new freelance programmer needs advice

I've just recently decided to take on some contract programming jobs in my spare time, and hopefully start doing contract work full time. I already have one company that is interested in having me do some contract work, but I don't have have any idea how much I should charge. I would prefer to charge on an hourly basis. I've have people tell me everything from $35/hr to $100/hr. I program in Visual Basic and VB.NET as well as interface between VB/VB.NET and a proprietary language. I live in central United States. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

NateB

NO i personally believe $100/hr for Visual Basics is way over priced. You got to remember Visual Basic is one of the bottom languages so i don't believe you should charge that much. What kind of program are they wanting to be created?

I would recommend broadening your skillset, if you can. You can browse through some online freelance marketplaces to take a look at what sort of jobs are available, just to get an idea.

Well, you have to check what are the competitive prices for this type of work..you can contact several freelance programmers / development companies that advertise on craigslist for example, outline the project scope and ask them for a quote.

After getting 6-7 offers I believe you will be able to judge what is the market price and charge a similar price. If you offer something additional that is worth raising the price a bit - you can do it. But for sure your clients would have done a research on the market prices and if they see you charge too much - they might turn to someone else..so try to stick to what is the reasonable market price for this type of service..

Charging per hour is tricky thing. How does the customer know how long will the task take you? In my opinion it would be better to estimate the time and then charge per project basis.

As for the exact amount per hour, just think how much would you like to take. Keep it reasonable of course