In my opinion, $500 is too low for even the simplest site. 6 years back i had a similar disaster. I promised a friend to do a site for $300. figuring there was

In my opinion, $500 is too low for even the simplest site. 6 years back i had a similar disaster. I promised a friend to do a site for $300. figuring there was only 3 hours of work and i was gonna make $100/h. yay... it was an instant disaster. took like 80 hours of work. negotiated more money but was not happy in the end. The very fact that your customer is willing to spend only $500 on a site is a huge tell. As for hosting in development: Avoid deploying the development version to remote servers (its a risk that will end up costing time and money). you can use your local computer and just signup to a free virtual dns name like no-ip.org. Tips to charge more: Design and setup + deployment to production also need to be billed. Dont give an estimate without a design. If the design takes more than a few hours, you should bill the design (since the customer can use it without you). Also start taking at least 25% up front. It will ensure your customer is READY and SERIOUS about working with you. Too many times the customer will delay waiting on product information or information from a partner. Having money in the pot will motivate all parties to move quickly. Institute a minimum amount you can bill. For instance, I dont accept billable work worth less than 8 hours of my time. It ensures that people are not wasting your time.. cant tell u how many times i've heard "Can you change the background color?" and then it ends up turning into something a little more complicated. So, just ask for a minimum. Either the customer is really in an bind he will have to pay it, or its not so important and he can queue up the work until he has enough work to make it viable for you. cheers