$100 NZD/hour, which I think is at the lower end of the scale.

There is some good discussion in here, no-one is perfectly correct.

kork, you need to understand that it isn't all kids in here, there are some older members. Also you need to consider that some of the youngsters have more experience than supposedly more mature people.

Now, as for pricing, kids can afford to charge $10-$15/hour because they have ZERO overheads. They are lowering the pricing for the whole industry, so what? It just means they can sell budget work to budget buyers. Not everyone can afford a $7200 website.

As for software, I began many years ago with Ulead's PhotoImpact. This retailed at $240 NZD which is very affordable. It can do almost everything Photoshop can do and is much more cost effective. I now own Photoshop CS which cost $2200 NZD and I think it has only slightly enhanced the quality of my work, plus it is slower to work with. I also purchased Illustrator 9 for $100 from a friend who had upgraded, I was lucky to get a legit copy at such a low price. Everything else I use is free open source. So you can set up a good basic web design software package for $350.

Also consider the fact that there are probably a lot of kids out there who are using pirated software, I don't have a problem with this as I began this way as well. I went legit when I gained a broader understanding of how business works.

With pirated software and the possibility of getting $10 for doing something you enjoy while living off Mum and Dad, why not??? If I was a kid I wouldn't care about older designers whining about lowering the industry rates, all I would care about is the short term and how much money I can make NOW.

If you don't wish to be a part of this forum then it is your loss. There are a great many talented people in here, and probably a lot of young people you could learn from (if you could lower yourself enough)