On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 22:10, Christoph M. [email protected]
wrote:
i’ve got a request from a small company to develop a simple online shop
and a web representation. I would like to know how much do you usually
demand for a simple application like that and what is currently an
appropriate prize. (Of course, this is a very vague question because it
always depends on requirements and its effort.
Exactly. Not only the stated requirements, but whatever it turns out
is REALLY what the customer wanted. 
So far, I’ve mostly been working on an hourly basis. A fixed-fee bid
would then fall into two parts: how many hours do I think this will
take, and what do I want to charge them per hour?
Tackle the number of hours using whatever style you like – just
remember to include all the time that they will inevitably soak up
with scope creep, your having to fight that, “clarifications” of
requirements, etc. You may also want to cover the time you’ll invest
up front trying to figure out their requirements, and other such
negotiations.
For the second part, maybe you have a flat rate, or maybe you like to
tweak it according to the length (I do), to cover the time you’ll need
to spend chasing the next gig. I also knock down the rate if it’s
on a W2 basis (so they’re paying payroll tax instead of my paying
self-employment tax), and if it includes good vacation and training
bennies (so I don’t have to cover the cost of training, AND the
non-working time for both). Lastly, I also tweak the rate up or down
according to other various vaguer factors, how much I like the
technologies, the working environment, and the company; what the gig
will do to/for my career; etc. In the end my rates vary from about
$55 to $140 an hour.
-Dave
–
Dave A., President, Dave A. Software Engineering and Training
Ruby on Rails Freelancing (Northern Virginia, Washington DC, or Remote)
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