Well thought out reasonable reply and very informative. Thanks Scott. Bill Brooks, CID+ -----Original Message----- From: Scott Riley [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 7:28 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [DC] Contractor Rates Gregory, I've been providing flex circuit and PCB designs to a variety of companies for the last 6 years. I use a different rate depending on the customer and the job, but it is generally around $70/hr. For example, I have worked with a number of customers for several years and they get a slightly better rate than a "new" customer or one time customer would get. Customers that throw something at me on Friday afternoon and need data sent to China on Sunday will pay a bit more. In general, I provide a quote for a job....and always stick to the quote unless there are significant changes along the way. Only one customer (a military customer) has ever asked for me to provide an hourly rate. I'm sure your aware that an hourly rate is not always indicative of the total cost. A supplier charging $40/hr and taking 20hrs for a job is the same as a supplier charging $80/hr and doing it in 10hrs. Location also comes into play, but not as much as you would expect. I work in upstate NY and have customers in California and NH. Both get the same rate. I will point out that I also do work under the covers for other service bureaus. They generally charge double my rate. For obvious reasons, I do not interface with their customers and my name does not appear anywhere on the final data. I have been approached a number of times to provide in-house services and these are usually longer term assignments. I have always turned these down, since it would impact my ability to continue to provide services to my existing customers. In these cases the customer is providing office space and usually the tools, (PC and software), as well as a billable 8hr day for X number of days/weeks. My cost would be less and the hourly rate would be approximately the same. An outside source may also provide slightly more flexibility than an in-house source. I will work nights and weekends to maximize the number of billable hours in a week. An in-house resource will likely come in and leave at the same time as everyone else, so may take slightly longer to complete a job. Of course it is easier to manage someone in-house. You know they are always working on your job and you can jerk them around as needed :) I think you will find a wide range of hourly rates out there and they will be difficult to compare. A better way might be to send out a sample job for quote to a few places and see how they compare. Hope this helps. -----Original Message----- From: DesignerCouncil [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brionez, Gregory Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 8:54 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [DC] Contractor Rates Attention Service Providers listening on the list. I am interested in a quantifiable number per hour of labor that some one would charge for PCB Layout work. This is/was not an invitation to promote your company or service I am not in the market to farm out work or hire additional personnel Thank You *************************************************************** This message and any attachment are confidential and may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not copy this message or attachment or disclose the contents to any other person. If you have received this in error, please email the sender or telephone in the United States at (847) 673-8300 and delete this message and any attachment from your system. 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