Average Pay Rate for jobs?

So what would you guys say is the average Pay Rate for a Scripter/builder, I know it depends on the projects but can you give me any examples?

Depends on the difficulty rating.

If I need a small chunk of code worked out, I'll pay L$500. But if I need a multistage manual turret that moves in sync with my hovership of doom, that's more like L$3000.

For scripting I pay between 250 and 400 - I generally do not require elaborate scripts. For builds, I charge by the size of the lot upon which I am building.

I've made between $1k-4k for a script depending upon complexity. The $4k script took about 2 months to perfect if you want an idea of $L/time.

L$4000 for two months of work?
I'm sorry, but I surely won't sit down and work for two months to get $15. I'd rather dig through the neighbor's garden and clean it up and also get my $15.. for maybe 2 hours of work.

Scripting's far too cheap, to the point where it's pointless to base a business on it.

So, since people ususally want scripts to include in their for-sale products (and trust me, they're gonna make a wad of cash with them, if they are good and you are good), it's only fair to get a certain percentage of the sales, not L$4000 one-time, which that person gets back by selling 10 of the objects...

*meow*
Sheila.

I will help out people with problems they have if I can but I dont write scripts for others as most NON scripters want HUGE complex scripts for little or nothing.
I also dont work and sell my products or scripts for % sales this also causes problems.
So If I want something built normaly its a built not a script for me / But anyway I offer a HUGE chunk of change for a one time fee and normaly makes the average builder happy and not to mention they could have someone else script for it latter and resell it anyway lol.

When people ask me to script stuff, I tell them my RL rates.

Then I ask them what they want and do it for free if it sounds like fun. Because, let's face it, people aren't going to pay website rates for toys in a game... and once you start charging you pick up all the RL business hassles and, frankly, I get enough of that in RL.

If they are going to make real life money from those 'toys', then they need to cough up real life money for the scripts that go in them.

Scripters in second life really get the screw unless they happen to have a client who knows the worth of the scripts they ask for, and are willing to pay that much (For a script I'd worked on for two months, there's no way I'd let it go for less than 30K or so.) Let's see why.

When I say I worked on a script for 2 months, I don't mean I worked on a script for say, 1 hour a day for 2 months (60 hours... That would be 500L an hour, much less than most top builders are commanding for their work). More often, it's about 6 hours per day, which would be more like 360 hours of work. Tell someone in real life that you are going to pay them about 98 dollars at current prices for 360 hours of work, and see how they take that. Not well, I'd imagine.

If everything in SL were free, people were making free stuff, and the complex scripts were made to be in an object that were being sold for 0L, then I doubt anyone would have a problem with scripting for free, because it would completely be up to them when and how to get the script done. When someone is creating an object with the intentions of selling it, you've got to be a crazy masochist to tell people that are making the script for free, or only a small percentage of what they are going to sell the object for. Alot of times, the script is the most difficult and complex thing about an object, why shouldn't you get paid accordingly?

I quite agree with the above comments. I don't do scripting contracts, except possibly for friends, and usually only for small things - I'll quite happily say "hmm, that sounds possible, I could give you a few tips, but to be honest it's not something I'm very interested in so I'd rather not spend a long time on it".

If the rewards were greater that would overcome some of the interest factor and there would be more scripters for hire out there, but they're not. I understand that this may be frustrating for people who have an idea for a complex project and can't script it, but really, for it to be of any use to a customer, it has to be full perms, it takes endless hours to plan and do and unless you've got some sort of royalties system it's going to be for a flat fee. Unless the scripter in question is particularly interested in the project, that's going to cost you, and it doesn't seem like people are prepared to pay.

I've found this too: people love getting scripts they can resell, but they hate paying commission. And the problem that it's hard for a non-scripter to understand how hard or otherwise a script will be is a similar one. (Thinking about it that's been the main cause behind my misunderstanding about the FFRC contest.)

The other thing that's frustrated me is that scripting isn't very good for expressing yourself in SL, nor practicing to later do so. You can script for hours on end but you won't get to make yourself into a spy or a princess or a ninja or a rabbit or whatever, which you probably could have done if you'd spent the same time practicing building or texture design. I kinda realised there was something wrong when I'd been working away most nights in SL but was still living in the sandbox wearing an av a few tweaks away from Ruth.

I wrote up a notecard a long time ago about pay for all kinds of different jobs.

For a single script it can be anywhere from free to L$5000. All depends on the scripter, their experience, and the type of script (thought not in that order).

While you might think more experience would mean higher prices. Quite often I've noticed its not true. They're probably more familiar with the scripts, and have a better idea of how much time it would take to write.

But it can be worth it to shop around

Someone once told me (a long time ago) that the average scripting rate in SL was about 2000 per hour of the scripter's time. I've asked a few people, and most have said something to the effect of "yeah, that sounds about right". So... I generally use that as a basis for trying to come up with a price. I have no idea if that number is wildly inaccurate or not.

I think it's unreasonable to expect to make RL money working in SL. SL is not RL.

Imagine you moved to India. Hey, some people are doing it. You'll make a lot less money writing code in India -- but the cost of living is also much less. So it balances out. For some people, that trade-off is worth it.

My point is, India is a much smaller economy than the US. It would be unreasonable for you to move to India and still chage typical US Software Engineer rates.

SL has a miniscule economy. So all of the prices for everything have to be scaled down. I make a lot more money RL than I'll ever make in SL. But I like the trade-offs, so I'm not going to abandon SL just because its economy is smaller than the world's largest capitalistic powerhouse. I also don't expect people to pay me what I make RL for SL work.

This doesn't really apply though, because you don't "live" in SL. Unlike moving to India, becoming part of SL doesn't make the rest of your life less expensive - in fact, if you want to own land, it can add a pretty substantial bill!

You're still not talking about real-life money, not for contract programming. If you're talking about tens of thousands of Lindens an hour, then you're talking about real life money.

Which is why I don't mess around with that in SL. It's WAY cheaper for me to work for free when I feel like it and when it's fun, and work on a contract outside SL for money. Because the difference between "nothing" and "L$30k for 60 hours work" (let alone 360) isn't enough to make it worth my while unless those 360 hours are fun. I'd have to be a "crazy masochist" to do even 30 hours at that rate.

Unless they work in arts / entertainment. In that industry, I once worked as a production manager with a well-established theatre company off-off-Broadway (the work was experimental, but not by much. All of the talent was agented, etc.). I made 3x as much as the actors with my whopping $300 stipend. This was for about 240 hours of work, so close! =D I've also seen a friend (whose work I represent in my art gallery) work for 30 hours on a painting that she ends up selling on ebay auctions for $60.

When it comes to scripting in SL, I generally give the scripter the option of a portion of profits or a larger payment for scripts that are copyable. I pay $500 for a script for private use, unless it is a larger effort. I pay $2000 for small-average scripts and have paid as much as $4,000 for larger scripts.

Overall, compensation in SL is lower than in many rl countries because, for one, we are in a global market. Or that is what I suspect to be the reason for low in world wages. Example: irl I make about $34/hour plus benefits to teach. In SL I make under $2 per hour with no benefits. So, it is true for most of us, I'd imagine, that the same efforts applied irl would make more money. At least, that is so as things currently stand. Who knows what the future will bring?

I don't expect to make RL money working in SL.

That's why I don't do contract scripting in SL.

omgz Yumi! Let me know when you wanna go shopping and I'll take ya! If you like pink, I can send you a skirt and blouse I made. Cheers!

My attitude, and fees, vary quite a lot.

Someone has recently approached me for scripting a system for a land sales services. It will be professional and RL money spinning (they hope), so they're getting my RL rates pretty much.

Someone else asked for a suite of scripts to tart up their own house, that was basically free.

One of the people I'm teaching how to script wants to do a specific script for a build she's working on. It's a fairly simple script, even if I end up writing it for her, that's free (or included in the nominal fee she's paying for the classes rather) because it's an appropriate script for her level of ability, for the point in the course, and so I don't care if she goes on and makes a fortune from it, it's an appropriate part of the course and she's already paid for that. (If not, I'd probably do it as a freebie since it's a relatively simple script.)

On the other hand someone I'd done some scripting for came and said he wanted a rush script for a specific job - and he'd pay a bonus for fast completion. The rate of pay worked out to be over US$100/hour (if only it had also been a few hours work!) but that was an exceptional circumstance, I don't work well to deadlines like that unless it is a clearly achievable task - that pesky need to work IRL for a living too often throws curveballs.

Another point to remember is that some of us who are not scripters have no idea how difficult the request may be or even what a fair rate to offer is. Threads like these are all we have to go on. I've been very fortunate to have several good friends who are scripters who insist on doing things for free, but I would very much like to pay them a reasonable rate for the services they have provided.

I don't think people are off the mark wanting RL wages in SL. Look at it this way, I can spend a day making a scripted item and sell copies of it for maybe 300 linden. I might be able to sell that item 100 times or more. Now who is going to pay me 30,000 linden to spend a day scripting for them? That's potentially what I'm giving up in opportunity cost to work on your script, so I doubt I will work on it for 500 or 1000L.

Personally, I will rarely do work for hire. There are too many items that I have in my brain that I want to make. If you are a really good friend, or the script is a very simple customization or I will be able to resell the item to others, I might do it on the cheap. Otherwise, you better be prepared to pay close to RL wages.

Quite.

If I could make proper contract rates doing scripting in SL I'd quit my "real" job in a heartbeat. I can't though, so I keep the paid-for coding work to the area where I can make money from it, and otherwise script for fun or for favours.

The thing is, if your friends script for you, they do it because they want to, they like you and they want to help you - they won't be expecting to be paid for it at any sort of real market rate or, in fact, at all. In your position I would "pay them back" by doing other favours for them. I don't know what your skills are, but, say, if you make clothes, make them a nice shirt or an outfit, you know, a quid pro quo arrangement. Or introduce them to people you think they'd like but would not otherwise meet. Do favours for each other. I really wouldn't get hung up on thinking "this is L$XXXX amount of scripting, I should pay this person something proportional to that".

I wouldn't do any open permissions scripting for less than 6000 linden per hour unless it was for a friend, that is what my time in SL is worth to me and not a linden less.

Has anybody experiences with the other way around? I mean, have an own idea based on the scripting capabilities and buy a nifty case/HUD for that and sell this on your own?
I am thinking about very specific devices that could be either sold or rented? I don't mean consumer gadgets sold by mass, rather niche markets for other professionals who use them. Any experiences in this direction yet?
Regards,
Leff.