Hacker News Reader

Comment by mantas | Hacker News Reader

Been there, had most of those (and many other similar) situations..

The worst customer experience... Once a guy called me and asked for a quote. I told I prefer hourly rate * hours worked and explained why it's better for him. He called me crazy and insisted on fixed quote, although he wasn't even sure what he exactly wants. I did fast calculation in my mind and gave him a rough quote. I was bargaining at that time and quote was really very low. Then client did a fast calculation on his end and was lecturing me for ~ 45 minutes that I'm ridiculously expensive and I won't have any clients unless I lower my prices 3x and how dare I charge average monthly salary (for probably 2+ months work...) if I never went to university and so on..

Fast forward 1.5 years - I charge 4x more than in those days and I'm fully booked...

View on HN

Back when I was contracting, I knew it was time to raise my rates if I hadn't been told I was too expensive recently.

After years of doing contracting, I've found a general pattern where the clients that wanted to the pay the very least, tended to cause me the most headaches, cause the most scope creep, be the most anal, etc. I also found that doing fixed fee contracts were the most likely to cause both sides problems. I also found another interesting pattern where the clients who treated me with the most skepticism or paranoia ended up being the ones who themselves were the most problematic or dishonest with me. Another pattern I've seen is that whichever side throws out a dollar figure first, almost always "loses" in the negotiations (meaning, gets a deal that is less beneficial to them in terms of dollar cost/income.) General trends, not without exceptions.

Also, there's no such thing as a single standard rate. Varies by skill set, by person, by project, by time/situation, by non-monetary factors (the strategic benefits or opportunity costs of doing a deal/project, etc.) So when someone asks me what's my rate, it signals to me that they are, at least somewhat, a newbie and/or unsophisticated (even if "experienced"). Instead, you tell me what you (think you) want. I tell you whether (I think) I can provide that. We go back and forth. Then somebody (hopefully the other guy) throws out a figure. The other accepts or counter-proposes a different figure/terms. Back and forth. Then shake/sign on something. Move on. Repeat.

So is it time to go 5-6x?

the cheaper your hourly rate is, the less that people respect you, simple.

if your not told your expensive on a monthly basis your too cheap

Hmm. Not sure if I was interpreted as saying something different (considering you have 3x the upvotes) but I agree.

If I wasn't clear, I was saying: if you're fully booked and charging 4x what you were once told is too much, are you considering increasing your rate? In general, I would say you should but I was interesting in hearing this person's thoughts.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com