we've been told in my design classes that an hourly rate is different for everyone depending on situation and cost of own living believe it or not...
Don't undersell yourself, negotiate, but be flexible...
for a large site of duplicate pages it's hard to charge more than about 20 per hour really even with schooling, but as I said, if it's a LOT of legwork and scanning, cropping, fixing, styling, editing yourself, then you CAN charge more and should. It all depends on what you do and no one can tell you by looking at the site itself.
No I personally don't think many without training can do better... I'm sorry that's my opinion only, and there ARE a few talented people out there that can, but professionals looking at a site would be able to see training, not normal Joe Blows, and it shows professionalism on the part of the company purchasing the website. Designers eyes get slowly trained over the years, and I am no expert yet, but I've seen the experts cut great looking work to crap and it makes sense.
Don't be discouraged, and know your worth. Be flexible, but offer a few fixes for them and possible solutions.
If you haven't fully been working alongside the client or getting a great amount of info about what they wanted to see, this may be the problem. You may have to redo everything if you don't give them what they want. Meetings are essential before going forward in completing your designs. Sometimes it costs you more time to try and go ahead and finish something, than to show it's process out slowly. Remember.. the client is ALWAYS right. Don't get pissy with them. grumble later.
Talk to your client, REALLY listen to what THEY want, and go over everything with them. You may have to cut your cost a little just to keep good faith... and if you are new in the industry, you have to have more than one job on the go to actually make a living until you have a solid portfolio to the point where you can refuse a crap job... so think of it as a piece for showing later.
Don't know what else to tell you, but to revisit the client and bite backa little pride and let him know that you can revamp a few times before you start charging anymore...
There are forms and legalities too that cover a designer when going into a process like this where the client signs off on offered designs and costs (as you project them) and are bound to it... which will help you in the future... do some more homework on billing a client and 'how' to charge and make your money effectively, legally, and not so painstakingly
kudos and good luck
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