Apparently everybody else’s weakest link as well. So, let’s discuss. I was working on a stone floor that is repeatable, large, has about 225 stones with grouting (I actually did it in Maya, until I could get ZBrush for environmental work). I come from a different background and wanted to experiment with different methods, so timing out the hours was tough. I had a learning curve and equipment upgrades required that threw off the calculation. I now want to offer the geometry for sale somewhere. So, my question is two-fold. One, what would be a fair price to charge, and where would be the best place to post normal mapping geometry for sale? I’ve been chastised for selling it to the client for way too little, undercutting the field, but nobody has been willing to state what they would charge or pay themselves. 
I used to be a freelance graphic artist for 10 or 11 years creating screen-print designs for the racing industry. Though it’s a different field, the principles are the same.
As far as pricing goes, there are many sites that you can browse ( can’t remember the addresses right off hand ), just get on google and look for a few. Many will post the prices of their models and services to better give you an idea of the dollar range to charge.
You also have to condsider that since you’re still learning, it wouldn’t be fair to charge an hourly rate for something that someone else could do in half the time, something that I had to think about myself when I first started out.
What I did was just knock off the price a bit that I would charge until I could gain speed and experience. Say if the average price of a design went for 700 dollars, I would charge about 500 to 600 dollars just to be competitive and fair.
You wont make a lot of money starting out ( I didn’t either ), but over time as you gain skill and experience you can up the price.
Here would be a good formula to use: Once you find a site that has pricing info on the same kind of things that you do, calculate an average price for it. Sometimes they’ll also post an hourly rate or tell you how long it took them to complete the model. Lets say if it took a guy 10 hours to complete a model and he sold it for 500 dollars, that comes to about 50 bucks an hour. Now if you were to create a similar model, keep track of how long it would take you to do the same thing. If it took you 20 hours to do the same thing, that’s about 25 buck an hour.
This would be just a rough guesstimate of what to charge. Of coarse if you did model the same thing and it took you longer, it would have to knock off a little to keep it reasonable.
Hope some of this helps.
You have to charge the rate every professional charges. If you need more time, then work at night and don’t talk to the client about it. If you receive a job which takes a trained pro a week and will take you two, tell the client you’re so busy with jobs that it will take two. If your work is of good quality, they will give it to you. If it’s not, go to the trained pro for aprenticeship or internship. You’ll never hear from an airline captain ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome aboard the budget airline which is so cheap because it’s the first flight of the pilot EVER.’ so why should you declare something similar.
You need friends in the industry because the day will come where you need extra artists for that large job. If you made a name as ‘el cheapo modeler’ then you can only see your virtual body float down the virtual NYC Hudson River. I always look at my personal pricing in a way I look at my electricians, plumers, hvacs pricing. 1. They all price simmilar as they wish to see another day and 2. If I can’t get their rate, I’ll work for them and doodle 3D at night as a hobby.
Check out the vue-5 e-onsoftware website. They opened a new store where they broker stuff. Take a look.
It’s always a good idea to talk to your local CPA and have him sketch out a business plan for you. You will see what you NEED. And you don’t go belly flop with self made up dream rates which are build on intagible ‘skillzzz’ rather than founded on TAXes and other reality nasties.
http://www.edharriss.com/ has a nice book regarding job and pay in the 3d field.
Cheers
LemonNado