How do you set freelance prices for work?
polycounter lvl 11
Hey guys,
I've recently gotten a few offers of freelance, but I've never really done that kind of thing before.
Both people asked me to name a price, but I have no idea what is fair and what is not. I don't want to screw them over, but I also don't want to screw myself over.
So how do you guys set prices?
For a few examples:
1. Sculpting a copy of the david statue for someone (just the sculpt)?
2. Making a game character for current gen game model+textures?
This will really help me out so thanks a ton in advance guys!
I've recently gotten a few offers of freelance, but I've never really done that kind of thing before.
Both people asked me to name a price, but I have no idea what is fair and what is not. I don't want to screw them over, but I also don't want to screw myself over.
So how do you guys set prices?
For a few examples:
1. Sculpting a copy of the david statue for someone (just the sculpt)?
2. Making a game character for current gen game model+textures?
This will really help me out so thanks a ton in advance guys!
Replies
Or...
Figure out a nice hourly rate that works for you. Figure out how many hours it will take, and charge that.
I've never freelanced 3D work but I can't imagine its much different.
http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=64233&highlight=freelance+price
I'm liking that option... might end up being the most accurate.
No such thing as the perfect agreement. Hell you can’t even get a husband and wife team to agree as to what color to paint the kitchen
Second rule know what you are worth and not what it is that you do is worth.
If you have a good idea of how long it’s going to take to do the job figure out how much you would be willing to take if you were working for an hourly wage and double it.
Third rule fair market value determines the price.
If you base your fee on what it costs you to do the business with a little added profit your going to either price yourself out of the market or far below it. Phone up some company and ask them for a quote for the same job and use that as your base.
Forth rule copyright ownership has a price.
If they contract you to design and produce custom content from scratch and what to own the copyrights then sell it to them above and beyond the contracted work. You make some kind of Bennie baby thing you can land up losing out on the merchandising rights.
It will make you sick if you do something for $5,000 and find out that they made millions. If they merchandise your effort get a percentage.
Fifth rule no matter how hard you try your going to mess up on the fee the first time.
The art of knowing how to quote a job as a free lancer is based on previous experiences and although the project may seem simple enough you can not account on how many times you will have to do redoes until you have to fulfill the demands of a play client.
Six Rule ALWAYS get it in writing.
This is the case for anything that involves a supplied service. The one thing that you can guarantee is when you are about to complete the project you will hear these words “Oh while your at it”. Clients have no perception of level of difficulty or time required to complete a task and because a contract was signed you will have the right to insist that yes you can do it but there is going to be a further charge.
This all to say charge whatever for you first time, your going to be screwed, and once you have that experience under your belt you won’t be the second time around.
The upside is that you can write off hardware/software purchases and a bunch of other things as business expenses which helps.
It's not complicated if you keep track of everything.
What a downer. Tax is so counter-productive.
http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=64233
Typically you either charge hourly with an estimate for how long it will take, or you flat rate it by doing desired hourly * time (average amount of time + expected rework + buffer)
The best advice is to know what your time is worth, and to have a DAMN GOOD idea of how much of your time will be required to do the job, then use math.
"Fifth rule no matter how hard you try your going to mess up on the fee the first time." Sad, but true. Thats life, and I've gone through it. Try not to worry about it to much and treat this an opportunity to learn and grow.
I do it for free and let the client decide what to pay. 'kidding'
Some German restaurants do it this way. 'no kidding'
And the people pay more for the food as if it's worth.
If they are on a tight budget but you really want to do the job cause it sounds like a good job, set the price lower. If its for a larger client, they can afford to pay more, so charge more for them. if the job sounds like a bitch to work on, again charge more.
-woog
what would you do that for?