Trying to find freelance work I can vouch for what he says here, people have really unrealistic expectations.
Why Software is Expensive
I hate to write this post, but my recent conversation with my IT-illiterate friend prompted me to do this.
My friend wanted to build a CMS website, “to earn a nice part time income”. Given that he trusted me quite a lot, he asked me for an estimation of the cost. He mentioned that he wanted a CMS solution, with some mix-match of static-dynamic content. Also, he wanted some distinct flavors in the theme.
Given that he is quite a detailed guy ( read: loves to fuss over minor detail) and quite fickle mind, I told him that probably USD 200 is a minimum. We are living in Malaysia, so that works out to RM 700.
He was startled.
“What? How come it costs so much? I thought the underlying CMS framework such as Drupal or Joomla is free and open source?! A Windows Vista Home Edition is only costing RM 400!”
My friend is by no means the only one who grossly misprices the true cost and value of software. There was a client who asked us to implement a spreadsheet component because “Excel has it” at zero price. Yes, you hear it right. Zero . The reason? Because “Excel has it and so it must not be so difficult to implement”.