I have a client. I need to create a Wordpress template for him (as he told in the listing). He shared two HTML pages in the initial meeting.
He said mistakenly he sent that file then he shared a link from where he copied those two HTML pages. That link is not a normal static website, it is a full fledged e-commerce site. They want a replica of that for the same price, which is 100 dollars only.
How should I handle these types of clients? I am expecting more work from that client in the future.
May I guess. He approached to you saying if you do this for bargain, you will get more work? Yes you will get more work, 5 times more complex for 50% more money - $150 in your case. Any serious client will let you first do 1 project, and only then he will talk about more work. Because if they immediately say that they have more work, even a bad contractor will push 110% to impress them in the first project. So I'd say these are clients looking for cheap slavery work.
I would refuse saying that for $100 I can only do X, Y and Z, and for more, I have to recalculate my price.
But be careful if you're on rating systems like oDesk cause they will most likely give you a bad feedback.
I'll keep my answer simple. If a client is asking for a custom full-fledged CMS/e-commerce site for a $100, as a freelancer, you should read that as "this person is a complete waste of my time," and move on.
Of course, don't say that to the client.
To the client, be very professional and polite. Thank them for considering you, apologize for not being able to meet their price. Quote 'your' price and let them know to contact you in the future if you can be of assistance.
This client may have never intended for you to do the work shown in the initial links sent. Perhaps the client is hoping that you will take the bait and actually commit to doing much harder work without changing your price. I'd inform the client that because of a change in scope, you have to change your price. Don't worry about what happens in the future, you have to make your position as a smart business person NOW. If the client makes trouble, leave that client alone. It's not worth it. If you accept the client's behavior now, the client will do it again!!!
As I write this I note that the topic is over a year old, so this may be a useless answer.
However, one thing to consider is that the client does not realize what they are requesting. They are asking for work that they may not be able to do themselves, because it's outside their area of knowledge, much less expertise. You might consider discussing, politely but frankly, the fact that the initial "do two pages" is very different from the "duplicate this complicated site". Part of the discussion should try to get at what they actually need and want. They may want just the two pages, which they incidentally saw on a complicated site.
