HN Explorer

Ask HN: How good are 200 or 250 usd/hour rate developer compared to lower tier?

9 points by jitendrac ↗ HN
hi, my hourly rate is around 25-30 USD/hour. I really want to increase it, but due to competition on freelancing sites(Upwork),i was not successful. I have completed most of my projects with satisfactory remarks from clients. I really want to know how much difference is there between me and highly paid developers, What makes them better than me(may be negotiation!!)? p.s. : I am a fullstack web developer and a hobbyist mobile app/game maker. ( I don't want to share my Upwork profile)

28 comments

[ 4.9 ms ] story [ 79.4 ms ] thread
PaulHoule
They aren't on upwork, for one thing.
jitendrac
I will now try word of mouth marketing, and expanding my connections on linkedin.
moyta
Get involved in a technical community in a higher paying country, then leverage that to get work. This is how I meet the best foreign developers I've worked with, and they already share a common interest with me, making me much more reassured that they are somewhat knowledgeable.
jitendrac
Thanks for the idea, how may i find them(Reddit,IRC or Quora)?
moyta
Uhh, I'd avoid Reddit & Quora, and add Github in there.
jitendrac
sure, I have an active profile on github.
moyta
Good, find an active project and contribute some minor things, then see if anyone needs something built using that project and do consulting work for them. I believe you can put money directly on the prepaid card Upwork gives out, while paying 4% or 5% instead of Upwork's fees, I'd use that for payment on small jobs.
moyta
English or <insert relevant language> skills for one, along with not working on Upwork. Having paid a few grand on Upwork, I doubt I will ever use it again.

Based on your post, I would highly recommend practicing capitalization & grammar further, I have worked with many devs outside upwork who learned english as a second language who have mastered this, and have taught many foreign exchange students good grammar.

jitendrac
thank you for the suggestion. I have edited the question. I have made this post in hurry so I did not pay attention in the grammar.(you are right,English is my 2nd language.)
moyta
Looks the same to me, still could use editing.

For example: Thank you for the suggestion, I have edited the question. I made this post in hurry so I did not pay attention to the grammar. (You are right, English is my 2nd language.)

Your english needs some work, but you are not in a bad place. Start sentences off with a capital letter, and avoid fragmented sentences. Additionally, you are using certain words unnecessarily which breaks the flow of the sentence (have for example), and on your main post some words should be reversed. I would also encourage you to always put a space between each word and after a comma (,), let me know if you need any help!

jitendrac
Thanks for pinning out the small details.
moyta
The small details go a long way :P
tonylemesmer
Stop selling yourself by the hour. Take a punt on some projects and try delivering functionality for a price. Gain confidence at this and slowly build up your client list.
jitendrac
That is the great suggestion, I will put efforts in this direction. Biggest obstacle on upwork is that they(clients) want much more customization on the same initially quoted price. They keep on adding small details and big back-end work. If i add extra usd on the work, they threaten to cancel the job(more like black mail!!!). They don't obey the milestone payment and think of you as slave!!!
moyta
Software development is hard, and finding out what the client actually needs is half the battle & part of the job before doing anything significant on Upwork or just as a consultant.

Often, I find businesses don't understand what they need to operate more efficiently, but when you show it to them, or bring them a mostly formed plan, they are much more likely to get what they need you to build. It all comes down to understanding what the client actually needs, not the lies they unknowingly tell you.

jitendrac
I have the similar views. Here is my fiverr profile <<<REMOVED>>>>
wayn3
The most important part of getting paid more is asking for more.

Tomorrow, your hourly rate is $60. Doesn't matter whether it is. The next time you talk to someone, that's your rate.

Then when you're hired, you deliver. If they're happy with your work, you must've been worth at least that much.

Why does a SaaS cost $500 bucks? Why not just $50 or $5? The things we do are immaterial. You can deliver $200k worth of value off of a 6cents/hour aws instance. Why is my code writing worth $200/hour? Why is it worth anything? Sure, markets. But in order for there to be a market, someone has to create one. If you never ask for more money, nobody is going to give you more money.

What I'm saying is, if you do good work, you may as will ask for $60. There's really no difference. You're either a good engineer or a bad one. If you're a bad one, you really shouldn't be making any money at all. If you're a good one, there's no reasons you should only be making $30.

jitendrac
Thanks, Can I use my fiverr profile show my work?
wayn3
If you want to be taken seriously as an engineer, you better never mention your fiverr profile again.

But yea, you can if you want. But I won't provide code audits for free, if that's what you're getting at.

jitendrac
Thanks for making a good point.
wayn3
if you want to showcase your work, do it on github.

dont ask me how. i dont use github. but thats where people showcase their work.

sharemywin
Top tier developers usually have a very hard to find skill. And working on site jumps wages quite a bit.
Gustomaximus
I've found $15-$50hr has little difference on these type of sites so for me I tend to stay at the lower end if I have basic jobs to be done.

$100+ people that can value-add and deliver with attention to detail. That said at these rates I flip to local people (AU) so this might just be the better environment.

I tried to use toptal once but after being sent a bunch of emails in the weeks after I signed up to the website, when I sent the job specs they never got back...

And I've stopped using Upwork as I find the rating system useless in helping you find decent contractors.

I feel as other have said is you need to be able to deliver projects. I've often heard hourly rate jobs are about lead gen. I know myself I'll give people some simple jobs to test out quality when I'm in the market for new contracts and those that pass the cut get offered projects.

jitendrac
Thank you for sharing your view.
petervandijck
Double your rate, have a strong Github profile and start writing professionally whenever you communicate to clients.

Writing professionally means no grammar, spelling or punctuation mistakes, and re-writing your emails a few times for clarity before sending them. Including here and in chat.

Good luck!