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Quoted daily ("Work is on a time and materials basis. Rate: $2,000 per day."). Invoices will typically cover a few weeks of work, depending on the tempo of yo
by patio11 14y ago
Quoted daily ("Work is on a time and materials basis. Rate: $2,000 per day."). Invoices will typically cover a few weeks of work, depending on the tempo of your engagements, your relationship with a customer, etc.
- ams6110 14y agoThis has to be regionally dependent. Around here there is no way you would get $2,000 day for web development. Best I have ever gotten is half that, for a one-day "emergency" engagement (i.e. drop everything and help me).
- patio11 14y agoI just plucked a number out of the air, rather than picking a number which I felt was representative of web development. Also, I've harped on this a time or two, but there are people who get $2,000 a day for something which is indistinguishable from web development in terms of activities performed but which is sold as accomplishing business goals ("making lots of money") with incidental reference to programming. P.S. Charge more for emergency engagements. The business stopping for a day is worth more than $1,000 even if the business is a taco truck. Don't do professional work for taco trucks.
- Alan01252 14y agopatio11, I'd like to say much of my stance on negotiating rates with people has come directly from reading comments you've made on hacker news in the past. Thank you! If anything I still think I'm too lenient but this I'm sure will grow as my confidence dealing with clients grows.
- gaius 14y agoindistinguishable from web development in terms of activities performed You're over-discounting domain knowledge. Anyone can write in code x+y. It might take much deeper knowledge to know that sometimes, it's x-y, and exactly when that is.
- csomar 14y agoLots of WordPress (yes, WordPress) devs charge $250/hour. That's $2,000 (assuming no travel expenses). JavaScript/Ruby/Python, I don't see why $2K/day is actually not feasible.
- ams6110 14y agoAround here (university town) you can find students and unemployed graduates who are more than willing to do web work for $20 - $30 an hour.
- patio11 14y agoDon't do work, and don't pick clients, where your contribution is indistinguishable from that of a college student.
- csomar 14y agoAre you aware that there are lots of Indians willing to do work at $5/hour? There are $10 watches in the market, but that doesn't mean that $2,000 watches don't get sold.
- rmc 14y agoAnd there's no end of students (even students with honours degree in computer science) who don't know the first thing about programming. That's why "how to do interviews" and fizzbuzz questions are a popular topic on this site. You get what you pay for.
- wilhelm 14y agoThis is approximately what I bill per day for web stuff. VAT not included.
- flyinRyan 14y agoA general rule of thumb that's always seemed to work in my experience: Contractor = 2x permanent employee Consultant = 3x Contractor So $2k a day sounds on the low side to me but perhaps it works if you're talking 4-6 hour days.