> shouldn't you just charge whatever you think something (a product, your time) is worth? How exactly do you, as a programmer without knowledge of the employer

> shouldn't you just charge whatever you think something (a product, your time) is worth? How exactly do you, as a programmer without knowledge of the employer’s or client’s business, determine what a piece of software is worth to them? You have no idea. So you use various heuristics which are more easily available but misleading, like “what are other people being paid?”