How to price your own work?

[prophet]

How do you price your own work? Like for a stationary package(logo,biz,envalope,header) how much do you charge

[Neupix]

It usually depends on the client. If one client is only willing to spend $500, then they get less effort from me and lower quality work. If a client is willing to pay $1500 for a package, then they get many more logo and design options to choose from, and more work done.

An average price I would charge is between $750 - $1000, This would include three logo concepts to choose from, the business card, envelope and letterhead. A deal would also be given if they wished to receive a free website layout with the above.

As for your first question, I price my work by an estimate of how long it will take me. If I think a project will take me 16 hours of work, then I would charge around $600 (about $40 an hour). This price does go up and down though (something that is clearly outlined in the original contract).

- John

[prophet]

do you think you can help me write a contract?

[Neupix]

If you want, you can take bits and pieces of my contract to write your own. Please do not copy it word for word though. Read through it carefully and make sure you don't leave anything out of your own.

http://neupix.com/contract.html

[aaronbassett]

hmm I really need to draw up a 'sample' contract - I keep writing them up on a contract by contract basis - but I suppouse for smaller projects I could just create a set contract that could be adapted.

Am just always worried about leaving something out on a standard contract because of differences in projects :S

as for your question - my price tends to go up/dwon as well depending upon clients budget - normally I'll ask them for a price range then let them know straight up what they will get for that - if they want something extra then price goes up!

Mostly tho I work on webdesign/development projects so have to be carefull to stick to what have agreed would do at start as is very easy to get sucked into doing lil 'extra' jobs which turn into half day additions

Aaron Bassett

[BrianWakeland]

How about a website? How do you price your own web design work?

I still get shivers when I hear the potential client ask "so how much?", because I really don't know what to answer. The right price would be $750 to 1000 for a simple site with nothing dinamic, but here some clients expect to pay less, and I CAN do work for less (spending less time on it). But when I say this, sometimes clients already heard the "750 to 1000" and they just give up and say goodbye!

What can a webdesigner do to explain this to a client? =/

[Imagenesis]

I should charge more. However with likes WHT and the Template Sales you can't really...

[artistsneverdie]

I often gauge my prices by the type of business the client is in. You can usually tell whether they will have money to spend on a project or not. Then it's your decision whether you feel they will be able to pay your "premium rate" and receive more detailed works, or pay a lesser rate such as a start-up company who may need entire stationary produced, but at a smaller less. It's really dependent on how much work I you have at the time and whether you feel that the client would return in the future and pay a better rate if your services for less to start off with.

You have to fly by the seat of your pants sometimes...

[jess711]

I should charge more. However with likes WHT and the Template Sales you can't really...

Sure you can.

I pride my business on personal attention and the fact that I can be a one-stop-shop (with the exception of Flash, which I hire out).

You have to help your client realize that templates and cookie-cutter designs are not going to improve their ROI. Every client deserves a site specifically tailored to their needs -- and excellent customer service.

In other words, show the client (through your portfolio and by giving examples of how you helped your clients) that they want to work with someone who will help them make smart design/marketing decisions -- not a template.

Jess

[SenterBrands]

I personally had a guidline and outline set up for my company based off of an old employer. I charge by the hour in most cases. But in elaborate cases i give a set "base" fee and work from there

[red]

I charge based on the costs that I will incur from creating those designs basically. Then I add a minimum markup percentage above the cost to ensure profit. However, I make sure that the price I charge is at par with industry rate.

[PhilJette]

I try to charge to be competitive, yet still make enough to make it worthwhile. I's tough if you are pricing strictly for internet sales, because most forums *cough* WHT *cough* are full of designers that are willing to sell themselves short any chance they get. If you are pricing for local work it seems that you can come up with a much more reasonable pricing structure.

[pentool]

This book has pricing and various contract forms available:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

[sashquach]

If you want, you can take bits and pieces of my contract to write your own. Please do not copy it word for word though. Read through it carefully and make sure you don't leave anything out of your own.

http://neupix.com/contract.php

The requested URL /contract.php was not found on this server.
can u please send me the file via mail? thx before...

btw,
in my country indonesia, the system is more sucks and tricky
the customers ussualy find the design by pitching (the designer must submit the design and price they asked)
and (ussualy)
good design concept is taken by the customers but they hire the cheaper designer... (to work on it)
i found it really sucks....

how bout yer country? do the customers play tricky like this too?

[DisturbReality]

I think I'm a sucker. I give people the same high quality work whether they are paying $100 or $1000. I usually base my pricing on who I'm designing for, what they need and what they can afford.

For example, if I'm designing a mailer for a company selling a product I'm most likely going to charge a lot more than if I'm designing a mailer for a church outreach program.

[Inxi]

Really depends on the client.

[calvinbii]

I will also change my price structure depending on who I am supposed to please. It is always harder to please a 10 person comittee who all have their own idea of what they want, and you can get pushed around a bit, if there is one CEO I can get to know, read, and please it makes the process a whole lot easier.

[ratbaggy]

I charge with an hourly rate.

estimation is the key (of the time involved with a project).

using an set hourly rate also helps to work backwards to see whether a budget given allows enough time for design research etc.

[force]

Hey... what's WHT? Not that I want to use them for web design. I'm all set there. I'm just curious.

I built my first site, alone with no experience, in FRONTPAGE. And, yeah, it stunk. A well-designed, dynamic site is what it's all about. Just like there are many wanna be graphic designer putting out company newsletters in "Publisher" it sounds like there's plenty of wanna-be web designers selling out to templates and pre-made web applications.

Is that the idea of the WHT?

[ratbaggy]

The William Herschel Telescope or WHT was first conceived in the late 1960s, when the Anglo-Australian Observatory was being designed. The British astronomical community saw the need for telescopes of comparable power in the Northern Hemisphere. Planning began in 1974, but by 1979 the project was on the verge of being scrapped due to a ballooning budget

or this one?
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/