If you live in a relatively small town and someone comes up to you and ask you to make an employee tracking android app, and also some kind of admin panel for that(also in android).. how much would you ask him to pay, if you're just a college student?

A lot...

If they need tracking, ask them to install whatsapp and other social media apps

@asgs no they need fucking gps tracking for a whole working day and also want their employees to post photos when they visit on location.

@N00bPancakes like? 💲💲??

Dunno. Depends on where you live and stuff like that as well. Estimate how many hours you'd have to put in to it, add 20%, multiply by a reasonable hourly salary.

@ScriptCoded Yeah that sounds like a good thing to go for... Thanks for your advice.

You're a college student, so do you really have time for a project this big? Are they going to be flexible in their expectations? Sorry, I'm not sure what would be a realistic amount to ask for. I'd be more concerned about time.

When I did freelance in college, I learned fast to ask a percentage up-front or say no. I wasted a lot of time stupidly letting people walk away from half-finished projects without any compensation, and with more time lost that I could have spent on school.

@CatFoodParty I think I can make it in a month or so, and yeah I'll quote them for 60% up-front payment.

@Cystal

I mean the details really matter and as far as a customer if these folks have ever worked with someone on a project like this.

Customer's who aren't good with project management / don't understand technology can be either fine ... or an absolute time sink.

You might want to really feel out exactly what they are thinking / expect.

I'm always shocked at how many folks I talk to and after "we just want this" I ask them about their business and needs and somehow "then we'll just turn it into facebook...."

@N00bPancakes haha, yeah they also haven't worked with anyone in this field, that's why I am a bit concerned. I think the industry standards for these guys would be a bit too high, but at the same time, I can't go way down on prices.
Also, I am very new in this freelance domain as well (only done 2 big projects and 2 small ones). I am so fucking confused.

@Cystal

Yeah, I think it would be understandable to lay out something really strict like "here's what I can provide, these are the features ... let's be clear that ... that's it for this price, no other features... or it will cost more... also here are reoccurring costs you'll incur for a server and ..."

And kinda feel them out. Most folks really don't know how much these kinds of things cost.

@N00bPancakes Sounds like a plan... Thanks for your advice man... The community here is fucking amazing... Well time to hit the sack, Good night :)

@CatFoodParty I'm currently in this spot.

A) That’s difficult.
B) You should charge quite a bit for that level of difficulty.
C) I wouldn’t be comfortable making it due to privacy concerns, and therefore would likely refuse.

Write everything down. Break it apart per functionality, place functionality on computer screen relating on existing software , count functionalities in man days counting from 1,2,3,5 where 1 is 1 day and doable 2 is 2 days doable, 3 is 3 days but probably 5 days and 5 is five days - probably not doable or doable in 10 days but better break it to smaller things. Multiply those days by 2 or 2.5 cause you’re student and you think it’s easy cause you don’t know much. Take some average junior rate per hour and multiply it by 1.5 or by 2.

At the end multiply that rate by 8 hours times number of days you estimated and you have roughly price you want to ask.

Ask 1.5 that price and offer discount to 1.2

@Crystal , what are the ethical considerations of this app? What if an employee leaves it on after work?

Also, do you have any GIS experience? This sound like a glacier with lots of hidden work not yet uncovered.

I’m not trying to bust up your joy, I’m just worried about you.

@devphobe Well, the plan is, whenever the employee logs in to the app it will start tracking him/her, after the workday is complete he can log out of it and no tracking will be made.
Also, all of the employees will have proper knowledge of what the app does and why is it necessary for them to install it.
AND, AM I DREAMING OR DID I JUST SAW SOMEONE SAYING THEY CARE ABOUT ME ON THE FUCKING INTERNET... OMG ...
THANKS MAN

@devphobe Don't worry I will do proper research before doing anything.

Upfront.

100 hours @ $40 - 60 / hour.