Remove

[TrueNinjalo]

I’m done, thanks

[scotty101]

How much are you willing to pay?

[TrueNinjalo]

Thanks for the shoes

[droleary]

The "going rate" doesn't matter (although it's rather odd that you already have a software developer on the project and still have no idea what to pay). What really matters is what value the work has to you. Either you're willing to share your budget, or you're just not that interested in attracting people who can get things done.

[TrueNinjalo]

The coffee needs some help

[jamesh]

I've edited the above post to make it more forum friendly, and more likely to get a favourable response.

To the OP, worth noting that a half decent software developer is going to charge $300/day, if not more. I'm not sure how long your project would take to finish up, but I suspect $1000's. Please bear that in mind. Might be worth approaching local schools/colleges for students who might be able to take it on as a project towards their certs. If that is a thing in the USA.

[TrueNinjalo]

But that is relative I suppose

[droleary]

As an engineer, I give scopes to companies and asks for quotes all the time.

As do I. Would you say it is a particularly fruitful process to spend that kind of time working out the specs for a client you're not sure is able to pay to get the work done? I've certainly found it to be rather inefficient to have prospective clients ask me (and many other consultants) to do all that work upfront only to find out they didn't have a reasonable budget to hire anyone.

As I said I don’t know what the going rates are for this as I have no idea what is all involved.

As I said, it doesn't matter what the "going rates" are. It only matters what it is worth to you to get things done. You give a bullet list of 4 items you want done. Just attach your budget.

Next, I don’t have a budget.

Everyone has a budget. Some pay more, some pay less. You paid your friend $150 (plus a bonus). The only question before you here is what this new work is worth to you. If saying you have no budget means it's worth $0, just say that. It makes it really easy for someone to decide if they want to volunteer or not.

I may value my time more or less than you or anyone else here.

The value of your time isn't in question. The value of the work you want done is. It should be a really simple question to answer. No rational person here is going to blow a gasket if you say want a custom Raspbian image for $100 (or whatever). Yeah, you might get people who call you cheap, but if that's sincerely your budget, it's a more professional approach than expecting everyone to read your project details and work out a quote, only to jerk the carpet out from under them.

Now, with that said, can you do the work I’m requesting? If so, what kind of compensation would you require? Or let me put it another way. Can you give me a quote for the work I need done.

I can, but you've done nothing to demonstrate that it is worth my, or anyone else's, effort to do so. Indeed, I would have a number of questions about the brief descriptions you've given. It would take quite a bit of back and forth to work out a reasonable spec that I could attach a hard number to. But it's just not that attractive a prospect when you say you have no budget to work with.

So, come on, realize you have to give a little to get a little.

[TrueNinjalo]

Dose this make you feel better?

P.S. you win

[droleary]

It's not about winning anything, it should be about following a rational process to solve your problems. You dumped a lot of project info on a lot of smart people who read these forums. Now you expect them to plan the work you need done to a degree sufficient to give a semi-accurate estimate. But you can't take 5 minutes to ballpark what any of it is worth to you?

So, no, I don't feel good about that approach. It is indistinguishable from sophisticated trolling. It's something I'm seeing quite a lot in these forums (possibly to the extent that it could be classified as an attack), so you'd do well to distance yourself from that kind of behavior if you're sincerely interested in getting things done.

Anyone who posts to Wanted should be willing to say what they are offering in return for what they're asking. If you don't have a budget, you don't have a viable project. It's that simple. It also really helps to have a timeline for completion, but that's beyond the scope of this discussion.

[B.Goode]

Dose this make you feel better?

P.S. you win

Community conduct in these forums is managed in all our interests by a team of volunteer Moderators. You always have the option of using the Report this post option available from every message to ask the Moderators to intervene if you think forum rules are being breached.

[TrueNinjalo]

Sure

[jamesh]

Wow.

That went downhill fast. Not sure what the OP was expecting, but to cut off an experienced supply of help really doesn't seem the right way to go about it.

This forum is full of professional software developers, exactly the sort of person needed for this project....

[TrueNinjalo]

James,
I believe you, but it is also full of people ready to flame you for the slightest preceived notion of ... what ever it was that set them off. I’ll take your advice and shop locally. Thanks again for giving me a price range to start at. I really was clueless to how this should have gone down, but now I have a little more understanding.

[mahjongg]

locking, and no I won't delete the thread.... I regret that you have thought it necessary to sensor what you said.

The point is that with an attitude like "you have to work for free for me" you are alienating the people that could help you.
remember requesting a quote from someone, without a work relationship with him, is also asking someone to work for you for free.


if you make your bed, you have to lie in it.