[reedlaw]

Can a smart customer really get the job done for $5,000? Of course, because this customer will have clearly defined his requirements up-front. The average client will not have clear goals or requirements thus forcing the programmer to iteratively come up with a solution that meets the client's unwritten expectations. This overhead will generally add up to the amount of the higher asking price. So in the case of a poorly defined project, a $5,000 job will be woefully inadequate and will require the client to start over from scratch.