Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with rates

Prepaid iPhone data plan in Mumbai?

jesseendahl — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:40:15 -0800

Hi, I will be living in Mumbai for 11 weeks next summer. I have an unlocked iPhone 3G. What is my best bet in terms of carrier and plan for the cheapest and most reliable data access? I plan to do local calls over the cell phone voice network and international calls via Skype on the iPhone. Thanks in advance!

Rates of success?

rollick — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:46:36 -0800

Statistics question: is it possible to test sets of cumulative data for significant differences in rate? I have three cumulative percentage graphs, measuring the germination rates of three different seed types. Is there a way to compare them and see if there are any statistically significant differences?

The seed types were planted in triplicate, on three dishes each (nine overall). Every day for the past few weeks I've observed how many seeds on each dish have begun germinating -- so for an individual dish I would have " Day 1: 0 ... Day 7: 14 ... Day 14: 29" etc, with each day's score a cumulative total. (There are 100 seeds on each dish, so it works as a percentage rate as well)

In Excel, I've graphed the average germination rates of the replicates, for a graph that resembles this one. (with three lines plotted, and x-axis = time in days, y-axis = percent germinated).

So is there a way to compare these different rates statistically? I can use Excel, Minitab, SPSS, and R.

Most cost-effective way of transfering money from UK to US

moiraine — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:30:39 -0800

Need to transfer modest amounts of money from UK to a US bank account every 2-3 months. What would be the most cost-effective way to do so? I am working in the UK. I need to pay off study loans in the US, with the first loan installment due in a couple of months. I intend/ need to transfer between anywhere between $500 to $2000 to my US bank account regularly, say every 2-3 months.

The most cost-effective way that I know of would be to take out the money in the UK, change at the Post Office (with 0% commission rates), and physically the money to the US, and place it in my bank account there. This, of course, assumes my plane ticket is paid for and I am not robbed (I have done this before, and I was fine, but I don't want to do a regular basis).

Wire transfer appears to be the second cheapest method, and I am happy to pay the wire transfer fees (~20 pounds, depending on the bank). However, I understand that the bank have non-competitive exchange rates, which are hidden costs of the transfer (~50 pounds will be 'lost' in the exchange).

I considered making regular transfers from my Paypal UK to my Paypal US account. This would be extremely convenient, but there are hefty commissions -- about 5%, and I think more is taken off from the receiving end (?)

Anyway, I was wondering whether people had any personal experience with wire transfer and non-competitive fees. Any additional ideas are also appreciated. Would appreciate if there were no comments like, "But if you just paid a little more, you could save yourself the hassle!" as I am willing go through a fair amount of hassle just to pay less fees.

I have family in the US who are probably willing to cash in a check for me every month, if this makes any difference.

Help me price my (amateur) photography

AnyGuelmann — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:26:29 -0800

Photography pros: I've been approached by an editor who wants to publish my photos, and he asked me for my rates. I never sold a photo before. How do I price them? (I realize there are a few previous postings on the subject, but most were 3+ years ago, so I thought I'd ask again and see what comes up.)

I took photos of a parade a few months ago. An editor for a small, local travel guide wants to use them and asked for my rates, but I have no idea how to price them. I read all the links on previous threads (this thread was very helpful), but I'm still lost on figures.

I'm in New York City, if that makes any difference. This is also where the parade happened and where the guide will be published and sold. They will credit each individual photo on the caption.

The guide will be distributed for free AND sold on bookstores. It will run twice a year. Although they call it a "travel guide" I assume they're mostly of local interest and small, as each sells for about 5.00 dollars. They sell adds on it for anywhere between 400.00 (1/8 page) and 7,000.00 (2 page spread).

Does the number of copies on each edition affect the price I should charge?

Do I give a price for each individual photo, or a batch?

Do I ask for a copy of their standard contract to take a look?

Not only are there many people all over the images - busy parade - but the best photos are closeups. I don't have model releases. Does travel-guide photography count as editorial?

PLEASE, if you have any idea on what photographers charge and/or an opinion on how much an amateur should charge on a first time sale, GIVE ME FIGURES! I don't know if I should go 100 or 1,000 so actual numbers would be greatly appreciated!

Freelance web design - how do you estimate hours?

Fifi Firefox — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:01:22 -0800

Freelance web designers - what factors do you use to estimate the number of hours you'll spend on a project? I'm looking for examples of reasonable rough estimates (based on scope). I have some freelance web projects coming up, and I need to estimate hours to determine a rough project budget. I've found lots of great Metafilter threads on rates, but the archives haven't turned up many sources to help me figure out how many hours I should budget.

I realize that this is highly personal and depends on a million things, from the developer's experience to site scope and how particular the client is. I haven't done a great deal of web work yet, and what I have done has been either small + simple (done in a weekend or two) or huge and sprawling over months and multiple revisions. There's also a pretty steep learning curve with this stuff, so time spent on past projects where I had to figure things out from scratch won't necessarily equate to future projects where I have more experience under my belt.

So, I'm hoping to get a ballpark idea of what other designers estimate, then adjust from there.

- What information do you need from the client at the outset to estimate how long a project will take?
- Is number of pages a good starting point? If so, how long would a 10-page site take versus a 100-page site?
- Or, do you estimate differently based on programming language? (ie, using PHP might mean more upfront coding, but time spent is less tied to page count).
- Or, does it make sense to split time based on project phases, allotting hours for initial planning, creating sample layouts, coding, and testing separately? If so, what are general guidelines for time spent in each phase? What are the most logical phases to include?

(If it helps: I am an experienced graphic designer, so things come pretty naturally on the design end, but I'm new to web work. I am pretty solid in XHTML/CSS and can do basic stuff in PHP/MySQL/Wordpress/Flash)

Hourly rates for web design?

Anonymous — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:50:19 -0800

As a soon-to-be freelance web designer, how much should I charge hourly for one-off projects? I know this has been asked before, but some of the pertinent questions on AskMe are a few years old.

A few notes about my experience:

-I've been designing websites for 10 years

-I design web layout/front-end/aesthetic mockups, plus write valid standards-compliant markup and CSS

-I'm good at integrating with CMSs like Expression Engine and WordPress

-I have been working until recently for a firm that charges $110/hr

As a freelancer, I'm thinking about charging $80/hr - does this sound right? Are there any advantages to trying fixed pricing?

Almost enough to pay for Grad School

brenton — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:06:08 -0800

I have saved up about $25,000 for school, which starts in September. I have it in a WaMu online savings account which had very high interest, but now the interest rates have plummeted so that I am barely making anything anymore. It went from getting $50 a month on $10,000 to making $17 this month on 25k. :( Where should I put my money where it will be safe, easily accessible in a fairly short term, and yet with as high of an interest return as possible. I also need to be able to continue to input money into the account every month when I get my paycheck. PS: I am planning to take loans if they are interest free and hold off paying them until I can't defer any longer. But when I quit my job, I will need to start withdrawing money for daily living expenses.

How much should I get paid for hosting and producing videos?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:19:41 -0800

Hired to host and produce video content for a PR firm. How much should I ask to be paid? Because they liked a previous project of mine, a PR firm wants me to to produce video content for a client of theirs. The client is basically a media industry group running a promotion campaign.

The jobs will vary but it seems there will be two main kinds. Sometimes I will do funny interviews with people for 2-3 minute videos to be posted online. The firm will arrange for the filming, but I will do the editing (which I expect to be minimal).

The other job would be creating funny video shorts that I would write, produce, and act in. I would ask for a small production budget to get a crew and such, but I'm unsure what I myself should receive in compensation for something like this.

I've already been given the obligatory speech about how times are tough and the budget for the campaign has been slashed. I really don't have any idea what I should be paid for this, and I haven't found anything too useful in previous Ask Mefi posts. Can anyone give me an idea what I should expect to be paid for either job?

What's a fair rate to charge for booking events for Yoga/Meditation training?

Mr. Gunn — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:43:28 -0800

What's a fair rate to charge for booking events for Yoga/Meditation training? My friend has begun booking events for several nationally known meditation teachers and Kirtan performers. She does this mostly because she knows them and has great contacts nationwide, but she isn't certain whether she's pricing herself appropriately. Based on a typical literary agent fee of 12%, she's in the ballpark, but is that really relevant for this work?

Figuring out UK rates for sound mixers

mooza — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:41:25 -0800

What's the going rate for a freelance re-recording ("dubbing") mixer in the UK? This is for an independent feature documentary. My bf is quoting for a job based out of London. We're both Australian and don't know if it's as simple as charging what one would back home. It's a three week job.

We found the minimum rates on the BECTU site but we're not sure what it's like in the "real world".

Any information or advice great appreciated!

Can I lock in todays rates for a future building project?

Thrillhouse — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:43:13 -0800

Mortgage Expert Needed: How do I take advantage of these low low mortgage rates BEFORE I gain building approval. I currently own my home. Now that financing rates are crazy low its time to start planning that addition we've always wanted. Using home equity isn't an option since the cost of the addition would bring us well over our current home value.
Our only option SEEMS to be a construction loan but that requires that you have all your approvals before you can secure the loan.

My problem is that we need to complete a conservation commission review and approval before we can build. The problem with that is that we now have 2 freakin feet of snow on the ground and conservation won't even look at it until they can see the ground, spring at the earliest.

I'm afraid by then the loan rates will not be anywhere near where they are today and this will become less cost effective for us.

Is there ANY way to lock in today's rates for a future building project??
Are there ANY other options??

List of Medicare rates?

twiggy32 — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:01:54 -0800

Where do I get a list of Medicare payment rates for surgical procedures? I am currently involved in an insurance appeal over a robotic excision of a tumor in my pelvis. My insurance company only wants to pay a small fraction of the cost of the surgery, saying that since I was out of network, they only have to pay Medicare rates for the surgery. It would be helpful in my appeal if I could find a list of Medicare rates for various surgeries, and see if Medicare even has rates for robotic excision. Can anyone point me in the direction of a list of rates? Google hasn't provided any results that tell me what I need to know.

Help Me Understand My Mortgage Re-fi Options

terrier319 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:33:57 -0800

We're refinancing our home mortgage and want to know if you think we should jump now or wait, considering recent news about mortgage rates dropping further based on supposed guarantees by Freddie and Fannie. This is a jumbo loan ($600K+) ... the current rate we are quoted is 5.5% for a 5-year adjustable, interest-only loan -- down from 6 and an eighth just a few weeks ago. There are no penalties if we decide to re-fi again in the months ahead, but we obviously want to lock in at the best rate now. There were some headlines over the last couple of days about rates dropping to 4.5% or even lower. This is all mystifying to me because I'm not a numbers guy and I have no idea how to read the market. I concentrate on my monthly hit at that's all. Pull the trigger now or wait?

How much to design a banner ad in UK?

nímwunnan — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 06:07:10 -0800

Standard price for designing a banner ad in the UK? I was dealing with a somewhat-shady seeming potential client who wanted a quote for banner ad design. Figuring the rock-bottom rate for respectable design in the UK at £15, factoring for a minimum of two hours design time and one hour correspondence and waffling with the client, and then adding £5 for negotiating room, I said £50 pounds for a standard banner. If they hadn't given me signs that they were angling for freebies, I probably would have quoted something lower. As it is, they balked as if I was asking for blood. Have I been wildly unreasonable here? What would you guys charge?

Income Stream

kapec — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:00:09 -0800

What is the best investment vehicle for "income stream", i.e. where can you put your money and get a return that you could live off of? Any recommendations?

The labor of predicting LIBOR....

Asherah — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:43:57 -0800

Should I choose a private student loan based on the 1-month LIBOR or the Prime Rate? I have private education loan approvals that are based on both the 1-month LIBOR rate (more specifically, the quarterly average of the 1-month LIBOR) and the Prime Rate. Chase Education is calculating the 1-month LIBOR currently at 3.62 (an average of Jan-Mar rates of 4.223, 2.849, 2.708) and the April rate has posted at 2.486, so a clear downward trend. Historically the lowest LIBOR has hit was 1.340 in 2003.

My margin with Chase would be +2.5% so right now calculated at 6.12%. The best offer I was received based on the Prime Rate is Prime +1%, so right now a rate of 6.25% with the margin. Within the last ten years, the lowest prime rate was 4.0%.

Both rates have obviously experienced cuts in the past quarter, but other than a crystal ball, is there is any way to get an idea of which rate will experience further decreases and thus save me from accruing more interest?

What are appropriate rates for computer surveillance work?

Jack Feschuk — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:37:08 -0800

I'm currently running a business where I monitor computers for people. I use custom made software that gets by all the anti-malware scanners and through the firewalls. I have been charging $40/hr for the first hour, and $45 for each hour after that. Since most of work may only take 1-4 hours per client I've been told that I'm charging too little. Figures have been thrown at me by friends, family and even clients that I should charge $60, $75 or even $100. What is a fair amount in this business. Yes this involves spying on people at the workplace, churches and spouses. My first question. I've searched mefi for similar stuff and came up empty.

What is IT worth?

foxydot — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 20:26:57 -0800

What's a reasonable hourly rate for a freelance IT guy? Phone systems, networking, basic setups, etc. Mr. Foxydot has recently started doing some freelance IT/phone system/networking jobs for small businesses. He learned most of this stuff doing it for his own businesses, and didn't really do it for clients, but got good at it, and when he left his last company, was referred as a good networking guy to a few small companies he had worked with in other capacities.

The problem is that since he's never really been paid specifically for doing this stuff, he has no idea what to charge. Of course he doesn't want to undervalue himself, but he doesn't want to price himself out of projects either. I'm hoping the hive mind can help him get a ballpark figure to work with for a rate sheet.

He's also unsure about marking up hardware that he provides for clients. These are mostly very small businesses (<10 employees).

Relevant data:
Living and working in Cincinnati, OH, USA
Background in everything from web development to arcade game refurbishing
Has built a couple of PBX systems for home and at his old companies
Has networked home (several times) and a couple of companies

Prove me wrong

MrMulan — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:07:11 -0800

Are US high schools graduation rates for private, parochial, and target schools real? Please prove the cynic in me wrong.

Anecdotally,
-My wife and I both went to separate catholic high schools, with everybody graduating.
-A colleague of mine who went to private school said everyone graduated.

The graduation rate at SuccessTech Academy in Ohio where there was a shooting, the graduation rate is 94% vs 55% for the districts it's in.

However, in my case the school expelled some people in their senior year for bad behavior.
In my wife's case, the school "requested" that certain students not come back for their senior year, for poor academic performance.

My BS detector tells me something is off. You have institutions that put forth graduation and attendance rates, students that go on to college, ect. as prime factors as to why the school is great. These same institutions have the ability to manipulate these rates. Then they are compared to public schools that do not have the same ability for manipulation.

Please prove me wrong.

What should I charge?

changeling — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:58:51 -0800

Freelance writers, help! How -- and how much -- should I charge for this book project? Several years ago, I wrote an article about the owner of a real estate development company for a now-defunct print magazine. The owner of the company is famously successful -- probably the most successful developer in the beach areas of my city. I put a great deal of thought into the article for writing portfolio purposes, though the magazine was a small, local publication.

Recently, through a mutual acquaintance, the RE bigwig tracked me down. He's putting together a coffee table photo book for his investors, with a limited print run of 100 or so, and he wants me, specifically, to do the writing. He says he's been interviewed many times since my piece, but apparently I'm the only writer who nailed what his company is all about. Flattering, random, exciting, etc.

We're talking about two to three pages of text (don't know the word count) in a book with large dimensions. Company biographies, some local history, etc. He says he's already put about 60k into the project, and he's willing to pay whatever freelance rate I quote.

But I have no idea what to charge. All my professional experience is with local print magazines and web media. Does anyone have experience with this type of freelance project? Should I go for hourly, or per word? What should I charge?

Is the bear already in the house?

Funmonkey1 — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:35:36 -0800

I have just spent the afternoon watching stocks around the world decline partially based on sub prime market fallout. My question is how can things be so great when the Fed is handing out stacks of cash to keep things stable (34 Billion USD and counting, not including the international bail out)?

Economist filter: How exactly does the fed set interest rates?

BigBrownBear — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:18:53 -0800

Economist filter: How exactly does the fed set interest rates? I've done a couple google searches but would love it if someone can give me a short, human-being explanation or point me to a really good article on the topic.

How much should I charge for my freelance design services?

othersomethings — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:51:35 -0800

How much should I charge for my freelance design services? Have to give a quote by tomorrow, and I don't know how to determine what my time/my skills/the job/etc. is worth in order to quote them fairly. I've been approached by a lot of people who have seen my work in the organization I work for, offering me freelance jobs. I'm entertaining an exclusive yacht club right now for some advertising jobs, starting with a newspaper ad they want me to design, and moving on to more projects. Here's the thing, I've always done this for family, friends etc. for free or a meal or whatever, and now that I'm getting approached a lot I'd like to know what I should be charging. I want to be competitive and fair, and I don't want to cheat myself or my client. I've researched Google and my local area for other companies, designers, etc. but haven't found much information on standard rates or on how to come up with pricing, or how to determine what my time and skills are worth.

Any insight would be helpful. Thanks.

Thick bloke asks worlds hardest question on macroeconomics

complience — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 10:43:20 -0800

Interest rates and Inflation, does anyone actually understand it? I hold a degree in Business, I have read the Wealth of nations by Adam Smith, but I still don't have the faintest clue how interests and inflation really works.

Being someone who believes in freemarkets I suspect its due to mindless interference by government, but if someone could explain to me how it all works i would appreciate it, cos its been bugging me since highschool.

Mainly if someone could tell me how interest rates are actually set that would help, I know in england, interest rates are set by the bank of england. I don't understand this because if their a bank, they want the highest interest rate possible for their customers, so they are bias.

So my questions are:

1.) How do they actually enforce what they decide? sure they might say that the interest rate will be 5%, but how do they make the markets follow that?

2.) Why print money? for reasons other than replacing notes that get worn out.. If you don't print extra money you don't get inflation, so why would you want to?

3.) What would happen if they didn't set interest rates and didn't print extra money?

How much to charge for tutoring?

janell — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:20:57 -0800

What is the going rate for one-on-one tutoring in chemistry? I've been in discussion with a family who is interested in hiring me as a tutor for general chemistry (college), and they say they'll pay whatever, but I don't know what to charge.

A friend tells me that when she tutored in NYC, several years ago, she and other teachers charged from $80-125. Private tutoring from Princeton Review: $150. On the other hand, tutoring in Berkeley runs about $50/hr. I'm also seeing search results starting as low as $25/hour.

More info that is probably relevant: I have a PhD in the subject and this whole shebang is taking place in suburban Westchester county. I have taught classes, review sessions, and labs, but I haven't "tutored" since undergrad.

What have you charged/paid for tutoring? What should I ask for?