Comments on: Figuring out how much to charge http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/ Freelance Advice and Freelance Jobs - FreelanceSwitch Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:24:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Ebi Atawodi http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-30545 Ebi Atawodi Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:54:31 +0000 http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-30545 @Hanad Ismail I would say it's not our place to decide what is done with the end product. I can buy paint brushes and be an exceptional artist and make £1000 from it. I can be absolutely rubbish and make 0 from them with the same amount of time invested. You see what I mean? One company can be just good at marketing and another have a separate reason for it perhaps just information/awareness plus there are other factors that go into what will generate a click conversion - customer service, the product itself and it all gets very complex. So IMO stay out of that figure out how much of YOUR time is being spent (and this like has been mentioned should include all those phones calls from some overly fussy clients to the easy going ones who leave it all up to your judgment to supplies, meetings - though I quote like Stephen's idea of charging for meetings seperately etc). Like with most people I started low years and years ago and as the work load increased and I had less time to myself my time became more and more valuable so yes it is good to start low and increase with experience/time. @ Bill: My method is rather similar to yours! And I will be stealing that quote for clients who want an upfront price range! @Hanad Ismail

I would say it’s not our place to decide what is done with the end product. I can buy paint brushes and be an exceptional artist and make £1000 from it. I can be absolutely rubbish and make 0 from them with the same amount of time invested. You see what I mean?

One company can be just good at marketing and another have a separate reason for it perhaps just information/awareness plus there are other factors that go into what will generate a click conversion - customer service, the product itself and it all gets very complex. So IMO stay out of that figure out how much of YOUR time is being spent (and this like has been mentioned should include all those phones calls from some overly fussy clients to the easy going ones who leave it all up to your judgment to supplies, meetings - though I quote like Stephen’s idea of charging for meetings seperately etc). Like with most people I started low years and years ago and as the work load increased and I had less time to myself my time became more and more valuable so yes it is good to start low and increase with experience/time.

@ Bill: My method is rather similar to yours! And I will be stealing that quote for clients who want an upfront price range!

]]> By: Del http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-26225 Del Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:22:06 +0000 http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-26225 I am finding that when I quote on a website as a fixed price, I end up building a site with heaps more pages than originally quoted - they just keep sending extra content. So even if my quote specifically mentions 6 pages, I end up with a 12-15 page site. I have been wearing it up until now but this is seriously cutting into my available billing hours. The 2 strategies that I can see to address this are: 1. tell them that what they want is not included in the quoted price (may backfire and cause bad feelings and risk getting the final payment on time or at all due to dispute) 2. Start quoting jobs knowing full well that I will have to populate an extra pile of pages, no matter what. (may lose 'smaller' ie. cheaper jobs due to higher fees - but they're not small jobs in the end anyway) Seeing as this is happening to me on every job, I think option 2 is the best one - what do you think? I am finding that when I quote on a website as a fixed price, I end up building a site with heaps more pages than originally quoted - they just keep sending extra content. So even if my quote specifically mentions 6 pages, I end up with a 12-15 page site. I have been wearing it up until now but this is seriously cutting into my available billing hours.

The 2 strategies that I can see to address this are:
1. tell them that what they want is not included in the quoted price (may backfire and cause bad feelings and risk getting the final payment on time or at all due to dispute)
2. Start quoting jobs knowing full well that I will have to populate an extra pile of pages, no matter what. (may lose ’smaller’ ie. cheaper jobs due to higher fees - but they’re not small jobs in the end anyway)

Seeing as this is happening to me on every job, I think option 2 is the best one - what do you think?

]]> By: Hanad Ismail http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-25940 Hanad Ismail Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:34:45 +0000 http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-25940 I'm just entering the freelance world and I have another idea. I believe in charging what the project is worth but I like to base it on what the client will get out of the site. For example, lets say I'm talking to a car dealership about a database driven site where users can browse their inventory. And lets say that I did a similar project for some one else and I would really have to do is repurpose the site for the car dealership. That automatically cuts the time down. But more importantly, I ask myself, how much is this site WORTH to the dealership. Lets say they sell 10 cars from web leads in 1 year and the profits from those sales are around $30k. Now the question is: if the hours match up, should you charge the same for a site that can potentially generate $30k in revenue for one client versus one that might generate $5k for another client? I think charging for work per hour is like paying athletes based on how much they weigh instead of what they produce. Then again, I'm just starting at this. I’m just entering the freelance world and I have another idea. I believe in charging what the project is worth but I like to base it on what the client will get out of the site. For example, lets say I’m talking to a car dealership about a database driven site where users can browse their inventory. And lets say that I did a similar project for some one else and I would really have to do is repurpose the site for the car dealership. That automatically cuts the time down.

But more importantly, I ask myself, how much is this site WORTH to the dealership. Lets say they sell 10 cars from web leads in 1 year and the profits from those sales are around $30k.

Now the question is: if the hours match up, should you charge the same for a site that can potentially generate $30k in revenue for one client versus one that might generate $5k for another client? I think charging for work per hour is like paying athletes based on how much they weigh instead of what they produce.

Then again, I’m just starting at this.

]]> By: Brian http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-21143 Brian Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:19:13 +0000 http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-21143 I usually just charge by the project I usually just charge by the project

]]> By: A Guide to Pricing for Designers | Alpha Blog Designs http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-17517 A Guide to Pricing for Designers | Alpha Blog Designs Sat, 01 Mar 2008 13:52:22 +0000 http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-17517 [...] how do you do it? Well, I’m facing this question right now, so I’m going to share my thoughts, and hopefully, together, we can figure it [...] […] how do you do it? Well, I’m facing this question right now, so I’m going to share my thoughts, and hopefully, together, we can figure it […]

]]> By: How much should I charge for a design? http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-8611 How much should I charge for a design? Fri, 28 Sep 2007 03:59:13 +0000 http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-8611 [...] Freelance Switch mentions the first aspect to take in consideration before taking the decision on the price is the time you spent doing that design. Personally speaking, I couldn’t agree more, this is for me the best price measure, then I just multiply this for my hour rate and it’s done! [...] […] Freelance Switch mentions the first aspect to take in consideration before taking the decision on the price is the time you spent doing that design. Personally speaking, I couldn’t agree more, this is for me the best price measure, then I just multiply this for my hour rate and it’s done! […]

]]> By: Raman http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-1390 Raman Mon, 07 May 2007 12:52:33 +0000 http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-1390 I am a freelancer since last 3 years. I left my job and am employer now. What I feel is today competition amongst freelancers have risen so much resulting in less billing rate. A clone of a hot site(which was done with $50K) is offered to us for $1000. I guess this is because of too much supply of inexperienced coders into the field. I am a freelancer since last 3 years. I left my job and am employer now. What I feel is today competition amongst freelancers have risen so much resulting in less billing rate. A clone of a hot site(which was done with $50K) is offered to us for $1000. I guess this is because of too much supply of inexperienced coders into the field.

]]> By: » FSw - The Best of April (and a bit of May) http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-1265 » FSw - The Best of April (and a bit of May) Sat, 05 May 2007 04:48:53 +0000 http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-1265 [...] your services with three posts by three different people on the subject! First I weighed in on Figuring out how much to charge, then Scott gave us a formula to make sure The Price is Right and finally Mathias looked at Hourly [...] […] your services with three posts by three different people on the subject! First I weighed in on Figuring out how much to charge, then Scott gave us a formula to make sure The Price is Right and finally Mathias looked at Hourly […]

]]> By: diptanshu http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-917 diptanshu Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:55:52 +0000 http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-917 Good point Ana. Unfortunately when your job is of a purely creative nature (writing or design) then there will be good days and bad days. There is one universal method to calculate your hourly rate: ask yourself how much you want to earn in a year/month... Then you can arrive at an hourly figure and that's what you charge. Simple! :-) Good point Ana. Unfortunately when your job is of a purely creative nature (writing or design) then there will be good days and bad days. There is one universal method to calculate your hourly rate: ask yourself how much you want to earn in a year/month… Then you can arrive at an hourly figure and that’s what you charge. Simple! :-)

]]> By: Christian Lopez http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-910 Christian Lopez Tue, 24 Apr 2007 05:36:07 +0000 http://freelanceswitch.com/money/figuring-out-how-much-to-charge/#comment-910 Most designers, I think, know when they have the perfect design, which you know will blow away the client and satsfies your very own senses...you know what I mean!?!...So my question is...Should I be responsible for any extra hours that I spent getting to that point, since I have spent more then the estimated time on the conecptual phase of the project. Is it the clients fault that I had a mild case of designer's block? Do I charge him because I spent the hours I indicated coming up with crap? I kinda always find myself doing more hours than I should....Well I guess I just answered my own question...Add those extra hours to my estimate! Well I'll be! Great website! Any comments, suggestions. Most designers, I think, know when they have the perfect design, which you know will blow away the client and satsfies your very own senses…you know what I mean!?!…So my question is…Should I be responsible for any extra hours that I spent getting to that point, since I have spent more then the estimated time on the conecptual phase of the project. Is it the clients fault that I had a mild case of designer’s block? Do I charge him because I spent the hours I indicated coming up with crap? I kinda always find myself doing more hours than I should….Well I guess I just answered my own question…Add those extra hours to my estimate! Well I’ll be! Great website! Any comments, suggestions.

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