Web / Graphic Designers ( What Do You Charge Your Clients? )

[kay_1801]

Hey , so I'm just starting out as a web designer and graphic designer, I have already built numerious websites and other graphics, but my quotes were really cheap because I was new, but my skills are a lot sharper, and I'm just curious what is a reasonable pricing for clients and what do you base it on. I have no clue where to start, any tips would be great, someone who is a web designer or graphic designer,if they can assist me with there knowledge I would be very thankful.

Dave

QUESTIONS

1. How much should you charge for a html website? and do you base it on links / images / text? how do you rate your customers?
2. What do you write on the contract if you are doing a flat rate , and they are always complaining and having changes that were not agreed on from the description of hte contract, how much more should you charge ? should you charge for each change?
3. How much is a reasonable price for :

A) Business Cards Design
B) Flyer
C) Logo
D)Signs


Thanks for your assistance !

[MrKap]

[JonnyCash]

Hey Kay,

Without seeing your work level, it's impossible to answer any of those questions. Not all designers are equal.

Here is a great article you might want to check out: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/p...for-creatives/

[DNAMCS]

Hey Kay,

Without seeing your work level, it's impossible to answer any of those questions. Not all designers are equal.

Here is a great article you might want to check out: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/p...for-creatives/

We'd be happy to help you out with some advise. Sent you a PM. If you could reply with your portfolio we might be able to assist you with creating a pricing menu.

[PianoGuy]

How much you should charge depends on a few things, such as your skill level, and how much other designers in your area with a similar skill level charge. I know designers here who will charge a few bucks for a site, and I know designers who will charge $5000+ for a simple three-page HTML site. Try to stay somewhere in the middle, or perhaps on the low side of average. When you get so much business that you can't take on any more, then you can raise your prices.

I like to charge a flat rate per project. I estimate how many hours a project will take me to complete, multiply it by my hourly rate and give the client a quote based on that. I write out every requirement and we both sign it, along with a statement that any changes to the requirements will be quoted separately. If the client doesn't like what they asked for, I make a new quote, and we both sign that one. Yes, you should charge for each change, IF the time it takes is over and above what you originally quoted. If they want to change something you haven't started working on yet, do that for free.

If you do charge a client hourly, be sure to give them a running tally so they can keep track of how much they owe you. "We're at the end of six hours now; adding that feature would start another hour; would that be okay?"

However you decided to do it, the client should never be surprised when they receive their invoice.

Some tips:

- Get ALL the material and requirements from the client BEFORE you start the project. If they insist on working on their material (photos, content, etc) as you're working on the project, this will probably take you longer since you'll have to wait on the client for things. Charge accordingly.
- Don't release ANY material to the client until the cheque has cleared. (If you take payment by Interac Online or PayPal you don't have to wait for it to clear.)
- If you can afford to turn down jobs where you see "red flags", do it. If a client looks as if they'll be high maintenance, double or triple your quote.
- If you have lots of work, you may wish to give discounts based on urgency. (This will cost $500 to do by tomorrow, $400 to do by the end of the week, or $300 to do by the end of the month.)

[ichpen]

Some things to use as a yardstick:

1. If you're sharp you should provide your client with an estimate of the total number of hours/days +/- xx% you'll spend designing/redesigning/whatever. Even if this is a flat rate/SOW. Use this estimate to figure out how much you should charge. Come up with an hourly rate for yourself (you don't need to share this) and use this rate to do your estimates.

2. You NEED to have a written SOW (statement of work), not necessarily the same as requirements. This gives you some evidence that both you and client agreed on the work and outlines some important terms.

3. You NEED a requirements document (typically it's to be done by the client but in most cases you'll end up doing it). Put as much detail as you can including any screenshots, layouts etc the client has provided. This is to be approved by the client to ensure they don't go back to you 2 days before launch as say they don't like it.

You do NOT start work until all 3 have been fulfilled.

In terms of estimates, it depends on the work, the client and your skill. Typically, an html or wordpress/joomla/CMS site with 20-30 pages is around $2-$5k depending on a lot of factors such as how much customization is required etc.

I would strongly recommend you keep track of project deliverables and money using a collaboration tool. Someone here pointed me to podio.com and I can say it's brilliant for tracking small projects.

You sometimes have to be cruel to be kind so manage your client. Ensure they understand why/what they are approving and the consequences of backing out or changing requirements at the last minute.

[kay_1801]

very helpful information thank you guys !

here is a project that is not complete yet. what would be a practical pricing for this site ( monikakollar.com ) i charged about $400 for this, would you consider this to be to low or to high, or just about right.

[MrKap]

I didn't look, but what difference does it make what someone else says?

They are not the ones who are responsible for how much money it costs for you to make a living.

Hope that helps. Everyone either overcharges or undercharges, nobody ever charges whatever the globally mandated price is.


----

Okay I looked, it looks great, I have no idea if you over charged or undercharged, because I can't look at it and with any certainty at all, understand exactly what the entire process was like for you, regarding hours, time, revisions, extras, consulting, photography, hosting, domains, ect...

So you are just setting yourself for people to come in and tell you that you charged too much, and if your client comes around searching for their domain name, then they might not like what they hear?

So... you definitely undercharged.

[ichpen]

What the gent above said. If you had this template prepped and ready to go and spent a couple of hours putting up pics then you overcharged. If it was completely custom for this client then you severely undercharged.

We all value our time differently. That's the services business for you.

Site looks pretty good otherwise and good job.

Like I said, come up with a mean/average rate for your work and estimate a job properly, then give out your estimates. Your rates will be lower than established design firms but that's just part of the appeal to some.

If it's your main source of income I would really suggest you spend some time coming up with a business plan, pre-sales strategy and do some marketing for yourself/company. If it's something on the side then take the jobs as they come.

[mackb1991]

This can help with figuring out what you need to charge for your hourly rate: http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/

I charge differently depending on the type of project, the client, and the type of work. I have a base hourly, weekly and monthly rate that I use to build quotes from and adjust project pricing as required.

Put together a portfolio and set your rate accordingly. If you're new, it might be a bit lower to start, but over time you can increase your hourly as you gain experience, create your own business systems and establish yourself.

As mentioned in previous posts, make sure you have a standard contract setup to use with your clients and decide on requirements first. You need a mechanism to account for change requests so you can charge your clients for work that was not included in your original scope (and there is always something). You can always choose not to bill a client for additions, but always send an invoice to reflect the extra time spent and discount or promo the time. This helps the client understand a few things: your time costs money, you appreciate their business enough to provide an extra service at no charge, and that in the future, what was extra this time may not include a discount.

Lots of good advice in this thread so far. Good luck with your business.

[SoundMan]

Hey , so I'm just starting out as a web designer and graphic designer, I have already built numerious websites and other graphics, but my quotes were really cheap because I was new, but my skills are a lot sharper, and I'm just curious what is a reasonable pricing for clients and what do you base it on. I have no clue where to start, any tips would be great, someone who is a web designer or graphic designer,if they can assist me with there knowledge I would be very thankful.

Dave

QUESTIONS

1. How much should you charge for a html website? and do you base it on links / images / text? how do you rate your customers?
2. What do you write on the contract if you are doing a flat rate , and they are always complaining and having changes that were not agreed on from the description of hte contract, how much more should you charge ? should you charge for each change?
3. How much is a reasonable price for :

A) Business Cards Design
B) Flyer
C) Logo
D)Signs


Thanks for your assistance !

I will trade for product,if you can help build me a website