What fee to take in this case?

Question

Work organization

Hey!
There is such a type of customers who immediately issue quite complex tasks that cannot be evaluated initially without spending a lot of time. For example, a person comes and says - here is the site, I need all the information from it to come to us on such and such days. I take the site, I go in, I see that the information is available only to registered users, there is a lot of information, say 5,000 pages. I understand that the site may have protection against automatic actions, for example, they check how fast requests are made, if something goes wrong, they immediately ban. Or that it may well be, opened 50 pages, and that's it, the limit. You cannot view more than 50 pages per day. There can be many different situations, but the client right now asks to specify the cost and terms. It is possible that the task is unrealistic. For example, for some reason, it will be unrealistic to log in from the script, and accordingly the task will not be completed. But you won't know until you start working. In most cases, to understand all the subtleties, you need to give the project 5-10 hours. Which is quite a lot, especially considering that there are a lot of such customers. Of course, you want to get paid for the time spent. But the customer most likely will not agree to such conditions. Either he thinks I'm deceiving him, I won't do anything, then I'll say "impossible" and take the money. Or he will think that I really tried, but my knowledge was not enough. I want to get paid for the time spent. But the customer most likely will not agree to such conditions. Either he thinks I'm deceiving him, I won't do anything, then I'll say "impossible" and take the money. Or he will think that I really tried, but my knowledge was not enough. I want to get paid for the time spent. But the customer most likely will not agree to such conditions. Either he thinks I'm deceiving him, I won't do anything, then I'll say "impossible" and take the money. Or he will think that I really tried, but my knowledge was not enough.
What is the way out of this situation so that everyone is satisfied? I foresee advice - sign a contract, but again, not all customers will agree to this. Different distances, different prices, different people.

Answer 1

Get acquainted with the task in two stages:
1. The purpose of the first stage: go / no go, that is, to understand for you: you pull, you want, I wonder if there is a profit, etc. This is an introduction to the task at your expense. Obviously, dating for a long time is not profitable, however, if you get a contract, then this time will pay off.
2. The purpose of the second stage is to estimate the cost. This stage needs to be sold to the customer. It makes no sense to draw up TOR at your own expense, especially since this is a separate and self-sufficient service. The customer pays for the specification, you significantly reduce the risk of underestimation. If the customer likes the TK, then the contract is 90% yours.
There is an important psychological point here. Software development is expensive, time consuming and difficult. If one side does not like something, then the whole deal will be unprofitable. Development of technical specifications is easier and shorter. Thus, starting with the TOR, the customer will get to know the contractor better, understand his task better, etc. Perhaps, after the TK it will be clear that he simply does not have money for all his Wishlist.
That is, the scheme is simple and well-established: interest (2 hours) -> TK (3 days, $) -> code (3 months, $)

Answer 2

You probably don't have enough experience to do the job.
Take each item from the task and think how much time it will take and take N rubles for each hour.

Answer 3

You describe possible scenarios in advance, draw up technical specifications and

Answer 4

for "small projects" I take an advance payment, and only then I begin to "thoroughly" delve into the work. if the work turns out to be significantly more than expected, I try to resolve it with the customer, if it doesn’t work, I return the advance. if I see that this is potentially possible, I warn the customer in advance about a possible refusal.
for large ones, the TK is first written (for money) and I already count on it.