Just starting out.. How much should I charge for a PHP web applications site?

[sandpc]

Hi, I'm just starting out in freelancing. I am being offered a pretty big job that would require about 80 mini-applications/operations on a database through a website interface (PHP/MySQL). Most "operations" require data input and validation and report making. I know most programmers charge a rate per hour but I'm not really sure how long this would take me, since a lot of the time I will probably be learning how to do things as I go along. My guess is that it would be around 3 months. The organization I'm working for would like to know from the start how much the job will cost overall. My question really is, how much would you charge if you had a similar job offer? I know I'm not being very specific about it, but just based on what I described how much might you charge? Thanks!

[Adam]

I don't think you should base your prices on what some of the freelancers here would charge. As you said, you're learning as you go which puts you in a different position. Does the client know that, as current, you aren't able to do what you're saying you will do?

[sandpc]

Yes, the client knows that I'm just starting out, and I do have experience in the requirements for the project, it's just a lot bigger than other projects I've worked on before. I just wanted to get a vague idea of what others might charge for something similar because I really don't know what would be a fair range to negotiate with the client.

[l4nc3r]

Hey man, along with anything you'd find with a plain ol' Google search, you can check out a series I wrote on quoting projects here: How to Create Accurate Quotes Pt. 1: Modeling Potential Projects

 

The basic premise is you create a model for each project, create a time to complete the project from the model, and then multiply that by your desired rate.  Also, even if you're learning as you go (which I still do for 90% of my projects), you need to do some research before hand to get a good idea of how long it's going to take you.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Tucker

[cssfreakie]

Yes, the client knows that I'm just starting out, and I do have experience in the requirements for the project, it's just a lot bigger than other projects I've worked on before. I just wanted to get a vague idea of what others might charge for something similar because I really don't know what would be a fair range to negotiate with the client.

 

It really depends on you clients, their needs and your experience. What could be nice is to ask yourself what would be a fair price? (what would i pay if i were him).

say you know nothing about css, and you need 3 months to create something that is not even valid. can you even ask that amount of time? even if you ask 10 dollars an hour that would be extremely expensive and the result is garbage. While a professional probably can make that in 1 day. Now it would be pretty odd if that professional would earn less than a rookie, so they pump up the hourly rate. People that hire you expect you to know your stuff, if they know you still need to learn they probably have a max they are willing to pay for it.

Making a website requires knowledge, thus time invested studying, not everyone can because they lack brains. So don't compare yourslef to someone flipping hamburgers.

 

So don't rob your clients serve them, with quality and they will stick even if someone else is cheaper.

[crmamx]

Man, that is just simple math. I need to make $80,000 a year so that divided by 3 months =

 

$20,000....