What clients ask before they sign, and the straight answers. Prices are in US dollars, before taxes.
Straight answer: by default, me. The sites I build are hand-written in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. That's what makes them fast, but it also means there's no dashboard to log into.
So that this doesn't become a trap, everything that changes (text, opening hours, prices, labels) is gathered in a single, documented content file, and the technical note delivered with the site explains where it is and how it's laid out. That's included in the price. A change then takes a few minutes, for anyone, not just me.
Then you choose your level of support, before you sign (article 16):
All three have one thing in common: reporting a technical or security problem is always free, even on the running fee alone. If a site I delivered goes down, I look into it free of charge and tell you in writing whether the fix is included (3-month warranty, security, maintenance of a custom site) or needs a quote.
All three levels are managed from your client area: you log in, send your change requests, report an incident and follow how it's handled. No form to hunt for, no phone number to dig up.
These plans have no minimum term and can be ended any month, in writing, on 30 days' notice, without reason or penalty. You can start without one and add one later if you need it.
That is a fair question, and I won't tell you it never happens. I work alone: I have no 24/7 on-call duty and no colleague who can step in overnight. I put that in black and white in my Terms of Sale (article 25) rather than leave it vague.
What I do is build the contract so that my absence never blocks you:
And if you hand the site to another provider, I'll answer their technical questions free of charge for one hour. I would rather have a clean handover than an unhappy client.
No, and you can check it point by point in the Terms of Sale (article 16).
This is the exact opposite of the classic trap, the "few dollars a month" site you can never take with you: here, when you buy, you pay for the site once and it's yours, and the plan only covers the service.
Yes. Renting costs $89 a month for a showcase site, $159 for an online store and $529 for a custom site. Hosting, maintenance, unlimited content updates and one design change a month are included, with no upfront cost and no minimum term, and you can end the rental any month, in writing, without reason, compensation or exit fee; it takes effect at the end of the monthly period already paid (article 17).
While you rent, the site itself stays MABSTUDIO's; your texts, photos and domain name stay yours and are handed back to you within 15 days if you stop. Content updates (hours, prices, photos) are unlimited, plus one design change a month.
Yes, once you have paid in full. That's not a figure of speech: my Terms of Sale (article 10) spell out exactly what is transferred to you: the rights to reproduce, display, modify, have someone else modify, translate and develop the site, for all media, worldwide, for the whole term of copyright protection. The price of this transfer is included in the price of the site: no annual royalty, no usage right to renew.
Between going live and paying the balance, you have a right of use that covers the normal operation of the site, so you are never using a site you have no right to.
Two honest caveats.
The third-party libraries built into the site (animation, 3D, fonts, icons) don't belong to me, so I can't transfer them to you. They stay under their own license, and I guarantee that each one allows your use, commercial use included. You get the list along with the code.
The transfer does not include reselling the code as a reusable template to third parties. You can do anything with your site, including passing it on with your business if you sell it; what you can't do is resell it as a theme to other companies without my agreement.
My old clause said a delay could not justify canceling the order. That was unbalanced, and I removed it.
The rule is now this (article 8):
In other words: you are never stuck in a project that isn't moving.
That is the real risk of a redesign, and the contract deals with it (article 20), not just a verbal promise.
Before going live, I list every URL on your current site and set up permanent redirects to the matching pages on the new site. You get that list. Also included at no extra cost: titles and descriptions for every page, the sitemap, the robots.txt file, structured data for your business, a mobile-friendly layout and load-time optimization.
What I don't promise: a ranking on Google, a number of visits or a revenue figure. Nobody can guarantee that, and a provider who does is lying to you. I commit to clean technical work, which is the part that depends on me.
It's a real analysis of your current site, not a sales pitch in disguise. I measure loading speed, behavior on mobile and a few local visibility points, and I send you the result as a PDF with the raw numbers.
What it isn't: a mockup of your future site. I don't do any work before you've ordered, and I never pretend to have done what I haven't.
The audit commits you to nothing. If your site is fine, I'll tell you so. It has happened, and it keeps me from wasting your time and mine.
Because the domain name belongs to the client, and the client decides whether to register one.
Voxen is moving to its own domain. For Bastien Brunier's portfolio, the client chose not to register one: a subdomain was enough for him, and it's not for me to impose one.
If you want one, it is registered in your name: you are the registrant, and you keep control of it even if you change provider. That's written in article 12 of the Terms of Sale, not just promised verbally.
Both exist, and the price tells you which. I'd rather be direct about this, because it explains my rates.
At $1,590, and from $2,990: your site starts from one of my proven bases. It is then adapted to you: your colors, your typography, your texts, your photos, the structure that fits your trade. It isn't a theme bought on a marketplace and resold as is. These are my own bases, which I design and improve project after project. That's exactly what makes this level of finish possible at this price: the time I don't spend reinventing a structure, I spend on what sets you apart.
From $9,990: the site is designed from scratch, around a concept that belongs only to you, and you get exclusivity: the design will not be offered to anyone else. That is what you pay extra for, and it is the only difference that justifies the price gap.
There is a middle route, if it interests you: a site designed for you at a reduced price, in exchange for my right to reuse the structure as a base for other projects. It's your decision, never mine, and it's written into the quote.
For a $1,590 site, or one starting at $2,990, adapting it to your identity is included, and I don't keep count: colors, typography, texts, photos, the layout of the sections. That is the job, not an option.
What isn't included is a change in the nature of the project: redoing the design from scratch, adding features that aren't in the quote, or starting over on a different concept. In that case I tell you before I start, and we adjust the quote or move up a tier.
After going live, further changes are covered by the next question.
Prices are fixed and known in advance, so there is never anything to negotiate:
Anything not on this list gets a quote before you commit to anything. And if you have a care plan, most of these changes are already included.
It depends on how the quote was signed, and I'd rather be precise (article 23 of the Terms of Sale).
If we signed during a meeting at your premises, provided that building a website is outside the scope of your main business and you have five employees at most, you have 14 days to withdraw, with no reason and no penalty. A withdrawal form is attached to the quote. In that case, I also can't collect a deposit before 7 days have passed. That's the law, and I follow it.
If we signed remotely, by email or video call, without my having approached you in person just before, this right of withdrawal does not apply between businesses. If you sign by email right after my visit, the 14 days apply as above.
At a trade fair or show booth, the law expressly excludes any right of withdrawal. I point that out to you in writing on the quote, as the law requires me to.
In every case, you can stop a project in progress whenever you want, in writing. I then bill what has actually been done, based on milestones priced in advance in the quote: scoping approved 15%, mockup approved 40%, development completed 75%, going live 100%. If what is due comes to less than the deposit paid, I refund the difference within 30 days; if no milestone has been reached, I refund the deposit in full. And I hand over the work done that you've paid for: it's yours.