Thank you for your input @Juminstock !
We typically pay on a per-project basis, and there is often quite a bit of negotiation regarding pricing. We prefer not to work with new contractors on an hourly rate unless we’ve worked with them before, or we set a defined scope of work to avoid unexpected costs.
For example, with our first contractor, we agreed on a full migration for a flat fee of around $1,500, plus a set amount of additional fees, which would arise. Later, we adjusted this to a base amount of $2,500 plus support, with no additional fees. Unfortunately, this contractor dissolved their company unexpectedly, and we received a refund of about $300, but were left with a tool that essentially became unusable.
Next, we worked with a developer for the remainder of the migration, agreeing to a $1,500 fee with $500 upfront. While the developer made the migration tool functional again, he lacked expertise in KSM Polkadot migration and had little knowledge of smart contracts and EVM. When we asked him to build and prepare smart contracts for nested NFTs, he ghosted us.
The third instance involved a team from Canada who charged $5,000. After finalizing the deal, our blockchain operations have run smoothly ever since. All assets were migrated successfully and the RMRKR functionality was implemented within the agreed timeline, despite some claims to the contrary. All of this happened in a 6-9 month time frame.
As for artists, we usually pay them on a day-rate basis, which depends on their skill and the specific task at hand. They charge a fixed price, and we work with set conditions. This area is largely managed by Akin, and the artists we work with are either highly skilled or senior-level professionals, each with different rates. For example, a monster creator might charge a $200/day rate, potentially totaling $6,000 for just one monster. However, we had special arrangements with the artists, so we paid less and kept everything within our budget.
Overall, we’ve made the best of our available budget, and while the blockchain part was a stroke of bad luck, I want to emphasize that the results of our artwork speak for themselves. Despite some claims of “nothing original,” our work is truly on a Professional level and industry standard, and I’d like to make sure this doesn’t get lost in the conversation. The things we’ve built so far would cost any other team potentially 3-5 times the amount of our budget, not factoring in the taxes we had to pay.
We’re fortunate to have worked with some of the best people in their fields, and most of them joined us because they believed in our project, not for financial gain. That’s why they were willing to lower their costs to help us succeed.
Hope that helps as an answer.
, sorry).