Ask HN: Newbie freelancer. What do I do with this opportunity?
Most of the advice I have read regarding freelancing seems focused on rather bigger gigs than this one. My estimate is that it will take no more than a weekend hack session to get the requested feature out the door. The entire repo is only in the 1KLoC range. On the other hand, I am certainly a domain expert for this particular niche. Since the client here is a developer himself, it seems clear to me that he is primarily interested in my domain knowledge.
Given all of this, I have lots of questions; I feel a bit lost really.
* What would be a reasonable ballpark for this sort of work?
* What sort of contract would I need to set up?
* How do individual freelancers usually process payments? PayPal, or perhaps something better?
* The client is located in the UK, and I am located in the US. How does that complicate things? (Taxes, etc.)
* Is the effort worth it for a project of this size?
* Are there good resources to learn these things and more about freelancing? Searching has yielded lots of blog posts full of contradictory opinions.
* How do I not make a fool of myself? :)
2 comments
[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 16.8 ms ] thread* charge by hour (ballpark 70-150$/h). Give an estimate on how long it should take and maybe add a max budget.
* ask for 30-50% upfront. Only start working once the money arrived, this is fairly important, so you are not emotionally invested in the work you've done so far.
* if possible only release the code once he fully paid. Find a way to show him that it's working. They might be whining and crying, but be firm.
* Paypal, wiring whatever works best between you. Tell him what payment mode you can accept and give him the choice. Wiring is the safest choice for you (no charge-backs).
* I would ignore the charge by how much it's worth for your client comments for now. Focus on getting some experience first.
* I wouldn't worry about a formal contract too much. Send him in an email all your modalities (upfront payment, delivery when it's done) and have him agree by email. Verbal agreements by skype is not enough (people tend to forget...). Every agreement in voice, send it to him by email later on, e.g. "summarizing our call: bla bla. Please confirm that we understood each other correctly).
* enjoy the ride
As for tax (I'm not an accountant), it is your responsibility to account for it with IRS in USA. Just include it on your return along with your other income under the appropriate category.
Talking contracts for a small task is not a good idea. Just call it an "agreement". As @anonnomad suggests, the verification of the seriousness of the offer is to ask for (and receive) an upfront payment.