Is this guy a swindler?

[IdiotCoder]

I just watched this video. The guy being interviewed says he charged a law firm $USD500 to simply build a WordPress site. If I tried to charge $USD500 to build a WordPress website on this forum, I would be laughed out of the services section.

I am a bit confused. Should I rip off non-tech savvy people or should I charge more than him for my ability to write code? This "inspiration" only got his riches by scamming people.

[palle11]

I guess you trying to sell your coding idea and I don't think anything is wrong with it 
As for charging fees, charging according to standard or based on services and expertise/professionalism won't be regarded as scamming but on the high side since the job is delivered.

[Cnut237]

Different people are willing to pay different amounts for different things, depending on a variety of factors. Generally if you lack knowledge in a certain area, it can be difficult to determine what you should pay for a certain job. But in this instance, $500 is absolutely nothing to a law firm, I'd imagine it would be far cheaper for them to pay someone that sum of money than to take time out to learn how to do it for themselves.

Is it a rip-off? If it's exploiting the customer's lack of knowledge, then maybe. But if the customer vaguely understands that its a fairly simple task, but one beyond their own skillset, and they don't mind paying a small(ish) fee for someone to do it for them, then I would say no, it's reasonable.

[UserU]

I wouldn't really call him a swindler, but rather an opportunist.

Established law firms usually don't mind/ care paying top dollar for decent looking websites. But to a certain extent, 500 bucks is steep for solely a site, unless there's hosting, maintenance and SEO packaging involved.

In the end, willing buyer, willing seller.

[cramcram21]

I agree with the early answers the guy isn't swindler for my point of view he just ask to be paid for his work.
And everyone could do the same you know what they say nothing is free anymore.
Each and every job have a different amount of hard work so I think the payment for every job would be different it all depends on the work that you would do.

[franky1]

the reason a lawyer can charge $500 an hour for their clients is because they have years of law training and practice to back it  up whereby that 1 hour is absolutely useful to the client.

however $500 for someone using a drop and drag program doesnt show any 'value' for an hours work.
and maybe the end result didnt look professional.

..
all i would say is if your not a professional. dont try or dare attempt to pay professional fee's
and to add to that. the worse customer you should dare overcharge is a law firm. thats just asking for trouble (next is mafia)

[Jet Cash]

I didn't watch the video, but if he  spent a couple of days writing some custom text, created a logo, and did a bit of customising, it could be a bargain. That doesn't include hosting or domain name considerations.

[OgNasty]

I’ve seen businesses pay a lot more for a lot less... Try working with a bad consultant.

[mrquackquack]

Well I don't want to call that guy something he may or not be but you just have to do you're due diligence. Prime example and I don't want to be shunned or booed out of here just yet but look at Bitcoin as an example. Most people these days would think around 9k USD is an OK price for 1 Bitcoin. Back in the day, people would think you may have something wrong with you.. None the less you as an owner of a product shouldn't sell yourself short not saying you should mark up complete trash but hey its a business and on the other you as a consumer should do your due diligence and find out what best suits your needs along with the price you think is fair. Some people get their kicks on spending money, some others not so much. At the end of the day if the guy is a complete hack people will call him on it and new or she will be ruined. Now you as a hopeful not swindler or scammer type should work to perfect your craft so you can do a better job with better prices hopefully creating customers for life. Also you should show us some of your work because some people don't give a flip about building a site from scratch and would rather pay a computer engineer to do it.