Subj : Re: How much should I charge for fixed-price software contract?
To   : comp.programming,comp.lang.java.programmer,comp.lang.lisp
From : David Golden
Date : Tue Jul 12 2005 11:11 pm

Robert Maas, see http://tinyurl.com/uh3t wrote:

>> From: michael@bcect.com (Michael Sullivan)
>> Programmers can't ask for minimum wage, because professional
>> programmers *don't* *get* *paid* *minimum* *wage*.
> 
> Your comment is irrelevant because I don't ask for money from anyone,
> not minimum wage, not any amount whatsoever. It makes no sense 

Do you think normal humans are sensible, logical?
(or at least naively logical like a programmer expects a computer to be
by default - often there is some sort of twisted logical system
governed by discernable rules that the terran scum <sorry> humans, are
acting within or marketing wouldn't work.) 

There's your problem. A theory of computer-mind you might have for
dealing with computers won't work well with most humans without
significant rewriting.

You might want to read through the http://www.consumerpsychologist.com
pages.

e.g. from http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/price_response.htm
"""
Note that consumers often have few indicators of quality, so price may
be perceived as one of the better available cues. 
"""

If you set your initial price too low you risk being perceived as low
quality. Prior to a sale, and even if your labour is the product for
sale, those perceptions really matter!

.