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Comment by huhtenberg | Hacker News Reader

A reality check for you.

First, $2500 covers 50 hours of work. Do you think your app can be written in that timeframe ? Hardly. So this amount is not a compensation, it's more of a marginally attractive retainer.

Second, the 10% share is a joke. The reason being is that if there is a written app, then 10% commission gets you a simple e-com distribution (shopping cart, invoicing, payment processing). The 30% commission buys you a "fire and forget" kind of deal - you give the distributor an app, they brand it, promote, market and sell it and they also provide front-line support. THIRTY PERCENT.

You effectively offered a guy a 90% commission deal and now seem to be surprised he isn't happy. I wonder why.

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Nonsense. Once the developer accepts a $2500 offer he is obliged to do his part of the deal. Not to mention that $2500 can be a lot of money for a lot of people.

The 10% share of profits is a sign of good will on behalf of OP. It was not part of the original agreement and in that question is ridiculous to complain that it is too small. The developer is not a cofounder, he is a freelancer.

I'm sorry but contractual obligations will always come before what seems fair or not.

Which part of what I said is a "nonsense" exactly ?

I merely pointed out that ($2500 + 10% of profits) is a patently bad deal for the developer and it explains the sour state of affairs that they both ended up with.

The fact that the developer is not upholding his end of a deal is another matter. I haven't commented on it.

$2500 for 50 hours of work works out to $50 p/hour. I don't know what the fair market rate is for freelance client side app dev, but that sounds a bit low. Most web designers I know bill higher than that. For $50 an hour I'd either expect the developer to be really junior, or experienced but totally unaware of their own value.

Also, I agree that providing a percentage of the possible profits is not a very good motivator. Unless you're some master marketer with proven businesses experience behind you, it's a bad gamble for the programmer.

Offtopic but seriously? $50/hr is low? I've had people tell me that my rate is too high when i was charging $20/hr. I find that a lot of people treat freelancers with a lot of prejudice because of their geographical location..

To the OP. The programmer is black-mailing you. That never ends well. If you can, just scratch the project and start over.

$20/hr is high? I'm sorry, but you're working for the wrong people. There will always be people who want you to make them a full-featured website with forums and interactive crap for $500. Ignore these people - ignore anyone who doesn't know how much your work is worth. Working with them is just asking for trouble.

$50 IS low. Think more about your costs. If anyone tells you anything less than $200/hr is low (as a freelancer), leave them behind you.

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