Originally Posted by gimme-website

Your quite correct. 600-900 is a lot of money. And that price equates to man hours and level of exclusivity.

Even 'free' templates have generally had a semi decent designer spend a day or two on them. There is usually an upsell to remove links/branding, but there is some killer free stuff out there. The only drawback is 20k other blogs have your design.

Cheap and cheerful themes $45, again not exclusive..but usualy tailored to a niche. Upsells to include your logo are common. SOmetimes limited to a certain amount of sales.

Totally custom. Starting from either a bare framework or something like thesis. The layout will be designed to your requirements. The graphics will kick ass. Nobody will have a theme like yours. $300 for a entry level designer. Heading to $900+ $1500+ $2500+ depending level of skill and awesomeness of your designer and indeed your requirements.