going rates??

dreeko13 · Post by **dreeko13** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:47 pm

I'm looking for a bit of advice here..

I have a regular freelance job lined up using flash to produce assets for a well known website

I can pick my hours per week

but.......

they are being elusive when it comes to the hourly rate, they are waiting for me to come to them with a figure

does anyone know what a fair hourly rate is for a freelance flash artist working from home??

all advice welcome.....thanks in advance

ps. this would be a second job for me as i already have a stable full time job which could not be further away from the freelance work

pps i live and work in britain (if that makes any difference!)

slice11217 · Post by **slice11217** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 8:15 pm

According to "What Color Is Your Parachute?", the long-running book about job-hunting, the big strategy is to entice them to quote you a price. I believe the quote from the book goes something like, "he who mentions the first number, loses".

Shop around, the rates for animation in NYC are probably different from L.A. or Orlando, or any other place. That way when they DO quote you a price, you have some basis for comparison. You may even have to turn THEM down!

dreeko13 · Post by **dreeko13** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:34 pm

i'm now getting quotes of £40 per hour from a couple of freelancers ive talked to

is this realistic?

Freakish Kid · Post by **Freakish Kid** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:37 pm

dreeko13 wrote:i'm now getting quotes of £40 per hour from a couple of freelancers ive talked to

is this realistic?

Generally you should charge 250 - 350 pounds per day (an 8 hour day)

Thats what most freelance artists charge in london (including me)

GK

ARTIST · Post by **ARTIST** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:54 pm

i know some1 here in birmingham who charges 32 GBP an hour and 30GBP for 5 blocks etc.

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:18 pm

Here's a true story. Probably not going to happen with most clients but it made me happy.

I am about to sign a contract for some Flash and web work soon. When I was discussing rates I mentioned $65hr. This is my going rate for almost everything I do, web, animation, print... just makes life easier.

The guy offering the job said that was WAY low and insisted I charge $200hr.

I believe I got very light headed and almost passed out... but managed to stay on my feet long enough to say that would be fine too.

Obviously this is a very unique situation... but.. heck... I plan to take advantage of it.

-vern

human · Post by **human** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:30 pm

heyvern wrote:The guy offering the job said that was WAY low and insisted I charge $200hr.

Good for him--he has sense enough to realize what you're worth. Wish *I* could afford your services.

heyvern · Post by **heyvern** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 11:29 pm

human wrote:
heyvern wrote:The guy offering the job said that was WAY low and insisted I charge $200hr.
Good for him--he has sense enough to realize what you're worth.

He treats ALL of his vendors this way. It pays off in the end. He, the client gets excellent work, and the vendor gets a lot more money than they expected to. Everyone is happy.

What a crazy idea!

-vern

Rhoel · Post by **Rhoel** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:56 pm

GreyKid Pictures wrote:
dreeko13 wrote:i'm now getting quotes of £40 per hour from a couple of freelancers ive talked to

is this realistic?
Generally you should charge 250 - 350 pounds per day (an 8 hour day)

GK

I'd hate to pee on the flashpaper, but 350GBP is the monthly rate out here in Asia. $1000 per month is not unsual even for forieng workers - cost of living is 4 times cheaper.

Rhoel
Phnom Penh.

dueyftw · Post by **dueyftw** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:50 pm

I treat animation like acting, where the best advice ever has been, “Don’t give up your day job.”

I think the trick to freelancing is a getting good clients. Ones that understand the time it takes to do something and most likely know already how to do what you are doing but simply don’t have the time to do it themselves. The other key is getting paid for your time. Working for a cheap price my get you work in the short run but the pit falls are the client expects it to last forever and others doing the same work now have hear how they are getting the same job done so much cheaper.

Dale

dreeko13 · Post by **dreeko13** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:31 am

they have came back to me with a figure of 12 pounds an hour to start of with until i nail their style (as they put it)

they seem to have either overlooked or pretended they didnt see my email which asked for 35 pound per hour

I think I shall just walk away rom it as it sounds like a really weak offer considering what i now believe to be the going rate

opinions anyone?

jahnocli · Post by **jahnocli** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:42 am

There are so many factors. Is the work really interesting? Are they prepared to meet you half way with the valuation, and are you prepared to drop your charges a little? 12 quid an hour *is* too low -- but what about £18 an hour while you are "on probation", and £27.50 an hour afterwards? You need a really well-defined probationary period, otherwise tempers can get fraught...

For me, it would depend a lot on how interesting the work is...if it is run-of-the-mill stuff, then I wouldn't give any ground.

HTH

J

artfx · Post by **artfx** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:33 am

heyvern wrote:He treats ALL of his vendors this way. It pays off in the end. He, the client gets excellent work, and the vendor gets a lot more money than they expected to. Everyone is happy.

What a crazy idea!

-vern

They say, "If you wanna get rich, spread the wealth."

artfx · Post by **artfx** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:38 am

dreeko13 wrote:they have came back to me with a figure of 12 pounds an hour to start of with until i nail their style (as they put it)

they seem to have either overlooked or pretended they didnt see my email which asked for 35 pound per hour

I think I shall just walk away rom it as it sounds like a really weak offer considering what i now believe to be the going rate

opinions anyone?

I would walk without question. That is just me personally.

VidE · Post by **VidE** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 7:07 am

$25/hr (approx) does sound low. There are a couple of caveats to just blowing them off though... One already mentioned; is the work interesting? Also, might you be working for a high profile client? If you could use one of those for your portfolio and you've got nothing else going on, it might be worth it for a bit. And/or if you are working with some really good web designers or techs, again, the connectiions might be worth it.

The joy of freelance...decisions, decisions, decisions.