Posted on Sunday, 21st December 2008 by Jeff
So you have a great idea and the only thing that stands in your way is creating a professional looking website? The first thing some people do is search for a web designer who can get their project done for the lowest possible price. Many newcomers believe that anybody who calls themselves a “professional web designer” can make them an awesome website with bells and whistles. After searching through dozens of potential designers, they often choose the one who has the best price and portfolio. After paying the designer 25% or more upfront, they wait for the mock design that the designer promises will be made in just a few days. A few days later, they get an email with their mock design. But instead of a website that matches up with the designer’s portfolio, THEY GET PURE CRAP!!!!!! Since the design is far worse than they could’ve ever expected, they email the web designer asking for a refund of the money they paid them. Instead of being honest and refunding their money, the designer decides to take the dishonest route and keeps their money without responding back!!! In some cases, this could be hundreds or even thousands of dollars!!!
This kind of dishonesty just gets my blood flowing!!! I don’t understand how anybody could be so heartless just to make a dishonest buck!!! Most of the people they rip off are average people who are investing a significant amount of money to get their idea off the ground. They’re also trying to help out the web designer by giving them business that they otherwise wouldn’t have had. And how do they thank them? By ripping them off with their garbage work that should go into their “real portfolio”. This way the customer knows what they’re really getting themselves into before hiring them.
The easiest way to avoid this problem is to pay the designer in escrow or to not pay them anything until they have the initial design ready. Even if the initial design is exactly what you expect, don’t pay them everything upfront after that. Some designers will slack off after they already have most of the money. Pay them 25% for each part of the project. For example, you could pay them 25% after the initial design, 25% once half the coding is done, 25% for the other half of the coding, and the final 25% once the website is uploaded to your host and functional. Even if you decide to fire a web designer without paying them a cent, you may still lose some precious time which in some instances could be more valuable than money. Therefore, you might be better off hiring a more costly web designer with a solid reputation to make sure your project flows the way you want it to.
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