How much to charge for ecard design work?

[stuartist]

Hi there, a bit of a minefield question to ask I know, but could anyone give me a ruff estimate on how much to charge for an animated ecard. I guess a pretty average level of animation lasting about 30 - 40 seconds.

I have no idea what I should be charging and would appreciate any feed back you guys could offer.

Many thanks in advance,

Stuart

[Natsia]

How much work did you put into it in terms of hours?

Most freelancers charge a fixed hourly rate.
The benefits to this are
1: If a project takes longer than you initially thought, you're covered.
2: It keeps you from overcharging for projects.

Rates are always hard to gauge, when I sat down to look at what I charge I frist called up a few different designers and got "quoted" on work then had a look at what the average was, then I had a look at my expences to determine how much as a minimum I'd have to make per hour to cover my costs and from there I added a markup and compared that figure with what other designers were charging.

You have to be realistic in your charging, but at the same time you dont want to undervalue your time and work.

I'd say your best bet is to have a look at what other designers in your area are charging and work from there.

[RUSHVision]

An excellent answer since we actually don't allow the discussion of rates on the boards.

[stuartist]

Thank you so much for your responses and my sincere apologies for not realizing that talking about fees was not allowed on Flash Kit.

[RUSHVision]

No problem. You're not the first to ask since it's something a lot of designers wonder about.