How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

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jack_indigo
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How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by jack_indigo »

If a client asks you to build a drag and drop layout manager similar to the one in Facebook, using jQuery, AJAX, PHP, and MySQL, what is the lowest price you would build this for? (Please also state your host country so that I can get an idea on exchange rate. I'm in the USA.)
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califdon
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by califdon »

How long would it take you to do such a job?
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Kieran Huggins
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by Kieran Huggins »

give them the drag for free, then charge double for the drop.
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Benjamin
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by Benjamin »

Your just going to have to break it down into pieces, calculate (estimate) how long each piece will take to complete, then multiply that by your hourly rate. Then either add or subtract hours depending on whether you usually over or underestimate completion times. If you have never made anything like that before you'll probably want to multiply it by two so the unexpected is covered.
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

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Jenk
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by Jenk »

Not much, as when using scriptaculous on Seaside, I can finish the task inside of an hour.
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by onion2k »

Jenk wrote:Not much, as when using scriptaculous on Seaside, I can finish the task inside of an hour.
That's not how you should calculate quotes. It's 'cutting edge', and that means you can charge a lot for it. The fact it's easy just means you make more profit.
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by jack_indigo »

Outstanding, Kieran! Thanks on that.
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Jenk
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by Jenk »

onion2k wrote:
Jenk wrote:Not much, as when using scriptaculous on Seaside, I can finish the task inside of an hour.
That's not how you should calculate quotes. It's 'cutting edge', and that means you can charge a lot for it. The fact it's easy just means you make more profit.
We prefer the honesty approach, and the only expense is our time. And let's face it.. you may quote a few hundred $'s whilst I'll be quoting a lot less.. who is going to get the business?
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Benjamin
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by Benjamin »

Yeah + future business from the client as well.
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by matthijs »

Jenk wrote:
onion2k wrote:
Jenk wrote:Not much, as when using scriptaculous on Seaside, I can finish the task inside of an hour.
That's not how you should calculate quotes. It's 'cutting edge', and that means you can charge a lot for it. The fact it's easy just means you make more profit.
We prefer the honesty approach, and the only expense is our time. And let's face it.. you may quote a few hundred $'s whilst I'll be quoting a lot less.. who is going to get the business?
That has nothing to do with being honest. You can't convince me that you:
a) don't have any overhead to pay
b) your workweek of 40 hours is always completely filled
c) you haven't had to invest any time or money in education, research and development, etc
d) as a company you don't want to make a profit
Is Apple not being honest because that computer they sell was made for $500, while I have to pay $1000?

There's always two things: you have to earn enough to survive and make profit. And second you have to see what value you are bringing the client. If building something is a lot of value to a client, you can charge more.

As to the original question: to me "a drag and drop layout manager similar to the one in Facebook, using jQuery, AJAX, PHP, and MySQL" doesn't sound like a less then an hour job. I mean, even communicating with the client, sending back and forth a few emails and having a few telephone conversations already takes a lot more time then that.

So I have to agree with astions here: estimate how long it takes, multiply by a factor.
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by JayBird »

Jenk wrote:
onion2k wrote:
Jenk wrote:Not much, as when using scriptaculous on Seaside, I can finish the task inside of an hour.
That's not how you should calculate quotes. It's 'cutting edge', and that means you can charge a lot for it. The fact it's easy just means you make more profit.
We prefer the honesty approach, and the only expense is our time. And let's face it.. you may quote a few hundred $'s whilst I'll be quoting a lot less.. who is going to get the business?
Pitching for business isn't only about price.

...and i totally agree with onion2k
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Jenk
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by Jenk »

matthijs wrote:
Jenk wrote:
onion2k wrote: That's not how you should calculate quotes. It's 'cutting edge', and that means you can charge a lot for it. The fact it's easy just means you make more profit.
We prefer the honesty approach, and the only expense is our time. And let's face it.. you may quote a few hundred $'s whilst I'll be quoting a lot less.. who is going to get the business?
That has nothing to do with being honest. You can't convince me that you:
a) don't have any overhead to pay
b) your workweek of 40 hours is always completely filled
c) you haven't had to invest any time or money in education, research and development, etc
d) as a company you don't want to make a profit
Is Apple not being honest because that computer they sell was made for $500, while I have to pay $1000?

There's always two things: you have to earn enough to survive and make profit. And second you have to see what value you are bringing the client. If building something is a lot of value to a client, you can charge more.

As to the original question: to me "a drag and drop layout manager similar to the one in Facebook, using jQuery, AJAX, PHP, and MySQL" doesn't sound like a less then an hour job. I mean, even communicating with the client, sending back and forth a few emails and having a few telephone conversations already takes a lot more time then that.

So I have to agree with astions here: estimate how long it takes, multiply by a factor.
My hourly rate already accounts for all of those, and any proprietry license costs are passed directly onto the client. My work week is constantly full. The only time I'll over charge (which is what you are doing) is when I do not want the work.
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califdon
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by califdon »

Jenk wrote:My hourly rate already accounts for all of those, and any proprietry license costs are passed directly onto the client. My work week is constantly full. The only time I'll over charge (which is what you are doing) is when I do not want the work.
We all have different levels of comfort with respect to our relations to our clients and I won't criticize anyone who is satisfied with their own approach. If it works for you, it's the right approach for you. That said, as long as you have clients willing to pay what you ask for your services, you're not over-charging. A similar point is made abundantly clear in economics courses, the operation of supply and demand; the only valid indicator that something is over-priced is when consumers begin to cut back on their consumption. So if you are fully booked, it can be a sign that you could legitimately charge more. Of course, if you are not fully booked, it can be a sign that you may be charging too much. The trick is to find the point at which the consumer behavior is about to change. I need not remind anybody that the current high gasoline prices are finally beginning to affect the way we drive, use public transport, buy smaller vehicles, etc.
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Re: How Much To Charge for Drag & Drop?

Post by matthijs »

Jenk wrote:My hourly rate already accounts for all of those, and any proprietry license costs are passed directly onto the client. My work week is constantly full. The only time I'll over charge (which is what you are doing) is when I do not want the work.
That's a weird thing to say. So anyone who charges more then what is needed for a minimal wage is "overcharging"? Any lawyer out there, every well-paid consultant is overcharging?

What Califdon said is true. It's just a matter of demand. And value. One person want to pay you 500 for a logo. Another will be happy to pay you 3000 for a logo. A big company will pay 10000. Same amount of work for you.
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