Hi,
I do a lot of VB programming on my own, and have gotten pretty decent at it. From time to time, a couple of people have asked me how much I would charge them for a specific program. Has anyone done this before, where they take "jobs" on their own? I have no idea on how much (or how) to charge on something like that. Thanks.

This is a question that is rather open ended, and doesn't apply strictly to VB. It would be better suited in a geeks lounge, or some other area that refers to non-direct technical VB questions (such as, how would I change the screen saver with VB). However, To answer your question, such an estimation would take knowledge of exactly what needs to be done.... if your client wants me to build an internal messenger system, capable of e-mailing, and Messaging.... while leaving it "business oriented" for their business.... I'm likely going to have to put in a lot more time, and a lot more effort than a simple "parse text file" program, or something less complicated for their human resources.
Not only the amount of "options" and difficulty of implimenting those... but also how much effort and time YOU have to put in to it. If you figure that with all the options they want, it's going to take you a couple days, I'd probably charge less than if it was a project going to take me a couple weeks. This also leaves out questions about the size of the company and their intended uses.... if they want my program on just 1 pc, or will it be on a lot of PC's or on a Network? You really have to examine the project and the situation before giving an estimate or quote of that nature...

Yeah, thanks for the response. I know it isn't a technical question, but since I'm the only one who actually does any programing around here (where I live) just wanted to get a second thought. And I think you're right. Part of the reason why I could not come up with any figures is because of all the process that goes into actually building a quality program. In any case, thanks a lot for the response.

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