Designer required for jobs

[ss-kalm]

I certainly wouldn't be giving up my free time for less than I earn at the office.

[handrawn]

on the wall in our kitchen hangs a sign that says: the cook accepts tips not advice

in that spirit here's a tip - don't pay by the hour, pay a fixed fee per completed job: piece work - this how I operate; I don't tell people how long it takes me to do something, they don't ask / tell me their guestimate; it saves arguments; I don't have to explain why it took a couple of hours to draw boris johnson but three days to do mitch mcconnell, and then have grief sorting out what should be paid; all that is needed is a deadline, if I miss it I get nowt [ziltch]

[behzad]

I never charge by the hour. I charge by the value I bring to the table. With over 30 years of design experience my rates are high. I have been there done that low balling. I would say possibly some newcomer to xara with no experience who lives in his parents basement and needs beer money can get paid an entry fee. I also do not like how a client dictates how long it should take.

[ss-kalm]

i used to work for a gentleman, who gave us work on the side occasionally, as the office was so busy. On these extra projects he said "You get $500 ... I don't care whether it takes 1 hr or 500 hrs. The project is worth $500 to me and that's what I'll pay you.

[Acorn]

There is no happy compromise to this.

I PM'd early on and I declined, gracefully I hope.

My logic was simple - the rate was too low for the throughput involved.

$15/h for 1-5 jobs/w (median 3/w) would only realise $20/w and over a full year $1,000. Tax would reduce this to $600. (Simplistic but I might gain a tad on VAT, yet lose on Corporation Tax).
Dead time would involve email receipt and despatch. I would have to double the rate or my equity is only $300.
The company would always have a deadline so I would be tied Monday to Friday not knowing. Fallow time would be a 50% hike. Equity is now $200.

I would have to keep a licensed version of XDPX as I consider myself to be a professional in all my engagements. Annual cost $200. Equity is now zero.

None of this covers company insurance and other company outgoings.
Certainly, none of it reflects my Xara Desktop Application experience.
A minimum offer would have to be $50/job or $85/h plus a XDXP licence to be attractive.

My next thought was I could probably manage 4 labels and hour.
This would have to be delivery on a Tuesday for return by a Friday.
That said, why would I ever give away my graft at $3.75 each?

As I am probably one of the most experienced XDA specialists there is, modesty aside, I thought that I could probably automate the whole process.
An Intranet-based Xara Widget (XWR) might fit the bill. My bill might have been around $1,500, giving a ROI of 18 months.

I hope that Greg offers whoever takes on the work a better set of terms.
It truly boils down to what is this label's production worth to me, my company and my customer.

Acorn

P.S. I have put this up to allow other designers to reassess their worth and potential customers to realise the costs involved.
I tailor my rates to the circumstance. More often than not, a first-time happy customer is a repeat customer who is more than willing to pay an equitable rate.