+ How to Charge
- Started
- Last post
- 24 Responses
- brooke
I need some quick advice. I have to call this mid-sized company back about a part time illustration gig. They need product renderings.
Based on my work & experience, what should I tell them as far as WAGE is concerned? Should I treat it like a normal freelance thing & go well into the hundreds/hour? ...or should I compare it to the wage from my fulltime job now?
A number would be appreciated.
(No, not your phone number.)
- Mimio0
65/hr.
- brooke0
That's what someone here at work told me, too. Thanks, Mimio.
If I could just get a few more educated opinions...
- yunngg10
85
- brooke0
How are you qualified to answer my question, Yunngg1?
- magicpatch0
i think you could charge almost anything you wanted, but realistically, around the $100-$150 per hour.
experience is key, see - i am sure there are others out there will you skill set, although it would probably take them a lot longer to do it. so, this itself justifies the extra charge, if you can produce the work in half the amount of time, you should be billing accordingly
- brooke0
But most companies don't understand when I charge that much (more, actually), and quite often it frightens them away, even when I explain that I work quickly.
- magicpatch0
well, are you in a position to filter the workload, financial and or busy enough...? i personally think that doing the right "jobs" is the way to go. if your potential clients do not understand this, I can see you getting taken advantage of.... say no, recommend someone else, or walk away.
- magicpatch0
also, you could maybe approach it as a per project basis if you get the scope of it before diving in
- tara|gee0
65-70 and just work slow ;)
- enobrev0
never base your charge on what you're making while working for someone else. It's very likely that if your employer would bill you out to others, they would charge double what they give you, just to cover overhead.
So you have tho think of what you require and your overhead if you want a reliable number.
The easiest way to set a price it to start with any number.. usually the base number of your industry (65? 75?), and add to it as your business expenses and expertise go up.
- JazX0
realistically, in this economy I think it depends on where you are doing it. NY Metro would demand more of a rate. I would say at least $65 to 80/hr.
- k0na_an0k0
with your skills and exp you could definetly charge $65 - $85 an hour.
- design_slave0
"Should I treat it like a normal freelance thing & go well into the hundreds/hour?"
umm, are you serious? "hundredS/hour"?
if you can charge that much for freelance work why are you even considering taking a part-time gig? stay independant!
- Rand0
tell them 75/hour and bill 150/hour?
- polarunion0
why doesn't anyone charge per page?
- Mimio0
Because that's just plain stupid polarunion.
- polarunion0
yah, why's that? why not have a fee for a whole job? why not charge for what the customer wants? 10 page with this that and the other thing - it's gona cost you 1000 big ones.
you see the problem that I see with charging hourly is that nobody knows whether you're going to half ass it and have a coffee while. So really, I could be the slowest coder/designer, but when it comes down to it, i'm charging 150 an hour. does that sound right? not really. so to me, charging hourly makes no sense. where's the scale?
- polarunion0
do people not charge by the job? What exactly is the bennefit of charging by the hour?
- BonSeff0
your freetime is valuable, so is your talent. you will get hit hard during tax time. charge accordingly. if it is a big enough project to worry about, get with an accountant to figure out the wage. it's business after all.
it's hard to throw out a number without knowing the length of time you will put in.
- polarunion0
that makes a lot of sense. in fact that single piece of advice might have just saved/made me a lot of money. thanks.