What is a fair price to pay someone for construction?

Whats a fair price to pay someone to design and construct a building for you? Let's say you estimate that it's about 3-5 hours work total and that the builder is skilled but still relatively inexperienced.

if that builder was me, 20k L$ would be a fair price

Hmm... about $80 US. So you definitely think of it terms of real world dollars?

I'm using my real world brain and creative energy to make you a house, so yes.

LF

Designing and constructing a 3-D virtual space for someone is worth just as much as designing and constructing a 2-D virtual space (web site) for someone.

The price would depend on the creators' experience and what the market will bear. Currently SL has a limited market (40,000 users) and a small number designers or design groups that can handle projects from start to completion in a professional manner. That's like a small town. One might not be able to charge what someone in a big city charges but that will change as SL gets larger. Also, there is a spectrum of content creators from beginner to professional (and subjectively, talented and not) and each should charge according to what level of skill they bring to the table. Someone who's work is highly recognizeable or sought after may be able to charge more since their services would be more in demand.

Make sure the person you are considering has a portfolio of work to justify their fee. Also, you should check with some of their past clients to see if the work was performed to their satisfaction. A reputable designer/content producer would be happy to supply you with names of their past clients to help you make your decision.

Five hours of work for US$80 or L$20,800 for a quality designer/content producer is a steal. That's $16/hr. U.S. After taxes they would be looking at about US$56 or $11/hr. And that's an entry level production artist wage in a large U.S. city. Of course another variable is that SL content creators are from different parts of the world, so that US$16/hr rate might look like a goldmine to someone in a different part of the globe where economic conditions aren't the same.

Interesting potential leveling out of the playing field. May the best content creator win!

Well, I know how much I've been paid for real world design work. And it's certainly a lot more than $16 an hour. However, we are talking about SL economy, not the real world US economy. No one is going to act as a dancer or a manager of a club for 50 cents an hour or less in the real world. And yet plenty do in SL. It's much more like third world level wages for unskilled work at least.

I guess my question is. Do that many designers/builders actually get $20 an hour or more to do work in SL? It's all fine and dandy for me to quote 5000L an hour, but is anyone going to actually pay that unless my designs are absolutely amazing?

The Lindens are currently paying 5 individuals/groups $15,000 ea. for the construction of train stations.

If one manages to complete one in under 3 hours then you have an example of it right there.

That's a contest, not a payment. How many countless hours are people going to spend creating designs that don't get picked? That's a lot of work creating proposed builds that most people will not get reimbursed for. Besides, I'm guessing the winners are going to spend a lot more than 3 hours on their design. It's an interesting contest, which I will likely submit a design, but it's not a good example of people getting paid for their work.

In any case, the contest is off topic. I still want to know if there is anyone actually making a significant hourly wage building structures in SL.

I'd assume price per hour equals pricing of a standard bought "pre-fab" Around 1-2K. (price will probably vary by size)
Multiply this by hours.
If complex design there would be an appropriate charge.
Permissions mutiplier. If full permissions multiplier of 3 as you could turn around and sell it. Or maybe a reduced price if builder is allowed to sell it.
Annoyance charge. (extra charge if you keep bugging me "is it done yet" and 24 hours have not even passed.)

Add pricing for expendatures for textures bought/uploaded. Rate would equal what was spent...maybe mutiplied by 1.1 to give a bit of incentive for time spent searching or upladoing. (might be added at end?)

Some of my idea may be off I haven't been pre-fab shopping latly or house shopping period for that matter so am not sure what standard price is. Also I have seen pricing "By prim"

Yes that is a contest. They are inflating the price to induce more to participate.

I agree that bringing up the train station building opportunity didn't answer your question directly. As to your original question, I have yet to hear of anyone making a decent hourly wage building structures. At least not for those of us in the U.S. and other developed countries. The comparison to a third world economy makes sense to me. That and the perception of SL by some as a game or hobby plays a role in setting prices as well.

Still, I think that the Lindens recent efforts to pay residents for content creation could be viewed, in part, as helping to set some sort of standard (or get the idea in people's minds) that content creation and building could be money making opportunities.

The Lindens have seemed to try and jumpstart movements in the past by tossing something out to get the ball rolling. Like building the Luna Mall to inspire residents to create shopping experiences or creating the city sims to encourage or introduce the idea of creating large urban environments. I have been looking at their recent activity of soliciting bids for constructing projects as something along those lines. Perhaps more folks in need of building assistance will begin to solicit for bids in a similar way as a result? Or even just get used to the idea of contracting someone to build for them for a fee.

With more activity of this nature perhaps we will start to see some more concrete valutions as they pertain to building structures for others? (Two of the train stations were without any submitted bids at one point, perhaps L$15,000 wasn't enough money for some people to expend the effort). At what point is it worth it to someone to spend the time constructing buildings/creating content for others inworld?

It would be helpful to see recent examples of what sort of hourly wages people have been paying/charging for work in SL. I wish I could contribute to such a list to get the ball rolling, but I haven't had time to really pursue that firsthand yet.

Anyone else have some real inworld experience?

Part of the reason SL going rates are lower is because, technically, anyone can build. An SL architect doesn't need a certain degree or CAD skills, or any knowledge of what materials can support what weight, or what direction windows should face for optimum light/energy retention balance. If a newbie had the choice to hire someone for $20,000 or figure it out themselves/get a friend to do it, choosing option B seems inevitable. And it only helps bring the wages down a little. In RL if you were poor, I doubt you'd consider getting your drinking buddy to build your house (unless you were drunk at the time).

It would be less than accurate to draw this conclusion from the Station competition as this status was posted nearly 2 weeks prior to the deadline and it no longer holds true. The amount of prize money involved is more likely seen as an indicator that a high level of quality is expected and people may be spending more time on it than they would have had it been a $500 competion.