10 years ago and 10 years from now - those are still valid. There are new designers being born everyday and there are unscrupulous folks out there. The world will never change. Be wise.

I used to do some freelance design work and when I told people what I do, the usual conversation often went like this:

"So how much do you charge for this or that?"
"It's based on specifications and requirements - I usually charge by the hour. "
"Even for simple job?"
"Like I said its based on specs and reqs. Small job - I charge a minimal fee. If it gets more than the agreed spec, I will charge hourly."
"Yeah OK. So....... umm how much is like a small logo design?"
"That also depends. How much do you think a logo is worth to you?"
"OK. But how much do you charge??"
"Well my starting fee for a 'SIMPLE' logo is from RM999..."
"Whoa!!! You are so expensive! You know I can get that done for RM20 by college students, they are cheap and good"
"You get what you pay for. Why did you even ask anyway?"
"Oh I just want to know how much you charge actually"
"I thought so too "

'My' range could be from RM599 right up to RM999 depending on how a person asked the question.

From what I observed, most queries related to charges is not because they are interested to find someone to do the job but they want to find out how well you earn from freelancing or they are designers themselves who are interested to benchmark their fees but are not upfront about it.