Fair Market Value For Custom Builds

I'm not sure if I'm charging enough for when I do custom builds. What is the going rate for building the following:

1/4 of a Sim
1/2 of a Sim
3/4 of a Sim
An entire Sim

And how much is added on to those prices for custom textures used in the build and other extras?

Thanks in advance!

Sorry, but the answer is always "it depends."

I know quite a few builders, professional ones who do entire sims for prestige, no pay.

If you feel you're undercharging, why not increase your fees?

Or charge on a per-prim basis - subject to initial shape modified by amount of prim torture required to produce a satisfactory result...

Same with custom textures...


...or...

Add a PITA clause...

For the employer....

or the builder ??

Every job is different, the only reasonable and professional way to do it is to estimate the number of hours it will take you to do the work and multiply that by the hourly rate you expect for your time, including custom textures, etc.

I rebuilt a skybox recently for a customer, replacing the original build shape (wall for wall, floor for floor) with textures he preferred, i added pillars, a unique fireplace, a huge table and 8 chairs, and several items of other furniture built to order. That was agreed at the start.

I charged him 5000 L$ but when he started wanting other things on top of that, i charged per item.

I know i probably undercharged him but I am not the best builder in SL and I felt happy with the deal. He was happy with the end result and the build did look good, though i says it meself, as shouldnt.

I counted it as a learning experience for me (having never done a build replacement like that before) and he got something he preferred at the end of it. I also got some other work from it by recommendation from the guy. Big plus for me, I love that.

Just saying really that "it depends" like a previous poster said.

Imogen.

I really hope that eventually good builds would go for about $5000USD.

It really depends a lot on what your skills are, what is being asked for, and the level of effort required. I would charge a lot more for a replica of the Imperial Palace in Shenyang China, with photo-realistic textures made from on-site photos of the original RL buildings, than I would for a simple typical SL house with only half a dozen of my stock textures needed.

When I price out a big bid, I consider roughly how many prims it will take to build it well, how many custom textures will be needed, how many special scripts, whether they need custom terraforming or landscaping... and I price out each section as a specific line item in their bid. We agree in advance on that bid, and on what is being asked for. If they start adding new stuff, that requires re-negotiating for the additional work. If they eliminate certain parts, they don't pay for the parts that get scrapped before building commences. If they halt work partway through a project phase, they pay for the effort spent to that point. So for example if I am halfway through building a two story house for them, and they suddenly say "we changed our mind, scrap it.", then they pay half of what we agreed on for that part of the project.

What individual Builders charge varies a lot, from free, to fairly affordable, to "you better have a Corporate backer to pay for this". A big factor is how large a crew they can apply to the task, and how skilled that crew is. A one-person shop won't usually charge as much as a larger firm that will assign 12 people to do the work faster.

Another factor is what can the client afford, and what are they willing to spend? I've given some real price breaks to newbies who wanted a custom dream home, but had a tight budget. And I have LOST bids for Corporate clients because my bid was "Too low"! The big Corporation didn't think they could get quality work for the reasonable price I quoted them, because they had anticipated spending far more.

I would say at least 25K per hour. After all, you are the one responsible to make it happen... A small fee to pay IMO.

I.E; Linden Labs charge us few REAL $$$$ for Mainland/Private SIMs + TIER..., that's big bucks.
Lately they are stuffing their pockets to death, while they can... So, I think your time is worth money too.

Seems like a rate per space like this would be a bad idea to me. Surely you don't want to charge the same for the Lost Gardens of Apollo as you would for a nature preserve?

Go with some of the good advice in the above posts.

I would also take into account the cost of using prefabs to decorate a sim. You could have a cookie cutter building, or you could have a unique building. Cookie cutter buildings of a certain style cost how much? Then add some value from there.

Ah, thank you all for the advice. So far this will help me a lot.

To Expand:
Pricing would depend Upon;
-The Complexity of the Build (1/4 sim Sized Checkerboard, or Accurate to the millimeter reproduction of Notre Dam De Paris).

-The Skills of the Builder (Capable of Building only a 1/4 sim Sized Checkerboard, or an Accurate to the Millimeter reproduction of Notre Dam De Paris).

-Time Frame involved (Need that Cathedral by Day after tomorrow, or that Checkerboard for the First Annual SL Fourth of July Humongous Checkers Championships Next year).

-And a certain amount will Depend upon the builders Mood at the time pricing is set.

Unless you can build something yourself, Then it's pretty much a builders market, they set the Prices on what THEY judge the Job is Worth. If you are Not sure you Agree, Look for Another builder.

Angel.

You also have the other pricing dilemma.

Most builders work out how many hours they spend, and realise they undercharged.

Most clients think you charge too much, forgetting that custom design work (rl) by a graphic artist would charge 2-3x as much per hour. Just because it's "virtual" doesn't actually make the effort any less.

I know several builders, most of their work is negotiable based on the clients request. There's a standard pricing structure, plus a load of optional add ons like the reg.api interface which the client can then pick and choose what they want.