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Comment by wofser | Hacker News Reader

I always answers like this:

"How much does a website cost?" "It depends". "Depends on what?" "A lot of things".

I am a web developer, not a web designer.

I know that you're right and I know that it is the wrong question to ask, but answering it like that is what makes a lot of non-dev/designers dislike us. Maybe try helping them ask the right question by saying something like: "Well it depends on what you want, what kind of website are we talking about?". It might take a couple of minutes more to answer their question but it has a much higher chance of actually getting a new potential client.

But why do web developers and designers always get these kind of questions? One would hardly go into a shop selling watches and ask how much _a_ watch costs. Why then ask a vague question that just cannot be answered? I think giving an equally vague reply is fair.

I think that's because people just don't know a whole lot about these kind of things, instead of being vague I try to teach them a little about it. Generally people mean well.

But that is completely different. In a watch store, I can point to a specific watch and ask "how much does that one cost?" It's hard to do the same with a website unless the designer/programmer has a portfolio to browse.

Why not point at a website and ask how much would that cost? In the sense "I'd like a website that works and looks like HN. How much would you charge to make it for me?"

Maybe watches aren't perfectly analogous. How about walking into a real estate office and asking how much a house costs?

A good real estate agent would sit that person down and find out from them what kind of house they'd be likely to want. So questions like how many people will live in it, how long a commute can you have, how much can you afford, etc will all come into play. And from that info, the agent will be able to show a few houses and home in on what the person really wants.

I remember buying my first house and that's pretty much how it played out.

The point is that the RE Agent takes the buyer seriously enough to figure out if they are just fishing or ready to buy and doesn't just blow them off with flippant responses.

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