How to respond to a competitors 'apparent' quote?

Tony

Member
OK, this is following on from my other thread where I was asked to quote for a logo, double sided postcard, A4 flyer, and website for a charity.

I quoted £750 for the logo, postcard and flyer. I explained that the website cost would depend on what they wanted from the website.

They received my quote last Friday morning and I have had an email back this morning with the quote from another designer.


  • Logo, flyer, postcard: approx £300
  • Website - it depends on the amount of content and what else needs to be built/bought in (stock photos etc..), probably £800/100

I have been asked if I would like to compete with this. I have spoken to a friend who is a designer and he has said to politely decline, stick to my price and explain the amount of time and effort that may go in to both prices.

What I find interesting is that they could not get a quote off of this guy and yet the business day after I submit my quote he has come up with one and submitted it.

I am even thinking that this could be the charities way of bartering?

I find it surprising that he has quoted so low if he was waiting for my quote to come in and then undercut me. I mean go in at £500 or so? But a price that is less than 50% of mine?

Maybe I am reading too much in to this.

I would like to compete but I don't think it looks good if I can magically half my price.

What are your thoughts on how you would handle this?
 
If you can't afford to compete then don't. There'll be people out there willing to pay for you services, so don't bend over backward to cater for those that aren't.
 
a little flexibility (up to 10% say) isn't a bad thing but personally I wouldn't bother trying to compete with someone who's gone in that low to start with. The likelihood is it's someone who has no/less overheads or is a student etc and can keep the price low. It could just be the company trying to get you to drop your prices, something you'll never get out of if they come back again with more work.

I'd just send in a response saying something like that you can't go any lower due the amount of time required to complete the work professionally etc.
 
Cheers guys, that goes along with what I think and have been told.

My attitude is to always win the brief and get the work but this feels a step too far. Plus the other quote contains 'approx', so what would the total be?!

I can afford to do it and do it quick to adjust to the cost but I don't know if I am comfortable with that.
 
Agree entirely with Levi and Harry

You could point out the 'approx' clause and how long you'd have to spend on each item to keep within the budget? They'll know where they stand then and you could suggest a more reasonable compromise?

Other considerations are-
Would this be repeat work? More leads etc? Can you advertise on the card (if worthwhile)?

Good luck with this though!
 
I agree, by all means rework your quote if you want to try and get the work but don't drop the price too low as it would cause the client to question your integrity as to how you came to your price in the first place!

I think your prices sound reasonable so I would stick to your guns!
 
Harland - I've written a draft email but haven't sent it yet, I have mentioned the 'approx' thing in it though. I dont know about follow on work, that is a point. I doubt I'd be allowed on the card though tbh.

tbwcf - Exactly, cheers.
 
Yup, exactly right, you should work out your bottom line price and always keep it in mind when people come back to you to haggle. I don't mind people haggling and would rather they give you the chance to re-quote rather than just not hearing back.

Some of the prices we've been asked to match are ridiculous and the companies we're pitching against are pricing at a loss to keep the cash flowing in.

Also if you begrudgingly take on a job where you know it's worth more than their paying you'll find your creative juices dry up quicker and motivation deteriorates.

I ask for a copy of their quote too sometimes. Some people can be a bit funny about forwading that on but I can think one occasion where I had a look at the other quote and they'd interpreted the brief completely differently so was no surprise our prices were different.

The other thing with follow on work is if you get it on the strength of this job, you'll be working for them from now on at a massively discounted rate.


good luck :up:
 
One thing that I've found useful is to have a link to somewhere online or a PDF you can send with any quotes for branding work that show your processes. There will always be people who are willing to go very low for 'logo design' and knock something up in a couple of hours, but if you can show the potential client why you charge more it will help. I've a blog post that does a run through of a recent branding brief and often point them to that.

Some clients have looked at that and decided it's worth the extra cost others are just looking for the cheapest option and have gone else where. Both of which is fine with me as I've no interest in doing a half arsed job for small returns.
 
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