NYCPHP Meetup

[Bradley Baumann]

Sterling,

    I think that "unprofessional" was a bad word to have chosen, I believe
that the phrase I was looking for was "the amount you charge is a direct
reflection of your working skill / ability."
    If you're hiring a big-shot that knows his/her stuff, doesn't screw
around, and write innovative, well commented and well thought-out code --
They're going to charge you for it. You will -not- find one of those people
charging $10/hr. You're going to find them charging you $90+/hr. It's common
sense in the business-world (and any other world you're living in) to charge
more for better services.
    If someone charges you $10/hr -- it's a job you want to turn down
(unless you're a beginner). If you know the people, and want to help them
out or be friendly, that's a -completely- different story. If it's a
professional relationship, and they are offering you an obscenely low
amount, I would deny it. It's almost insulting. If I were to take the job, I
would not give them everything that a client giving me $90+/hr would be
getting.

-Bradley Baumann



----- Original Message -----
From: "Sterling Hughes" <sterling at bumblebury.com>
To: "NYPHP Talk" <talk at nyphp.org>
Sent: Monday, January 20, 2003 12:29 PM
Subject: Re: [nycphp-talk] NYC Freelance rates


> On Mon, 2003-01-20 at 12:15, Bradley Baumann wrote:
> > Ed,
> >
> >     I charge anywhere from 80-120+ an hour. Completely depends on the
job,
> > and the company.
> >     Someone wanted me to do a job at 3am once, to save their company
because
> > their huge ecommerce site was launching the same day, and it wasn't
working.
> > Obviously, I'd take this into consideration, too. I charged ~250/hr.
> >     Honestly, I think charging 40-50/hr isn't professional ($10/hr is
almost
> > childish -- Babysitters charge more.). If you're a beginner just trying
to
> > get some money, perhaps that fee is appropriate -- but if you're a
> > professional who knows your stuff and know you can get the job done
faster
> > then most others, I defiantly believe that a higher price is more than
> > acceptable.
> >
>
> While I charge around the same, I don't think "unprofessional" is the
> right word for charging less.  I'm as busy as I'd like to be at this
> point (although I'll always consider new projects :-), so my rate works
> for my experience and contacts.  But, if I needed work, given my current
> experience, and someone offered me a job for $10, I'd jump.  Jobs lead
> to experience and contacts, and you can always renegotiate for further
> work. Professional or unprofessional, your rate is what you can get,
> when the offers start pouring in, then you can charge at your liking.
> :-)
>
> With that said, I think the original poster should hold out for more.
> $20 a hour is low.  State your advantages over a programmer that charges
> $20.  But if you can't get them up, then you need to decide: do you have
> a better offer?  Evaluate the opportunity cost and don't let pride get
> in the way.
>
> -Sterling
>
>
> --
> "People can have the Model T in any colour -- so long as it's black."
>     - Henry Ford
>
>
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