Am I getting ripped off?

[Namtip]

I'm using a famous site called elance to get someone from India to make me a site! I posted my job specs and got talking to the developer. Whilst talking to the developer the specs changed, they're using joomla, instead of hand coding. I've asked for ALOT more features. I asked

 

"With that in mind, I'm happy with what you've proposed. Are you ready for work right away? Or should I wait before I select you and shall I put the $604 into the escrow account?"

 

they replied

 

"I have gone thoroughly your requirements and we assure you that you will get what you need.

We are ready to start the project but as we are Pvt. Ltd. Company we need go with our company policies and according to our company policies we need the escrow fund to start the project.

I hope this would not be problem with you and you will co-operate with us.

 

Looking forward for your acceptance!"

 

So I took that as a "yes, we'll do it for that price" Was i misleading myself? I then added the money to the escrow account and they said this afterwards.

 

"Since when we placed our quote(bid), requirements didn't have funding and escrow feature of your website that is why we had to discuss before accepting your job.

 

We have discussed your added requirements and we have to re-estimate the project due to the funding and escrow feature of your website.

 

As we have discussed the features now I have prepared the report and we are attaching it along with the message.

 

Please review it and let us know your response!"

 

To deal with this problem they've offered several solutions.

original specs $600

new specs $600 + $2500 for aj square software.

hand coded $2400

 

I'm troubled by the few reviews I can find on this aj square company.

 

http://www.xomreviews.com/ajsquare.com

http://www.hotscripts.com/listing/aj-auction-pro-build-your-own-auction-site-like-e-bay/

http://www.consumercomplaints.in/complaints/aj-square-c432613.html

 

I know I've made some errors, but what do you guys think. Please be objective and flame me if you think I should be flamed *puts on flame suit*. I feel like I've been a little greedy(my fault)/a little misled. I've asked if they'll release the money from the escrow account, so I can resubmit the work (they've not started work on it yet). If they don't want to do that I'm going to ask if they'll make a site for my brother for the money instead.

 

The mistake.txt contains our conversations over the past few weeks.

 

 

 

[attachment deleted by admin]

[dreamwest]

Is it with scriptlance? You can cancel the project anytime and get your escrow back

[Namtip]

Nope it's with a company called elance. He's still trying to get me to agree to the options, I hope I get my money back so I can invest it properly. I shouldn't have gotten greedy.

[KevinM1]

$604, for what you're asking, is very, very unrealistic.  You really need to educate yourself on what things cost, what various CMS systems and frameworks can do, and how much time and effort would go into making your system.  I live in the US and charge $30/hr, which is pretty damn cheap.  Your bid would be 20 hours of work for me.  So do you really think you could get your entire system finished in that amount of time?  Keep in mind that the time would not only include writing the system, but testing and debugging it.  A development studio would charge at least twice what I do, if not 3x-5x, depending on their size and reputation.

 

Also, a CMS is not a framework.  A CMS is an application in and of itself.  And, remember, the C in CMS stands for Content.  Most of these systems aren't designed to handle e-commerce out of the gate.  Instead, they're designed to make it easy for people to create articles and news items - traditional content.

 

A framework is PHP code that eliminates the low-level grunt work, such as connecting to a database and retrieving results.  Using a framework does not mean that code written with one is somehow inferior or 'not custom'.  Virtually all professional developers use a framework of some sort, as it speeds up development.

 

You really need to do research before attempting to throw money around.  What are the prices in India, generally speaking?  Do they change if the costs are payed with American/European money as opposed to their own currency?  What sites has that particular company created?  Do you like their portfolio of work?  How did they deal with clients?  Do you have an idea about how much they charged for the sites you've seen?  Or how much something like your site would cost in general as opposed to their estimate?

 

You're a business man.  You need to do your due diligence before committing to anything.  Otherwise you'll continue to get into these awkward situations.

[Namtip]

Yup you're right Nightslyr, its good to get an unbridled programmers response. He's canceled the project, now I just need to get my money back from escrow. So I should be alright.

[tibberous]

I would never trust a site to someone on elance. It is mostly companies that underbid a ton of different jobs, deliver something that either doesn't or barely works, and then go back and forth with you until you go away. Sometimes their bids are not even cheaper than a good programmer in the US would charge, it's just that good programmers tend to stay very busy - and don't have 20 people in India sitting on elance 24/7 trying to get them more work.

 

To be fair, it isn't entirely their fault. Some people think they are going to get the next facebook for $1,700. Most big websites aren't bought, they are developed and MAINTAINED by programmers on salary. That's the other thing that makes it hard to find good US freelancers, most eventually get real jobs. I make $72,000 a year salary - that's hard to do freelancing. Every bad project, slow month, non-paying client, ect. add up. It is nice to work at a company where you can take time off, let someone else handle the bookkeeping, let someone else talk to the customers, let someone else worry about sales, ect. Biggest thing to remember is that a web business is still a business.