$50/hr is rather low (especially on corp-to-corp (C2C) or 1099 but that largely depends on the market, duration of the contract, whether you can claim it in you

$50/hr is rather low (especially on corp-to-corp (C2C) or 1099 but that largely depends on the market, duration of the contract, whether you can claim it in your portfolio, and so on. Keep in mind that people will naturally appraise your abilities on your perceived value. If you are coming in 50% lower than the competition, they instantly think that you are worth at least 50% less. Something that seems to work fairly well for me is I have a base rate of $85 (for rails or UX dev) and then offer discounts depending on the duration (in months): 2 - 3: $80 3 - 9: $75 9 - 12: $70 This tells them that I'm "worth" $85/hr but because they are saving me money by reducing downtime, I'm passing that savings on to them. They feel like they are getting a good deal and I get longer contracts.