Graphic Design Pricing

O

opalprint

New Member
Hi

I was wondering, if you are a freelance designer, or printer etc. how much do you charge for your creative services?

We charge our customers £39 per hour plus vat but we mainly print from print ready artowork and prefer to work with designers or resellers. I'm asking because we find that its mainly companies with 10+ employees are happy to pay these design charges. Small start-ups tend to prefer to use the CHEAPEST option (which in most cases means vistaprint because they can use a template and they dont pay for design). Whilst we are very competitive with the print prices, we dont want to compete on the design charges (you get what you pay for).

Do you find recession has affected how much people are willing to spend on design?
 
I charge £16 per hour. And there's 1 reason for that. If I charge any more, I won't get any work in at all. (I've tried.)
 
ARRIVALS said:
I charge £16 per hour. And there's 1 reason for that. If I charge any more, I won't get any work in at all. (I've tried.)
Click to expand...

What sort of busiensses do you work for?
I was wondering because we have to deal with a variety of clients randing from one man bands to international clients so try to be in the middle with the price.
I used to work for a local printer which charged £49+vat and used to work for a national publishing company which charged £100+vat per hour... Suddenly my £39 p/h doesnt seem so much! :p

Best solution for us, work with more designers and resellers who know what they are doing :D
 
The norm. New businesses, local companies, small to medium businesses with under 10 employees. Certainly not international companies unfortunately. It also has to be said, I am based in Blackpool, which along with most of the North West of England has recently been labeled the poorest part of the UK. That and the fact Blackpool is a seasonal town. Talk about giving myself a hard task!
 
I've been lucky with the personal and professional contacts I've made over the years (i.e. some senior people/decision makers in big organisations, although I like to think I've had to make a decent impression to keep them coming back - luckily some of them move on to new companies from time to time and I get to keep the extended network in place at their old company and have a foot in the door at the new one) and I work in an approximate range between 40.00 and 60.00GBP per hour. Not bad, but I don't work at capacity (if only!) and it can be tough bringing new business in when, despite yourself, you inevitably get a bit sniffy about working for less. Still: better to work fewer hours at a higher rate than break your back working all hours at the budget end.

Or, to put it another way, I don't have a lot of hard-fought experience competing for work in a crowded marketplace and, if the work dries up, I'm f*cked.
 
I have some customers that I've had for years - generally small/medium companies and they are happy (luckily) to keep paying a reasonable price. Having worked in a printers they still buy their print from me and so I am able to make some mark-up on this. I try and work for £40ph but I have to admit I tailor it to the client! I don't work at capacity and, as DaveL, says it is tough bringing in new business but I would also rather work fewer hours etc... and if the work dries up....ditto!

There would seem to be hundreds of graphic designers locally also - probably charging far less than me!
 
I try to average it out at £30 an hour, depending on the customer.
I've some clients who I charge £60 an hour. However, their work is usually more urgently required and more demanding.

However, in saying that I feel that I have to charge around £20 a lot of time due to competition and the client's previous dealings.

We find that we get a fair bit of business but people sometimes aren't willing to pay the going rate. Hopefully as time goes by and our client base grows, we can start telling some of them to sling their hook! Wouldn't that be great?
 
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