On Fri 08 Jul 2005 06:49:29p, Julia Altshuler wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> I believe you and Wayne have summed up the situation and options well.
> (Thank-you.) I can see where this is the sort of thing where everyone
> could weigh in with different views on what one does for a friendship
> and what constitutes good business practice. (With a subject this
> controversial, I could be accused of trolling.) You've heard my side of
> the story. Hers could be different. There are lots of mitigating
> circumstances. Here are a few:

Yes, it does raise some controversy, but I'd hardly consider it a troll.

> She brought hot fresh bread from her bread machine to dinner. It was
> excellent.

That was a very nice gesture, but not unusual when one is invited for
dinner.

> She may have thought she was being clear that she's in the business of
> selling webpage design when we met 6 months ago. I honestly don't
> remember the details of the conversation. This could all be a matter of
> my being naive. It wouldn't be the first time.

From her perspective, I'm sure she considered it a "friendly" business
deal.

> I don't know the going price for webpages. She may be offering me an
> incredible bargain because she considers me a friend.

Since we don't know her prices, that would be hard to evaluate. Prices
can, of course, vary considerably depending on complexity.

> She suggested the possibility of barter and said that she's bartered for
> webpages in the past. (The webpage would be for homemade quilts, and
> she might barter for one.)

Offhand, knowing the going prices for homemade/handmade quilts (at least in
Amish country), her price might be considered high. After all, she isn't
designing a webpage for a major corporation.

> In other words, I'm trying to answer the question about "is she a
> friend" and am really not sure of the answer. It seems like we have
> some things in common and not others, and I enjoy talking to her in some
> ways and not others. Very hard to figure.

Truthfully, it's probably too early in the game to know if there's really a
friendship there. Many people who provide personal services find it
helpful in many ways to maintain a "friendship" type relationship with a
client while the work is being done. That's not to say that it would not
continue afterwards, but who can say at this point.

> From her way of looking at it, what sort of person meets someone once
> at a party and then expects a free webpage or one in exchange for one
> home cooked meal?

Good point. I used to do custom programming and system configuration. One
couple whom I knew as friends long before a question came up, asked me to
work on their home business system. I intended to do it at no cost because
I considered it a simple job. The husband was a contractor. We eventually
slipped into a favor for favor relationship and we both benefited. I don't
think either of us ever felt we provided more than we received.

> To bring this back to topics of food, I'm imagining a situation where
> someone owns a small, friendly, family-oriented, restaurant in a small
> town. He may consider himself friends with all his customers because
> his kids go to school with and play on teams with his customer's
> children, and he goes to the same church with other customers and so on.
> He wouldn't charge friends for a meal in his home, but he certainly
> charges for meals in his restaurant.

Another good point. There were several occasions when I asked my
contractor friend to do projects that clearly went beyond what I could do
for him. I always paid on those occasions (though I'm sure I got a break).

> O.K, all you computer type folks out the What's the going price for
> web design? Nothing fancy, a home page, an artist's bio, thumbnails of
> quilts, a little text, a contact page for future email (no encrypted
> credit cards), that sort of thing. For those of you who know how to do
> this, what's a fair price?

Wish I could help, but the web pages I've designed have been for the
company I work for and were for internal use. I don't have a clue what
they cost.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974


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