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I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

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Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#301

Post by Moru »

derefr wrote: post #200
rocky1138 wrote: post #10

This is how corporate works. They have budgets for things. The money doesn't come out of the pocket of the person who cuts the cheque. You send in an invoice and it gets paid. If it doesn't, the company is insolvent or they are at risk to lawsuits which will cost them more than your paltry $18000. But they don't even think about the lawsuit part. Bill comes in, cheque goes out.

How do they prevent paying random people who decide it'd be funny to send them an invoice?

This happens more than you would like to know. Especially during summer vacations. You need some sort of tracking system to know what to pay and what not to.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#302

Post by andy_adams »

dymk wrote: post #268
gk1 wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What if the project was billed at a fixed cost, he negotiated $21k, but the project took a year to complete because the company moved so slowly? Simple: Charge $21k per month. If the company drags it for a year then you make $252k.

Okay. Why not charge $X per 2 weeks? Or X per week? Or X per day? Or X per quarter? The granularity here is entirely arbitrary. Hourly billing is by far the industry standard. That's why we default to it. It's easy to justify in court, it's easy to reason about contracts which use it.

But the granularity isn't arbitrary!

If you're billing hourly, and the client chooses not to use your time, you don't work any hours and you don't get paid. If you then billed them for 100 hours without working, you've committed fraud.

If you're billing monthly, you've set aside the month for the client. If they choose not to use your time, you still get paid, because in your agreement you specified "use my time it or lose it".

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#303

Post by vidarh »

jkingsbery wrote: post #122
ryanbrunner wrote: post #3

Entertaining story - although as advice to anyone reading it, running up the clock without proactively notifying people that you're going way beyond your original estimate is a very good way to make getting paid incredibly difficult.

Alternatively (or in addition): sending invoices periodically.

I thought no that's the reason why right answer. He could be as much in the right as possible, and but he still took significant risk that they might argue, delay and force him to go to court or negotiate to get them to pay.

Sometimes it might be worth it - maybe the plug would have been pulled sooner if he had invoiced regularly. But it's still a risk.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#304

Post by Moru »

At a company a few years ago, we paid about $25k for a website layout delivered in .psd, a coloursheet as a .pdf and a recommendation on a typeface. The boss was not happy and the defence was sort of "It was very hard work to select just the right colors and font, we have used many hours!" (Not exact words but something in that direction)

So yeah, they beat you :-)

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#305

Post by comradesmith »

JabavuAdams wrote: post #290
blunte wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've lived this. Myself and a very expensive team of EY kids were waiting eagerly every day for anyone in corp management to throw us any kind of tasks. On the rare occasion that we were given a task, we would all descend upon one computer like vultures, group-solving the problem typically in 60minutes or less. Then it was back to doing nothing. Diplomacy (the game) became our primary activity. It was fun, but such a…

What are EY kids?

Earnest and Young placed contractors?

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#306

Post by pjc50 »

sharkweek wrote: post #176
botverse wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which government? Which world?

I'd assume in almost every country, their federal government is the biggest employer, but that'd actually be interesting data to try and find.

The world's three largest employers are apparently the US DOD, the PLA of China, and ... Walmart.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#307

Post by lallysingh »

peteradio wrote: post #73
sharkweek wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Big companies (rather, people at big companies) WANT to spend money on this kind of stuff for all sorts of reasons. -A team might have use-it-or-lose-it budget, so they have to spend it on something, and a contractor might be the lucky recipient! -Tax purposes! -Spending a lot on a contractor gives them someone to "fire" when they need to explain why something wasn't getting done or something went poorly! The list go…

Unless you are getting taxed >100% I never understood why you'd want to throw away money for "tax reasons". Can someone please help me understand this, it always comes up and I feel dumb for not understanding.

Sometimes to get yourself in a lower bracket.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#308

Post by JudgeWapner »

jld wrote: post #183
lone_haxx0r wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least private companies are losing their own earned money when they're inefficient, not someone else's.

How are dollars I have paid to the government any more mine than dollars I have paid to a company?

government has people with guns to force its income stream. corporations do not.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#309

Post by dwaltrip »

lone_haxx0r wrote: post #177
madeofpalk wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its stories (and personal experience) like this that make me laugh when people try and say that governments are inefficient and lacks accountability.

At least private companies are losing their own earned money when they're inefficient, not someone else's.

Private companies are also dependent on a highly developed society to make everything they do possible.

There are many reasons that Google and Amazon didn't exist a thousand years ago, and it isn't solely due to the lack of computing technology.

And so it is entirely sensible that everyone should contribute towards keeping the highly developed society functioning as best as it can.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#310

Post by endtime »

I've had a couple experiences getting paid to do nothing for a couple months, one during a summer research project in undergrad and one at a big tech company. I found it far more stressful and less valuable than if I'd had actual work to do.
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