18
votes
Discount for 1-year full-time contract?
Realize that if you are tied up, full time, for a year, you'll most likely lose all your other clients. So, if that's okay you need to make it worth your while.
If you are financially in good shape ...
- 17.4k
10
votes
Accepted
How do I tell a client that I'm working fewer hours because they pay me much worse than my other clients?
Simple, either raise their pricing or drop the client. It's business. There's little point in working even a few hours for less money than you could earn with another client. Businesses typically do ...
- 17.4k
9
votes
Accepted
Should I discuss hourly rate before doing job or just do the work and let the client see the rate in the invoice?
Always discuss payment before work begins. ALWAYS. (You should have a contract detailing scope and payment)
If you fail to do this it is inevitable that you will end up doing work the client doesn't ...
- 17.4k
9
votes
Should I charge for idle services as a freelancer?
I do contract work and also charge by the hour. What I charge for is my time to complete the job given the tools that I have, and if that includes waiting on a file to up load then so be it, it gets ...
- 293
8
votes
Should I accept a low hourly rate while in between contracts?
Don't do it.
Clearly they don't value your work, a 60% discount is what you ask for haggling in a North African marketplace, not development work with a freelancer. And keep in mind that although ...
- 1,629
7
votes
How to build up long-term clients
Good clients are generally not the clients looking for the cheapest workers they can find. They are customarily more vested in abilities than actual price points.
Good clients know that quality ...
- 17.4k
7
votes
Accepted
How much do I charge?
First off, charge by the hour. Without knowing a great many details about your expectations for payment, level of skill, customer expectations, graphics, whatever, it's impossible to come up with an ...
- 164
7
votes
Accepted
How to justify an increase of your daily rate
I don't feel the need to justify anything - my rates are my rates. If a client doesn't like them, they can hire someone else. I don't need to explain my fee calculations to clients, only what I'll ...
- 17.4k
7
votes
I built a tool to automate work, should I ask a raise?
If I create a tool which makes it easier to complete my work, and complete it much faster than before, the client does not need to know about it. (Provided you aren't under a work-for-hire agreement). ...
- 17.4k
7
votes
Client wants free and half-rate meetings
I think you know the answer to this, but may be a bit apprehensive about losing the client if you fail to attend these meetings. That's always a possibility.
It's your business. Your pricing and what ...
- 17.4k
6
votes
Raise price of hourly rate for existing client
Every one of us has come to this point. In my case, at some point when I got "too many" clients, I started filtering them on those keep working and those that simply take my time.
I sent circular ...
- 14.4k
6
votes
How do I tell a client that I'm working fewer hours because they pay me much worse than my other clients?
In 5 years of working with this client, your skill level has probably increased: you definitely do the same job faster than 5 years (and even a year) ago and most likely you do your job better. This (...
- 301
6
votes
To expand business or increase rates?
To get right to it, you want more cash. One of the simplest ways to do that is to just raise your rates, like you mentioned. The biggest problem when doing this is, naturally, the fear that your ...
- 391
5
votes
Accepted
Should we fix our rates as a dollar goes up or down?
Your cost of living and expenses are fixed to your location. As the power of the dollar rises and falls, does it cost you more/less to live? Your rates should be set to the market in your location.
...
- 1,622
5
votes
How do I calculate pay rate if I've never freelanced before?
Charge the highest price you can think of. I will explain it with my personal story below:
I once had to sell clothes on a flea market for a friend while he was out. He didn't tell me how much the ...
- 201
5
votes
Hourly billing, is it appropriate to include time to research if you don't know how to do something?
When you go to your neighborhood bakery:
does the baker tell you that two cents of the price of the bread is to pay for the time he spends on looking for the sack of wheat which was supposed to be on ...
- 201
5
votes
Accepted
How much should you charge for technical interviews?
I would never discount my rate. Using 'rate' seems to indicate hourly billing (which I'm a huge advocate for, at least in the type of work I've done).
If you're billing hourly, the thing you're ...
- 2,030
5
votes
Accepted
What Discount to Give for A Retainer Contract
It sounds to me like the company wants a part time employee, without paying the extra costs. Don't fall for their trap - you are worth your time, and it does not matter where you live. If you decide ...
- 6,863
5
votes
What's the proper way to ask the recruiter for a certain hourly rate?
I always provide a hard number and never a range - but that comes down to my weakness as a haggler. Instead I prefer more or less stating a price as an ultimatum. When I quote a range, I feel I seem ...
- 3,822
5
votes
Should I accept a low hourly rate while in between contracts?
If someone would ask me a 60% discount off my hourly rate it would be offensive to my worker's dignity. I would not even keep up a telephone conversation with someone like that.
I would consider a 5%...
- 2,054
5
votes
Accepted
How to enter freelance websites with high rates since the beginning
I understand your problem. What helped me to develop a profile is the following:
Make clear from the beginning your prices and years of experience. Don't justify it, there are always jobs/projects ...
- 378
5
votes
Accepted
Increasing hourly rate for an old client
Here's what I did, and you can tweak it as you need it.
I sent out a letter (using postal mail, even for my local clients), explaining that the rates have increased for new clients, and my current ...
- 6,863
4
votes
Accepted
Part Time On Call rate
I would ask them for an offer and see what they are thinking.
Assuming you only get paid when they use you, I would charge significantly more for consulting than I would for an employee type position....
- 1,356
4
votes
What should I look at to determine whether or not I should charge by the hour or by fixed price?
Here is my Entrepreneur/Employer's perspective:
If you don't know well your client, your first goal is to build relationship of trust. In my view, the best way is to fix price a small job first, that ...
- 241
4
votes
How to justify an increase of your daily rate
Naturally, one may always raise rates - even though one risks being replaced or just generally souring the client relationship.
A 60-80% increase could be viewed as extortion by the client unless ...
- 3,822
4
votes
Client misled me on workload, and now I'm hosed
This is why many businesses charge hourly rates, because clients fail with understanding how long something takes most of the time.
Most people don't understand the technical requirements, and so ...
- 151
4
votes
How to enter freelance websites with high rates since the beginning
The short answer is 'yes', you can start with a higher rate. People who participate in the race to the bottom form a separate layer - you don't start there and then work your way to the top. By ...
- 611
4
votes
I built a tool to automate work, should I ask a raise?
This is tricky.
Don't ask for a raise, you are in a contract and building a tool doesn't dissolve that. You were hired to solve a problem, and that includes all the logistics of seeing the originally ...
- 141
4
votes
Computer troubleshooting service; change pay rate for more difficult problems?
Like any direct service/repair business you charge a standard hourly rate.
Most services of this nature do not vary rates based upon what the problem may be. They charge $xx per hour. If the problem ...
- 17.4k
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