Pricing Questions - Custom Island Development

I realize this is a rather difficult and openended question that is very subjective to a lot of factors. But I hope to gain a little insight regardless from the lovely and knowledgable folks on this forum. (Don't bite!)

I am owner and developer of two Sims. Brythony and Caer Llyr. I have built along with my "creative partner" just about everything on the two isles - custom textures - landscaping - blah blah blah. They have been relatively successful and we have had a fair amount of RL press (we cater to the RL fantasy art world - have RL artists in SL with galleries and whatnot - fans come to live and hang out)

Because of this I have been approached by three seperate companies to develop islands and an SL presence for them.

I gave them all the standard lecture - don't expect to make money - it is more for marketing yadda yadda. They were not deterred and are anxious to get started. One even has had contact with AHEM a well known SL development company and was not happy with their prices.

While I am interested in doing this I havent the faintest idea how to price it - what to charge? I do moonlight a bit designing websites and as a graphic artist - something i have done for years and never have had much trouble estimating the pricing of jobs in that regard....But jeez louize I am at a loss here folks. Thing is any ONE of these projects could monopolize my whole year. No doubt I will need to assemble a team for some help and pay them. But lordy...where does one even begin to price this out?

Any ideas?

~B

Charge them enough that the whole thing is worth your time.

You could bounce that back to them and ask what their (approximate) budget is for the kind of build they want.

If there are parts that you would need outside help for (scripts, animations, texture design, etc...) inquire with people you know you could contract to do that and get a quote from them.

If you add up all your expenses and deduct it from their budget, you'll hopefully get an idea of what's left for your work and decide whether it's worth it or not .