I was wondering how do you decide how much to charge for contracts? do you decide based on time/difficulty or something else?

"Difficulty"? Difficulty basically comes down to time, does it not? I can't imagine something really difficult being accomplishable in 30 seconds, but if it was, then really you could only charge for the 30 seconds.
So. Difficulty is time.

Freelance work is usually charged by the piece or by the hour. What kind of work are you talking about? 3D graphics? Music?

Here is a good discussion around that question. As a starting point, it should--obviously, I think--be significantly higher than what you would make as a full time employee with benefits.

There's a lot of things to consider when you do contract/freelance work.

You have to calculate what you feel that you're worth per hour. Then determine how many hours it's going to take to complete whatever you're given.

You can't just come up with a random amount... you need to consider cost of living and of course, profit.

I'm assuming you haven't done a lot, if any contract work before... There is also a factor of whether or not you feel you can do it enough and get enough of it to make a living off of it. If it's just extra money then just figure out what your time per hour is worth.

The short answer is... you have to figure it out for yourself. :)

edit: Oh I also forgot, you need to take into account who your client is... If they are a big business, you'll be able to charge more... if it's just some guy and you know he isn't really that rich, you can't expect him to be able to pay you that well.

And don't forget, if you ask too much, they can hire somebody else. But if you ask too little, you're setting a bad precedent for future work with that client.

Oh no im not looking to do any freelance work myself but I just came across a website that does that sort of thing and I was wondering how do you decide how much to charge

Quote: Original post by Shadowwoelf
Oh no im not looking to do any freelance work myself but I just came across a website that does that sort of thing and I was wondering how do you decide how much to charge

I love idle curiosity. Well, now you know.

Ask for an offer and decide if its worth your time. Your rate will depend on your amount of experience also.