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    Freelance price range?

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    • R Offline
      rickgraham
      last edited by

      Hi all,

      If this has been asked before, I apologize. I have been contacted by a local design firm to do some 'basic SU models' for them. They are involved in land planning. They are looking for just SU; i.e., no rendering packages needed -which I feel confident I can oblige. Apparently randomly splattering my works on Facebook WILL generate interest! ๐Ÿ˜„

      They asked me for a price for my services. I haven't a clue what to tell them except I did mention that it would depend on the size of the project.

      If any of you can share your range, I'd appreciate it. I know it is going to flux greatly. And if you charge per hour vs. per model, that info would be great too.

      Thanks,

      Rick

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      • thomthomT Offline
        thomthom
        last edited by

        I've not done SU freelance work, instead webdesign freelance. But it works the same anyway. You must work out approximately how much time you'll spend on completing the project, then set a price which makes you go in profit.
        I prefer to set an hourly rate instead of per project. (though you still need to provide an estimate)
        But whatever you do, never set a fixed general rate. "A website" or "A SU model" can be anything - impossible to set a fixed rate.

        As for how much you set your hourly rate at, that would be up to you depending on what you think you need to make a reasonable profit. It also depend on competition.

        Thomas Thomassen โ€” SketchUp Monkey & Coding addict
        List of my plugins and link to the CookieWare fund

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        • boofredlayB Offline
          boofredlay
          last edited by

          I have not done any freelance SU work but have done a good bit of Photoshop freelance. I charge ~ $35 an hour with a "Not to exceed" clause, which depends on the project.

          http://www.coroflot.com/boofredlay

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          • D Offline
            d12dozr
            last edited by

            I've charged $25/hr, with a 'not to exceed' quote as well.

            3D Printing with SketchUp Book
            http://goo.gl/f7ooYh

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            • S Offline
              ScottPara
              last edited by

              Between $50-65 an hour currently but have done work for as much as $100 an hour. All depends on complexity and timing.

              Scott

              Love the fact that some HATE my avatar.....

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              • soloS Offline
                solo
                last edited by

                Scott, wanna sub some work off to me and still make a profit? ๐Ÿ’š

                http://www.solos-art.com

                If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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                • T Offline
                  tomsdesk
                  last edited by

                  Scott, count me onboard with Pete...especially in this economy!

                  Seriously (or rather: also :`) year before last I was getting $40 in the midwest and $50 on the coasts. Right now I'm still happy to take whatever I can get.

                  http://www.tomsdesk.moonfruit.com/
                  2.5D Trees & Shrubs!

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                  • S Offline
                    shipwrght
                    last edited by

                    I've been charging $55/hr, that may include any of the following; concept sketches,overall design concepts, construction details, cutlists, , and building physical prototypes. Mostly this is for yacht interiors, but some house furniture.

                    Dan

                    my website http://www.shipwrightstyle.com

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                    • EarthMoverE Offline
                      EarthMover
                      last edited by

                      I charge $50 /hour. I usually will give a quote based on the project and require to see site photos and drawings before quoting. The project I just finished was quoted at 10-12 hours. I spent close to 20 hours total on the project, but honored my quote. I will adopt a "not to exceed" clause in the future. Not that I every hand someone a bill at twice my quote, but the verbiage sounds reassuring. The one problem with doing something you love on someone else's dime....it's very easy to get carried away and spent a lot longer than planned on little details.

                      Do any of you guys differentiate separate prices for modeling and rendering times?

                      3D Artist at Clearstory 3D Imaging
                      Guide Tool at Winning With Sketchup
                      Content Creator at Skapeup

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                      • juan974J Offline
                        juan974
                        last edited by

                        hello,
                        strange to, i'm new in sketchup (but not in CAD), i was searching for a job on my small island (Reunion island, in indian ocean; french dept, no industries in here !!!!) after leaving Paris (france), a client offers me 600 euros per day (about 850 usd!!!) (first contrac of 4 days) to draw a terrain (mesh is given) whit a field of solar panels, i have to animate then (regarding position of sun) like a field of sun flower.
                        The output is a 3d pdf file whit boton to control animation ...
                        My feeling is that is a lot of money, but in here no body is able to give a 4 dimensions file (like here select umid_M2.pdf
                        what do you think about ?

                        juan974 (Rรฉunion island)
                        website : http://sketchucation.com/click.php?url=http://www.tarn.us

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                        • ArcA Offline
                          Arc
                          last edited by

                          In China less than 20$/hour.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • daleD Offline
                            dale
                            last edited by

                            I'm currently employed full time, but have spent a great deal of time in the past freelancing. I would place my rate at $35-$40/hr (Canadian Dollars) right now, with a maximum clause.
                            But I confess sometimes I know I won't make that rate on a project, but will accept it because it really interests me. Once you get going it will become pretty clear if you are charging too much or to little.

                            Just monkeying around....like Monsanto

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                            • J Offline
                              jaxcoffee
                              last edited by

                              @arc said:

                              In China less than 20 Cents/hour.

                              There! fixed it for you

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • T Offline
                                tallbridgeguy
                                last edited by

                                Hi, great topic. Can I ask where you find most of your work?

                                thanks!

                                s

                                Nielsen
                                http://www.tallbridgeguy.com/

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • O Offline
                                  outland86
                                  last edited by

                                  at $35 to $60 per hour i would be interested to know how many jobs everyone actually gets per year?
                                  and do you all manage to pay your bills doing this fulltime? where does most of your work come from Elance rentacoder?
                                  or word of mouth.

                                  just i put a couple of jobs up on elance and they came back with bids i could not believe mostly from india
                                  and after seeing those i am finding it difficult to see how a US based CAD person could survive that type of competition.

                                  it sounds like its a labor of love in many cases

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                                  • D Offline
                                    d12dozr
                                    last edited by

                                    I never found those online freelance sites to be any good as far as finding jobs...my work is all local. After seeing rates on here, looks like I need to raise my prices ๐Ÿ˜‰

                                    3D Printing with SketchUp Book
                                    http://goo.gl/f7ooYh

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                                    • soloS Offline
                                      solo
                                      last edited by

                                      3d modeling and rendering is indeed a labor of love.

                                      The image of the starving artist has never been so vivid as in this industry, it takes thousands of hours to get to a level where you can offer your services with confidence, it takes thousands of dollars to get the equipment needed to complete such endeavors in a timely manner, then even more thousands to get the software needed to be able to accomplish the expected results and then lets not forget the thousands upon thousands of forum posts and gallery posts in order to sell yourself.

                                      I was watching a PPS documentary on people who are obsessed with online gaming and in the documentary they talked about a company in China that employs hundreds of people to play WOW (world of warcraft) not for entertainment but to collect power-ups, shields, swords, spells, etc They call them โ€˜minersโ€™ and then this company sells these virtual items for real money online at places like EBay, paying the โ€˜workersโ€™ next to nothing for their hours and hours of work.

                                      Sure this industry is not like game mining, but there are very similar parallels, and many freelancers like myself have felt the brunt of it.
                                      I would love to charge $10 p/h but I live in Dallas and I could never support my family on that.

                                      I have a handful of loyal client/friends that keep me chugging along, not enough work to swamp me under at the moment, but sufficient to still be doing what I do.
                                      They know my work is consistent, on time, priced right and they know that they can communicate their ideas, concepts and visions with me and together we will achieve their goals. That is why they return, not because of price, but service.

                                      http://www.solos-art.com

                                      If you see a toilet in your dreams do not use it.

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                                      • B Offline
                                        bob-designer
                                        last edited by

                                        I once had an art director tell me " I don't care if you draw it on toilet paper, I just want results". Sometimes I fell that thats what the art director or client thinks of my work; looks
                                        at it, then uses it to wipe his behind. I do resdential design, including the construction drawings required by the building department; when I can get the work. I would not be doing that, if the person could get building permits with out the drawings. They see my work as
                                        a waste of time and money. But will think nothing of paying a contractor or for the materials
                                        to build their new home. Why, because the will have something real to look at in the end.

                                        When determaning a fee, I obtain as much detail about the project as possible(I call this "putting a fence around the project") doing the work for a contractor or the client.
                                        I approach the client explaining that the "foundation" for a project does not start by
                                        placing forms and pouring concrete at the job site; but starts with a good design and construction drawings. That changing design features is less expensive on the computer; then having the contractor rebuild or change features on the job site. Getting the client to understand that your relationship has value, will help in establishing your fee. Including the quality of your drawings in your descussion with the client. Good drawings=less errows on the job site.

                                        I hope this helps, Bob

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                                        • O Offline
                                          outland86
                                          last edited by

                                          Hello again all

                                          there is a reason why i asked the question before and after reading the responses i feel compelled to ask another question and would be interested to hear your replies

                                          if as a designer you could use your skills to create sinple and even complex designs and products that could be reproduced on robotic tools like CNC routers and Mills and lathes even hotwire foam cutters etc
                                          that you could publish through a common website and make money from your work on an ongoing basis by way of sharing royalty with the publisher of said work.
                                          not unlike turbosquid with 3d models or itunes with musicians songs would that not be a cool way to over time be fairly compensated for your work. the more prolific you are the more you could earn. the better the designs the more you could charge.
                                          would this not be a great way to supplement your income and help offset some of those large costs and thousands of hours put in to learn this craft ?

                                          Roboitc tools are coming of age and in the near future i see robotic routers in every home depot and hardware store, opening up a huge oppurtunity for you modelers artists and designers to supply a hungry global market of hobby and semi pro robotic tool owners with pre packaged design content ๐Ÿ˜„ FABS

                                          all that was needed was a few standards and basic rules to follow so that the end user or robotic tool owner could simply plug and play the files....... follow a few simple instructions inculded in the FAB and presto your design pops up in workshops dens and basements all over the world.... distributed manufacturing green and clean and a new way for you to make a living

                                          i am building a website just for you guys and Gals and maybe just maybe it will work

                                          its a work in progress but i am working hard to get it up and running

                                          check it out

                                          Link Preview Image
                                          FabsCity

                                          We offer a large collection of high quality African Prints, Laces, Satin, Cotton, velvet & much more! We ship worldwide! Fast DHL Express shipping available for many common countries such as United States, Canada, Australia and many others. This means the transit time for these locations is 6-7 business days.

                                          favicon

                                          FabsCity (www.fabscity.com)

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                                          • J Offline
                                            jaxcoffee
                                            last edited by

                                            @outland86 said:

                                            Hello again all

                                            there is a reason why i asked the question before and after reading the responses i feel compelled to ask another question and would be interested to hear your replies

                                            if as a designer you could use your skills to create sinple and even complex designs and products that could be reproduced on robotic tools like CNC routers and Mills and lathes even hotwire foam cutters etc
                                            that you could publish through a common website and make money from your work on an ongoing basis by way of sharing royalty with the publisher of said work.
                                            not unlike turbosquid with 3d models or itunes with musicians songs would that not be a cool way to over time be fairly compensated for your work. the more prolific you are the more you could earn. the better the designs the more you could charge.
                                            would this not be a great way to supplement your income and help offset some of those large costs and thousands of hours put in to learn this craft ?

                                            Roboitc tools are coming of age and in the near future i see robotic routers in every home depot and hardware store, opening up a huge oppurtunity for you modelers artists and designers to supply a hungry global market of hobby and semi pro robotic tool owners with pre packaged design content ๐Ÿ˜„ FABS

                                            all that was needed was a few standards and basic rules to follow so that the end user or robotic tool owner could simply plug and play the files....... follow a few simple instructions inculded in the FAB and presto your design pops up in workshops dens and basements all over the world.... distributed manufacturing green and clean and a new way for you to make a living

                                            i am building a website just for you guys and Gals and maybe just maybe it will work

                                            its a work in progress but i am working hard to get it up and running

                                            check it out

                                            Link Preview Image
                                            FabsCity

                                            We offer a large collection of high quality African Prints, Laces, Satin, Cotton, velvet & much more! We ship worldwide! Fast DHL Express shipping available for many common countries such as United States, Canada, Australia and many others. This means the transit time for these locations is 6-7 business days.

                                            favicon

                                            FabsCity (www.fabscity.com)

                                            Add a Historic preservation element to what you are doing, and I'm there.

                                            Here is a little taste of what I mean.

                                            Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

                                            favicon

                                            (sketchup.google.com)

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