> I'm asking why you see yourself as a seller-like-WalmartI see myself as a seller, and sellers have largely chosen the fee up front model because it is more efficient.
If you need an income of $150K per year for your time, you're probably not going to find many who really wanted to offer you $200K, and you're probably going to deal with a lot of people who only want to offer you $50K. Why would you want to spend potentially months or years in talks with people who cannot afford you just to finally find the gem who wants to pay you even more? Setting your price at $150K gets you talking with people who will pay you that much.
Even if you managed to get an offer $50K above your hidden asking price, does that justify the time spent finding it when you consider average employment terms? You cannot look for work for free. It is actually quite expensive.
I will add that setting yourself apart means, well, doing that. You shouldn't even consider doing what other people are doing anyway if you agree with me on the premise of not wanting to become a commodity.
> If the company also can't price the tasks they need finished, how is anyone else (i.e. the employee) supposed to know?
Does it matter? People selling their employable services tend to price them by the hour, day, month, or year. If the project costs $100K or $1B, it doesn't really matter from your perspective, unless you are concerned about the well-being of the investing party – but that is a risk even with low costs.