This is a pretty straightforward question - Im wondering what seems to you guys like a fair price to charge a business for app development. I understand if people arent comfortable sharing their own business models...Im just maybe looking for a base price. I just want to find the right balance so that its worth my time while still not scaring people off with an outrageous price. At the same time, Im pretty sure I have zero competition in my town as far as app development goes so I suppose that works in my favor. I ask because I recently made an app for free for a friends business, and I've already gotten an inquiry from another business owner about how much I charge to make apps

I had once charged 200$ from hair saloon with features like price chart,how to get there,direct booking an appointment from app and push notifications for a android app. RJ

I look at recurring income, and lots of it, as my ticket. I used to charge a static amount for projects, and really it depended on what it was. I would usually ask myself first 'how much an hour is this worth', and then 'how many hours do I think this will take' and use that to ballpark a quotation amount. That said, my current 'business model' is focusing on niche markets, selling at a reasonable 'entry' cost, with a monthly subscription for the service. My current project is an App for a friend in Real Estate, with his peers anxiously awaiting my ability to do theirs too. He and I have partnered up (he's the face, I'm the engine) to do Real Estate apps at $200 a pop, with a $15 a month 'service fee' if we include advertisements, $20 a month with no advertisements. I honestly expect to sell no less than 30, because the realty agency my friend is employed by wants to adopt it for the entire staff (of 30). If one or two more agencies adopt it, then my numbers will be around 100-150 or more. The initial cost will pay the immediate bills, and the recurring income, multiplied by other apps and companies, will bring my level of comfort closer to what I feel appropriate ;) The app is relatively complete and has many features, but all of them are based on BT plug-ins. Once I'm finished working out the finer details and graphic selections, I plan to use Stobe's Json snippet keeper. That will bring additional 'development' time down to about a minute. I plan to replicate this sort of 'cookie cutter' app for various businesses throughout my region. Of course, at the moment, it's a lot of speculation. But I think I'm close. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Cheers! -- Smug

Here's the advice I can share with you, Absentia. -Charge what your time is worth to you. Like Smug said, try to figure out how much time it would take you to make the app, then assign a value to that time. But don't forget to include ALL the time it takes: emails, meetings, research, etc. And in your case, don't forget to account for "time lost". What that means is: in your case, you've already been successful at creating apps for yourself. Make sure you aren't spending time on someone else's app if you could be benefiting more by working for yourself. This of course has tradeoffs, since working for someone else can obviously bring in more potential business, etc. -The amount you charge can equal the amount someone values your work. By this, I mean, if you create something for someone and don't charge them much, no matter what the quality is, you risk giving the perception that your creation is "cheap". Think about this, if Picaso were alive and painted you something as a gift, would it be worth any more or less to you than if you saved up and bought a painting for a couple million dollars (ok, that's an extreme example, but you get what I mean, lol). -You already know that there is no "magic" price. In your dealings with oDesk, you probably quickly realized that there are some people/places that can perform work for much less than you would ever consider working for. So keep in mind that we are working in an overall global market, but if you are working with someone local to you, that adds a great deal of value to the work you are doing. So use that to your advantage in a situation where you have little/no competition. And lastly (running out of time before I have to run for now), make sure you can define what your price includes (updates, fixes, changes, etc). Good luck, and reach out if you ever have any more questions.

I have said on my profile, £100 per screen, minimum £500. In US Dollars, that is $160 per screen, $700 minimum. The average gets $7000 from professionals, and I have created a few apps for £2,500 ($3,800). It gives me quite a profit for a hobby I do in my spare time. The first app I made, it was for iOS and I made it for £1,800 ($2,600) and then sold the code. That gave me a lot of spare cash to buy a brand-new iMac for my development and a newer iPhone 4S.

@SmugWimp Do you have an example of your real estate app? Sounds like a good idea. Would like to see how you built it. Thanks.

Hey @Absentia, I remember you posting about that App. It wasn't that long ago. Your a prime example of giving back to your community and the community gives back to you. Great job! LA

This is really a great post as my pricing had been very (VERY) random... It seems like you can charge more than most people assume!

I think just charge your 'opportunity cost plus' i.e: Whatever you estimate you'd be making on average with your own apps plus a charge for profit. If the market won't bear that price then just focus on making your own apps, unless of course you have some other motivation (e.g. charity).

Thanks guys - these are all really helpful tips! I think I've settled at around $1500 as the most realistic base price for me @ Stobe - this line - "Make sure you aren't spending time on someone else's app if you could be benefiting more by working for yourself" - pretty much sums up the source of my uncertainty. I am having a decent amount of success with personal apps so I'm trying to decide if it is worth my time to start making business apps...still not sure @ AppOneBeta - that is a really smart way of looking at it!

Here's another question - kind of just a random curiosity that I'm interested to hear opinions on. If you write out a list of features to any business owner who knows absolutely nothing about app development such as - "social image galleries, Facebook/Twitter integration, analytics, maps/directions, info pages, personal inboxes, etc." - it probably looks like a ton of work which would (in their minds) justify a high asking price... Of course, as we all know...thanks to Buzztouch, adding that whole list of features to an app is relatively easy. Most of the work and time would be spent on the interface, graphics, and icons. Does that seem to you guys like a dishonest way of looking at things, or is that just a part of doing business? I don't feel like it is - while another (non-buzztouch) developer may spend an entire week digging through code trying to get everything just right, in that same week I would spend only a couple of hours getting my screens in place and the rest of the time trying to make the app look as awesome as possible

Hey @Absentia, I think you answered your own question. LA

Haha yeah sort of - It wasnt so much a question as is was a call for different opinions..figured I would start by giving my own :)

Because Buzztouch is so easy, you don't realise that what you get is extremely valuable.You could charge thousands for any app. I have.

Once upon a time, in the age of Floppy diskettes, I got a service call from a company who stated their floppy drive was not working. I went out to the site and looked at the floppy drive. I removed the floppy inside and replaced it with my own floppy. I tested read/write and determined the floppy 'drive' was just fine; the actually 'floppy' was bad. Took about a minute. I wrote them a bill for $75 labor, and $35 travel fee. The lady liked to have had a cow. "You mean you're going to charge me $110 for less than 5 minutes work?" "No ma'am. I'm charging you $110 for the the 10+ years of experience that allowed me to recognize your issue and get you working again". She quickly wrote the check. It doesn't matter if it only took you a minute. The road that got you to that minute wasn't short or easy. Cheers! -- Smug

Wise words indeed - thanks again for the feedback guys!

Hey @SmugWimp, I love this, "'No ma'am. I'm charging you $110 for the the 10+ years of experience that allowed me to recognize your issue and get you working again'." That is a good story! Oh by the way, floppy disc? You are showing your age now..lol I bet most users here @buzztouch cannot remember floppy disc or 8 tracks..lol LA

I wasn't even born at the time of floppy. I'm the CD and digital generation.

Man, I'm only 25 and I can remember blockbuster having a promo where they were giving away free floppy disks with Epic MegaGames Pinball on them...played it for hours and hours

I'm just over half your age! LOL

Wow! I feel old..lol LA