How Much Should a website design cost?

I am often asked about pricing of websites by various customers. Most website designs fall into these three basic categories: Static, Database, and Ecommerce. A static website is a web design that does not change that often. It is possible that it may contain some flash. A typical static site will cost on average anywhere between $1,000 and up. A database website is a site where the content is stored and managed in a database. Database sites can start anywhere from $2500 and up. Ecommerce sites are websites that allow customers to browse merchandise and purchase online. Typical ecommerce websites can start anwhere from $2800 and up. A lot of the pricing depends on the features. As they say "the devil is in the details". I am often asked by customers that they see advertised a static site for a few hundred dollars. Someone that is charging a few hundred is usally a non-professional and it does show in the work. I've seen these type of cheap sites and it looks very unprofessional. The quality is just not the same as done by a real professional. Also, there are times when customers come back to me because they did a cheap website only to realize they have to start all over again. they have to start over because they wanted a change and they can no longer find that designer. The end result is you get what you pay for.