different tasks :) I'm not all that proud about that one now, its a couple of years old and I would likely do many things very different now.
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nielsene
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Post by nielsene »

Yes with uncompiled stuff like PHP you get the source code when you get a script, but the copyright is still assigned to the original auther. If you want the copyright assigned to you, you have to include that in the contract and pay for it.

Even with Open Source this is still the case. You have the code, but you do not own it. You have an unrestricted license to use, and varying degrees of permissions to make derivitive works (depending on the exact OSS license), but you do not own the code.
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m3mn0n
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Post by m3mn0n »

Note: Don't forget it is possible to encrypt PHP source code and have the Zend engine decrypt it in execution. ;)

http://www.zend.com/store/products/zend-encoder.php
JPlush76
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Post by JPlush76 »

Sami wrote:Why not get an open source shopping cart system and ask someone to install/customize it?

It would save you hundreds and save time aswell.

What you want: $500+
Customized: $100 and down
you really need to raise your prices
Coco
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Post by Coco »

Im doing a similar task for a small danish company (no forum included)
Im doing it for only $750, but for me its my first -commercial- script, so really its a CV script.
And I will own all rights to the script still, and i intend on writing an install program for it and distributing it myself.

So yeah, if you wanted it straight up without using pre-existing scripts and retaining re-sale rights etc it would be alot more (im kinda slow, i would guess ive been working about 125-150 hours so far)
qads
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Post by qads »

i am making alomost same what you said,

-the company i am maknig it for has the design already done so i am just there to do the php work.
-no forum
-has to be done in 6 weeks (time does matter)
-i told them i wil do it in 90 hours (90 hours of coding, which will take around 3 weeks).
-i own the code.

That cost them $4000.

so at the end of the day..it depends who you hire to do the job :).
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