Hourly rate.

[PAlexC]

Either as a freelancer or putting in billable time where you're a full-time employee, what rate is your time as a Flash developer worth if you're agreeing to work with existing content / message? The last invoice my company sent out had me at $125 an hour, is that average you think? Seems kind of low.

I know, I'm probably beating a dead horse here. And I don't care about flat fees for a project, just hourly rates.

[mark_horsell]

Low!!
Im sorry but your being very naive.
The question is how much can you do in an hour and what is the quality.
£10 an hour is probably the starting point for someone with very basic flash skills. And im sure there are people earning many times more i.e. £200 or £300 an hour, but these guys will be on short term contracts and will really know there stuff.

[PAlexC]

Good point. Let's say for animation and some minor programming. Nothing advanced in the way of games or fancy interfaces. And I am talking about people who are employed full time, but the work they do is billable by the hour to the client.

[yeffer]

Hey All

I think when a compan bills a client per hour, it's not just for one person. It's for all involved. I could be wrong

I'm a freelancer and I only charge 30 dollars canadian. By the time I've actually finished I make about 2 cents and still the client thinks they've been taken.

How much would you charge for this site http://www.conspiracyguy.com

cheers

yeffer

[Fleep2010]

In boston an experienced flasher (knows AS well) as a hourly freelance averages between $60-150 hr - now get this and experience ppt developer get $30-50 go figure!

fleep

[Lou C. Fur]

Sometimes, an hourley rate is not the best way to go. Some small business owners dont trust it and who can blame them! The two best ways around that are 1)have a few "flat rate" deals. and 2) put a cap on how much can be charged in the contract. I get many clients that say they went we us because of this.

[Fleep2010]

Clients trust YOU Lucifer? <grin>

That is probably a really good idea for project by project - I tend to get hired out for monthly contract so I negotiate an hourly rate and a rush rate because they are always changing things just before the deadline. Just another thought to throw out there.

On a slight twist does anyone charge "aggravation fees"?

fleep

[yeffer]

Fleep, if we charged 'aggravation' fees, we'd all be millionaires!! LOL

As far as I'm concerned, Clients think that just because they're footing the bill that they can dictate things. In my case I dont' have to put up with their shyt cuz this is just a hobby.
Even if you tried to compensate for their crap, you still end up making less than what you actually put in, contract or not

yeffer

[*gearworx]

umm no Flash designer or any type of designer is a hourly work horse.. design is based on the measure of the project.. re-consider your pricing structure

[D3-JBOMB]

I think Gearworx is on the money there...Obviously a cartoon is going to cost a client more than some text jumping around http://www.loungefly.com

[canuckster]

While it's tempting to start out with really low rates, just to drum up some business, you have to be careful about this. The trick is to keep any undercutting to the barest possible minimum. The danger is that, by the time you decide you're good enough to increase your rates, most or all of your previous clients will balk at staying with you.

"Aha," you say, "but they knew I was just starting out, and that this pricing wouldn't last, and they were okay with that." The sad truth is that many of them will just start looking for the next person who's "just starting out."

Also, say you're charging $25/hour, and working 40 hours a week with no end in sight to clients wanting to hire you. How do you increase your money? You can't work more, and you'll have only limited success at raising your rates.

Instead, start charging $50 as soon as you can. Who cares if you only get half the customers? 20 hours @ $50 is the same as 40 hours @ $25, but you spend less time working, and have room to grow (to double your income, in fact).

There's also a lot to be said for people's expectations that quality costs money. In other words, you might be a better Flasher than me, but plenty of people will hire me over you because they see you as a discount, fresh-from-the-barrel sort. Hell, even if our portfolios are as good as each other's, many clients will like mine better because they expect to like it better.

Of course, everything I've said needs to be taken as only one of many possible approaches, but it's the one my financial advisor recommended, and it's worked for me so far. I hardly worked in April, and May might not bring much more than April, but that's okay because I made a ton of money in February and March. Far better than working straight through that whole time only to end up making the same pay.

Never forget that you're selling something. And you do have considerable power to tell people what it's worth.

[inspector]

you all have interesting ways of billing, my business (partnership of 3) presents a proposal free of charge, then we assatain the clients budget and design a site accordingly.

[yeffer]

I'm inclined to agree with James. I didn't make any money for the first part of the year, then all of a sudden I got 2 at once. By the time I'm finished I'm looking forward to some time off. I'd rather binge work than work 40 hour weeeks, every week.

Sometimes it seems to me that if you charge low, clients tend to think that you are no good. That's been my experience.

yeffer

[kb1827]

Sometimes it seems to me that if you charge low, clients tend to think that you are no good. That's been my experience.

The fact that if a price is too low, people may not buy, goes along with "it's too good to be true." If a computer costs $450, it may seem less dependable than an equally powerful computer selling for $900 at a different store, even if they are the same model, made by the same manufacturer.

[gecko2]

We just lock the client up and torture them until they cough up an amount which we think is respectable.

Seriously, set a fee, put the job limitations on the contract and warn them that any extra work beyond the contract is then X amount per hour.

I wouldn't recommend just charging by the hour.

[Agent_Coop]

Gecko's got it right. Once you set a precedent with a client there is no going back.

I make a client sign a contract for the full amount even if I'm only charging them 1/3 of the price (friends and family). That way they know the value of the deal they are getting.

Plus I publish my pricing spreadsheet for them as a link/attachment (sorry Proposal Kit thing..) so they also know the value of the "extras" whether they are getting them or not.

That way if there are changes, the pricing is straightforward.

(Actually one of the cool things is that sometimes they will see that pricing sheet and get ideas for more work.)

2 cents