Rates

[thematthewbrennan]

What way do you guys charge? Fixed, Per Hour? Per Day? Or does it vary by project, or dare I say it, clients budget?

I find clients prefer to hear a fixed price, and when you say something like £200 a day they go running!

 

[@GCarlD]

I prefer to charge a fixed rate and then an hourly rate for any extra additions, edits etc but tbh it really does depend on the project as I can sometimes charge a daily rate. And yes I always try and cater for a clients budget as long as it is reasonable and not too far off my usual rates.

Ps. If you tell a client £200 a day and they go running be thankful for that, as they more than likely would of been more trouble than its worth. Although again, that price would have to be justified depending on the brief.

 

[Minuteman Press]

Following a detailed discussion - bespoke quotation with a project price. Additional items during the project (and agreed) are then quoted for as they arise (up front).

Projects are so diverse - the hourly flat rate becomes an irrelevance.

 

[Wardy]

I always find it pointless when a client asks what my hourly/daily rate is, as every job is different and they've no idea how fast I work ( and I
don't want them to know!). I always quote a fixed price, slightly higher than I want for the job, then there's a bit of leeway when they say the budget is whatever.

£200 is fair for a day's work, as long as your working day isn't 12 hours long!

 

[Katedesign]

I go along with Peter and charge per project after discussions etc. If I am also handling their print I work out a special price also. The only time I have charged a daily rate was recently for doing some training.

 

[Gail W]

Prefer daily rate now.
Hourly, they tend to think you are ripping them off every time you add more on, for all the changes and 'tweaks' they make, that can add up to a lot of time.
At least the daily rate gives you more leeway.

 

[Paul Murray]

I tend to mix it up depending on the client, though I tend to try and give them a fixed fee as a starting point:

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If they're a start-up or established business it's a fixed fee based on my day rate (number of days x rate) with revisions typically charged per day (depending on the size of the changes/project - I judge this on a per-project basis).

If they're a small business (self-employed for example) then it's a fixed fee based my day rate with revisions charged to the nearest hour.

If they're an individual then it's a fixed fee based on the number of hours, with a limited number of revisions accounted for in the fee. Additional revisions are charged per hour after that.

If it's someone I know well with a really low budget, then I try and get the job done quickly in a time that makes it worth my while to work for that budget.

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I try and accommodate people's budgets as much as I can all round, but many people fail to realise how much time goes into designing something for them and how quickly and easily a little change can send me over the time allowance.

 

[Dave L]

Clients do prefer fixed fees but that's because either a) they genuinely have a fixed budget, b) they think they're getting a better deal that way, and/or c) they don't want any surprises down the line. Fixed fees are fine so long as the brief for the job is similarly fixed before work starts and everyone's clear that changes to the original brief constitute changes to the original agreement and will be charged accordingly. Either way, unless you're negotiating in the client's favour on the basis of a significant amount of work coming through the door, however you work out your fixed fee, hourly/daily rate the figure produced at the end really ought to be the same.