Hi,
I was just offered a big freelance project for an app across 3 smartphone OSs . I only own Android devices though. From your experience, can I charge the client directly for the required hardware (Windows, iOS phones),should I buy them myself or should I just add the price for the hardware without comment in my quote? Also, who would own the hardware after the project is over?
Personal professional opinions would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
For a freelance job? No, you should not try to charge the client for hardware you need to complete it. Either pass on the job, or eat the expense and have it for the next time you are offered a job that needs it. Try to make them pay for it and they are likely to find another freelancer. But remember, anything you spend on your freelance job should be tax deductible.
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What I suggest is you list the cost of the Windows and iOS phones in your quote. There is nothing wrong with that whatsoever and is pretty common. It is possible the client may provide you with the hardware. For example, when I did some work for a corporation that required a Zebra commercial label printer they certainly didnât expect that I had such a device sitting in my home office. Instead I picked up their printer and brought it home with me. Obviously, returning it when I was done.
By the same token, when I hire people to do work for me, say investigate / update an asset on the Unity asset store⌠I simply pay them money up front to buy the asset if they donât already have it. Obviously they need it to be able to do the job. This kind of thing is just natural part of doing business professionally (even though I tend to actually conduct conversation and such more in a down-to-earth personal non-corporate manner).
I guess this could be a regional/continental thing but if you donât even have the devices required for the job it might seem very odd for the customer to request the job from you since it might be indication of inexperience on the platforms for starters. I would be amazed if someone would allow such things to be charged from them in the year 2016 unless they are completely clueless or the task requires use of new hardware features or such. Even in these cases customer also provide test devices that they use if itâs for corporate use kind of app and if not, the bought devices are handed out to them at end of the contract.
Windows Phone might not be that common anymore so I guess that could be possible to charge for if someone really wants app for it but iOS is the most common one and not having any appropriate device for it would be strange. Microsoft also killed their own phone production this week so not sure how long will that area will be alive for software. Universal apps are completely different thing so make so you know what your customer wants and for what devices in reality.
Note that usually required stuff is universal so it has to work on both tablets and phones so are you gonna get both for both OS. Also will you buy the cheapest devices out there for test devices or the newest models ;). In theory you could even go with only simulators.
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Iâve had clients pay for unusual hardware. But normally that means the hardware remains theirs, and gets returned to them at the end of the project. For example one company wanted an app that interfaced with a heart rate monitor. They provided the monitor.
Iâve also had contractors tell me âWe donât support platform X, its not in our business plan. If you would like us to develop there will be a one time additional premium of $$$$ to cover acquiring various hardware and software licenses.â Some times we went with it.
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In general, I do not see you being able to charge someone for you to purchase the tools you need to do work, especially if those tools are a common expectation for the work you do. Think about a carpenter wanting to charge you for a hammer and saw. You need to think of building out your base set testing device(s) the same way you would with the tools of any other business.
In my own business â which is not game making as thatâs my hobby â requires me to take source material from my clients in a variety of formats. In general, I absolutely cannot charge them for the hardware and software I need to do my work since those are the tools of the trade and Iâm expected to have them.
The exception for us to this rule is one client who insists on using an outdated system to create their source material. (In computer software terms, think someone who insists on delivering their material on a 5.25" floppy disk.) This client was charged more because of the hassle of maintaining old hardware, the inability to buy reasonably priced new hardware, and the lower quality of the source material due to the clientâs use of this same type of hardware. The client was fully informed of this, but would rather pay more than change the way theyâve been doing things for 20 years or whatever it is.
If I was hiring you to develop on mobile, Iâd expect you to have access to at least one mobile device on the platform to test with. I would not expect you to a bench full of Android phones with varying hardware to test on, any more than Iâd expect most contractors to have a dozen various PC setups to test on. (This expectation could well change for a larger company, but I would consider that a selling point.)
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You are âallowedâ to do whatever you want.
As mentioned its not uncommon for clients to cover hardware and software licences for non-standard items. Typically the client would own it at the end though. In smaller freelance jobs Iâve had people pay for my own licence of a particularly Unity asset.
In terms of what I would go with:
For iOS go and buy one (or two) when you get the contract finalised. If you really canât justify that then borrow from friend or family. In the context of a mobile developer not having an iOS device just seems like bad form.
I agree with @Ostwind in that asking for a Windows Phone doesnât seem too out of place. Iâd first see if I can get my hands on a loaner, but if not Iâd just call the client and say that you donât have a windows phone device and ask them what they would prefer to do.
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Thank you everyone for your comments. Just working with emulators is unfortunately too risky, since Iâll be on a very tight schedule and donât want to gamble when it comes to the App Store approval system.
I wonât have to compete with other freelancers for this particular job (since this is not my first job for this particular client), but I value my professional reputation and the job easily makes up for the investment.
From what you told me about recent trends on Windows Phones, Iâll have to talk it through with my client, but it doesnât sound like a lucrative idea for him, so I should probably discourage it entirely, else Iâll ask him to loan me a Windows Phone
Anyways, off to ebay for that tax free purchase 
And thanks again for your tips. I was out of my depth there .
I doubt that unless the cost of the phone is insignificant to the cost of the project they will pay. Like if I was getting someone to do something for $1000 than no way would I pay for a phone, but for a $100,000 project I wouldnât care if the developer added the cost of a phone.
But yeah, in general unless itâs crazy specific itâs something youâd need to buy(But usable in the future as well).
If you do decide that you canât do the project because of the cost of the phone then certainly mention that as they might decide to pay for it.
I got a Windows 10 phone for like $20 brand new, so it might not be so hard. I also got a iPod touch for $120.
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Disagree, that would come off as very cheap. âWhat? Iâm paying you $100,000 and you want ti nickle and dime me for a few hundred dollars?â Sounds like a good way to loose yourself a 100k
Thereâs probably a sweet spot around 5-10k where it might fly, but really just not worth the risk.
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I think he meant paying 100k on the project. not 100k on your specific role
Ideally your overall charge out rates should cover your overall hardware costs. If you need to have a $5,000 hardware budget each year to buy devices for testing and such then that should be worked into your overall budget, which youâd use to calculate your charge out rate. That way youâre not charging any one job for any specific piece of hardware, youâre amortising the cost of all of your hardware and applying it across all of your jobs.
That said, if a specific job requires a specific piece of hardware that you couldnât reasonably be expected to already have access to, then you might come to some arrangement with the client. That doesnât necessarily mean them paying to buy you the hardware as a part of the jobâs costing, though that could be an option.
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