Timeline for How should I determine my rates for writing custom software?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Sep 11, 2016 at 0:12 | comment | added | oneworld | +1 for "You can always negotiate your rate down, but you cannot negotiate it up..." very true and I realize from my past experience | |
| Aug 9, 2016 at 18:14 | comment | added | Gherbi Hicham | Thank you, I'm just beginning this, and this advice is gold. | |
| Jul 28, 2016 at 19:22 | comment | added | Amadeus Sanchez | I'd like to get to know Joe! | |
| May 29, 2015 at 7:44 | comment | added | CRitchie | Great response. I am going to print this answer and pin it on my desk, and read it when ever I have self doubt. | |
| Jul 26, 2011 at 14:56 | history | edited | Bob Murphy | CC BY-SA 3.0 | added 12 characters in body |
| Jul 26, 2011 at 3:13 | comment | added | Bob Murphy | @Carson: It's a good starting place in the US. A big factor in that metric is planning for being out of work, so I give a discount to long-term clients. I also work from home with no commute time, so I usually apply that time to work. And there are fixed costs, like insurance and office expenses, that drop as a percentage of income as your income goes up. So I wind up charging less than salary/1000, but at 50+ hours a week for which every hour is paid, my net income is still higher than when I was an employee spending the same time on work and commute. | |
| Jul 26, 2011 at 3:07 | comment | added | quickly_now | +1 spot on, great answer. Your point about not wanting the junk at low rates is true. (And I've been amazed at what people are prepared to pay for me to roll up for a weeks specialised work. I thought the rate was cheekily high. They paid. I generally set my rate quite a bit higher for things I don't really want to do.) | |
| Jul 26, 2011 at 2:51 | comment | added | Carson Myers | +1 for an inspiring answer. What's your opinion of the "salary/1000" metric? Is it an appropriate rule of thumb, or just an arbitrary calculation that might work under some circumstances? | |
| Jul 26, 2011 at 2:33 | history | answered | Bob Murphy | CC BY-SA 3.0 |