Hello:

What is a good price for a host to charge you for isntalling a personal SSL cert from Thawte?

What price is to much? Also how long does it take to install one and is it hard to do?

Anthony

i do not charge anything for it. it is a very simple and fast process.

The host im with now (Site5) is charging me 50 dollars for them to install.

It does have it anywhere in their website, so im just not sure if they making up a price on me and trying to make quick cash, or they acutally charge everyone 50.

I dont see why someone whould charge $50 for something that maybe at most takes 5 mins

Are you paying for the cert or just installing it? If you're just installing it then you can charge anywhere from $50 to free. I would probably do it for free.

Just installing.

I would charge $100 ... even it takes 5 minute because it took you more than that to learn how to do it.

How long did it take for you to learn how to install it?

(in hrs, not days)

maybe half an hour for me :)

I would charge $100 ... even it takes 5 minute because it took you more than that to learn how to do it.
How long did it take you to learn how to host websites? Probably more than 5 minutes, I would guess.

Who are you guys kidding? It is nothing but "Click Here To Proceed" wizards in windows and linux is just as easy. We do not charge anything for installation

Who are you guys kidding? It is nothing but "Click Here To Proceed" wizards in windows and linux is just as easy. We do not charge anything for installation
hehe. Even installing via telnet/SSH is a copy & paste operation!

thats my point. It is simple..Why charge $50 or $100? Oh to steal from our clients who dont knwo anybetter

We dont charge anything either...What gets me is that a LOT of hosts will charge you to "install Front Page Extensions" which takes every bit of, oh I don't know, 3 seconds? It is as simple as clicking a button in WHM. Before I got into hosting, hosts I used to have charged me 30 bucks to do it.

Now, installing a Cert takes a little more than 3 seconds, but CERTAINLY not enough time to warrant charging someone to do it. We just feel that it is part of our job as hosts.

We do not charge any money installing a cert either. It is a 5 mins process and its not like much tech skilled is required.....

Hey its only a less than 5 mins process.... on NT/W2K after you install the cert, you only have to reboot the IIS.
on a cobalt, you reboot the server.

if you see a host that charges you alot for that.....then you're probably at a host which tries to rip you off on everything.....
or....... has reallllllly low package prices...and makes the money off options.

Originally posted by Cephren
Hey its only a less than 5 mins process.... on NT/W2K after you install the cert, you only have to reboot the IIS.
on a cobalt, you reboot the server.

LOL, I always love hearing that win2k boxes need to reboot for simple things like this :D

Anyway, anytime a host has to manually edit anything whether it be a custom VirtualHost entry in apache, or an SSL cert install, they have the right to charge a reasonable fee. Personally I think charging between $20 and $30 dollars is acceptable for an SSL cert install. You won't be saying "do it for free" when you have thousands of clients asking for small favors and custom work. Time becomes very precious!

It's the same old hosting attitude where "give everything away for free and only charge $10 for 20 GB of bandwidth!". That attitude is killing the web hosting industry because consumers now expect everything for free. They are not aware of the actual costs! Don't know if you all are aware, but it does cost money. Bandwidth is not free, time is not free, disk space is not free, and nor is hardware free. If more hosts charged acceptable fees for work done, or acceptable fees for hosting packages, then we would all be better off. It seems that most hosts are bent on cutting throats.

Anyway, my point is this. Hosting cost money, and so does knowledge. If I spent the last 2 years learning linux admin work, I have every right to charge for that knowledge. That would be like saying "why would a lawyer charge me $150/hour for his knowledge?". Well that's because he knows what you don't. If more hosts thought that way, the industry wouldn't be in such a mess and I wouldn't have to eat my dogs kibbles n' bits for dinner :D

Originally posted by tabernack
consumers now expect everything for free. They are not aware of the actual costs! Don't know if you all are aware, but it does cost money. Bandwidth is not free, time is not free, disk space is not free, and nor is hardware free. If more hosts charged acceptable fees for work done, or acceptable fees for hosting packages, then it would be a better place for all hosts. It seems that most hosts are bent on cutting throats.

Can I get a witness?

The whole market is chaos right now. Customers switching from host to host, looking for satisfaction. Customer confidence is low and expectations are high.

There are also a lot of problems at the higher levels of the industry as companies bleeding cash like Verio and Exodus struggle for survival.

Hosting has somehow been mis-labeled as a commodity. Customers are buying it as if it were a product.

Anyway, my point is this. Hosting cost money, and so does knowledge. If I spent the last 2 years learning linux admin work, I have every right to charge for that knowledge. That would be like saying "why would a lawyer charge me $150/hour for his knowledge?". Well that's because he knows what you don't. If more hosts thought that way, the industry wouldn't be in such a mess and I wouldn't have to eat my dogs kibbles n' bits for dinner :D

You are preaching to the choir. Hosting is a service provided by IT professionals.

All the people I work with here have done a lot of consulting or other work where an hourly rate was charged. My billing rate was $100/hour for web site work and $150/hour for NT administration. And that was considered a bargain. One of my colleagues is a SQL developer and that's about $300/hour. And that hourly rate means every moment spent talking to a customer, or in meetings, writing specs, not just time spent doing actual hands-on development or administration. Most of the billable hours for any custom development project come from before the specs get handed off to the programmers/developers to actually do the development.

And that's something that consumers and many business owners don't quite understand, because most of them haven't dealt with IT pro's. They'll pay outrageous amounts for other consultants and service providers, but not their web hosts. IT professionals charge a high price for their time, same as accountants or lawyers, and our customers depend on us for business-critical services, yet the expectation is that our time is to be practically donated to them.

Originally posted by Phoenix
Can I get a witness?

A witness for what? I'm not sure I understand your question.


You are preaching to the choir. Hosting is a service provided by IT professionals.

Still not sure what you mean again here. Preaching to the choir? What does that mean LOL Sorry, maybe I'm not up to speed on the lingo :D


All the people I work with here have done a lot of consulting or other work where an hourly rate was charged. My billing rate was $100/hour for web site work and $150/hour for NT administration. And that was considered a bargain. One of my colleagues is a SQL developer and that's about $300/hour. And that hourly rate means every moment spent talking to a customer, or in meetings, writing specs, not just time spent doing actual hands-on development or administration. Most of the billable hours for any custom development project come from before the specs get handed off to the programmers/developers to actually do the development.

And that's something that consumers and many business owners don't quite understand, because most of them haven't dealt with IT pro's. They'll pay outrageous amounts for other consultants and service providers, but not their web hosts. IT professionals charge a high price for their time, same as accountants or lawyers, and our customers depend on us for business-critical services, yet the expectation is that our time is to be practically donated to them.

This I understand and we seem to agree. But the problem isn't just the consumer, it's hosts who are looking for a quick buck and we'll resort to giving their shirt for $10/month. So the problem was created by the industry (the hosts) who seem to think that doing everything for free is acceptable. Well you can't run a business on good will, because eventually bills need to be paid. so what happens? Support goes down the toilet, hosts go out of business, the industry get's a bad rap, and consumers bounce from host to host looking for those cheap prices that their last host gave them.


Ok, I think I'm waaaay off the thread topic. Sorry mods, won't happen again. Feel free to delete my post :)

Originally posted by tabernack


Anyway, anytime a host has to manually edit anything whether it be a custom VirtualHost entry in apache, or an SSL cert install, they have the right to charge a reasonable fee. Personally I think charging between $20 and $30 dollars is acceptable for an SSL cert install. You won't be saying "do it for free" when you have thousands of clients asking for small favors and custom work. Time becomes very precious!

It's the same old hosting attitude where "give everything away for free and only charge $10 for 20 GB of bandwidth!". That attitude is killing the web hosting industry because consumers now expect everything for free. They are not aware of the actual costs! Don't know if you all are aware, but it does cost money. Bandwidth is not free, time is not free, disk space is not free, and nor is hardware free. If more hosts charged acceptable fees for work done, or acceptable fees for hosting packages, then it would be a better place for all hosts. It seems that most hosts are bent on cutting throats.

Anyway, my point is this. Hosting cost money, and so does knowledge. If I spent the last 2 years learning linux admin work, I have every right to charge for that knowledge. That would be like saying "why would a lawyer charge me $150/hour for his knowledge?". Well that's because he knows what you don't. If more hosts thought that way, the industry wouldn't be in such a mess and I wouldn't have to eat my dogs kibbles n' bits for dinner :D
Tabernack!! Excellent post....total truth!
:beer:

What gets me is that a LOT of hosts will charge you to "install Front Page Extensions" which takes every bit of, oh I don't know, 3 seconds?

Do you understand where this came from? Installation was never as easy as it is now. It was a nightmare installing extensions on Unix boxes a few years ago. Some of you know what I mean. Most the host who charge, still have old web sites or old control panels.

Tabernack, if only more people saw it as you do. Amen.

Ultimatally it is the customer who drives this industry, as they do for all service industries. The smarter they get, the better our lives become. These unlimited bandwidth, unlimited web space, "I'll fly to your house to upload the files personally"", web host who charge $2/mo will continue to fade because smart customer will pay for service and quality after getting burned a few times. Sure more cheap host will pop up to replace them, but the new "I will fly there, upload files, AND wash your car" will get less and less sign ups. We have actually seen an increase in sign ups from people leaving these cheap host.

To move back on topic, yes $20 - $50 is reasonable. Especially when you have open tickets and 10 people wanting you to install their certs. Time is money.

I dont charge to install but people must get their own certificate.

[QUOTE]Do you understand where this came from? Installation was never as easy as it is now. It was a nightmare installing extensions on Unix boxes a few years ago. Some of you know what I mean. Most the host who charge, still have old web sites or old control panels. [QUOTE]
Also, some of it may have to do with the nightmarish support over the life of an account DUE to Front Page Extentions.
Ok, maybe nightmarish is a strong word, but Front Page extentions REALLY suck...from a host's point of view.

Originally posted by tabernack


It's the same old hosting attitude where "give everything away for free and only charge $10 for 20 GB of bandwidth!". That attitude is killing the web hosting industry because consumers now expect everything for free. They are not aware of the actual costs! Don't know if you all are aware, but it does cost money. Bandwidth is not free, time is not free, disk space is not free, and nor is hardware free. If more hosts charged acceptable fees for work done, or acceptable fees for hosting packages, then we would all be better off. It seems that most hosts are bent on cutting throats.

Anyway, my point is this. Hosting cost money, and so does knowledge. If I spent the last 2 years learning linux admin work, I have every right to charge for that knowledge. That would be like saying "why would a lawyer charge me $150/hour for his knowledge?". Well that's because he knows what you don't. If more hosts thought that way, the industry wouldn't be in such a mess and I wouldn't have to eat my dogs kibbles n' bits for dinner :D


Well said tabernack, I must voice my support for this point of view..

An online, short course in business basics might help.


;)

Dont happen to have any links handy on installing SSL Certs do you by any chance ?

HAC

Dont happen to have any links handy on installing SSL Certs do you by any chance ?
Here's the link to Equifax's instructions for installing their certs:
http://www.equifaxsecure.com/ebusinessid/instructions.html

Cheers mate.