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Freelancers how much do you charge?

SamIchi

SamIchi

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Aug 1, 2004
2,716
137
For the more experienced freelancers, how much do you usually charge for sumthin? What do you base it on? Hours? Complexity? I've done a few logos, and headers ranging from 100-250 a piece, usually revisions until they are happy. A web design company run by my friends usually outsource art stuff to me and they give me a price and I'm like OK. But as I do more, I should probaly start thinking about making some type of system for my work.

What do you guys think?
 
Tough question to answer. There are several variants for pricing.
Certainly most people have an expectation that a freelancer will charge less than a company (less overhead, etc).
You can charge agency or near agency rates but you have to be VERY good and have lots of experience and a solid portfolio.

There are usually two ways to charge:
1. By the hour (giving the client an approx range of how long you think a project will take)
2. Fixed rate (make sure you carefully outline what you will deliver for that price. how many designs you will provide initially, how many rounds of revisions, etc)

I think with minimal experience / skill (this is of course subjective to some point) you won't be able to charge more than a couple hundred for a logo. That can EASILY go way up into thousands once you have a lot of experience and skill and of course a very strong portfolio. You also have to take into account that designing a logo (a very good logo) is much more than just knowing how to use Illustrator. A good design sense, a deep understanding of the client and his/her market, their goals etc are VERY key.

I think you should set an hourly rate that you think is fair - quote based on hours (giving a range). This will give the client a budget to work with, but give you the flexibility of charging more if the client goes over what the original agreement was for.

I wish I could give you more information on actual 'prices' you could charge but without knowing your skill level, experience and seeing your portfolio it's very hard to do.
 
On freelance reports and publications, most of my current work, I charge a fixed rate — with a clear schedule and include two sets of amends — after a brief in person to gauge the extent of the job.

And the price will vary depending on the size of it, how much illustrative or Photoshop work is in there, how complex the file construction is i.e. overlays, die-cuts, throw-outs etc.

Don't do revisions until they're happy; that way madness lies. ;)
 
This is a good book for reference, however most say the rates tend to be a little on the high side for the industry.

http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Artists-Guild-Handbook-Guidelines/dp/0932102123

I am also just beginning to freelance myself. I have 5 years experience with a company, but because I have done in-house design in print media, some things are still new to me. ie. identity/logo and web. So my rates reflect this when I quote for a web or logo design as the above poster indicated.

One thing I have been told as advice is that you should set a rate whether it be hourly or per project that you are comfortable with for the next few years. People have told me that it can be quite difficult to keep your current clients, happy clients, if you suddenly or frequesntly raise your rates.
 
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Blue Velvet said:
Don't do revisions until they're happy; that way madness lies. ;)
Click to expand...

Best advice by far!

Don't become your client's slave. They will respect you more in the end if you set out clear guidelines and stick to them. Those that don't, probably aren't worth dealing with in the end.
 
Isn't it illegal (at least in the US) for people of a trade to discuss pricing, a.k.a. the Shermans Antitrust Act? Another design forum I'm on prohibits these discussions for this very reason.

US Dept of Justice said:
Enacted in 1890, the Sherman Act is among our country's most important and enduring pieces of economic legislation. The Sherman Act prohibits any agreement among competitors to fix prices, rig bids, or engage in other anticompetitive activity. Criminal prosecution of Sherman Act violations is the responsibility of the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice.

Violation of the Sherman Act is a felony punishable by a fine of up to $10 million for corporations, and a fine of up to $350,000 or 3 years imprisonment (or both) for individuals, if the offense was committed before June 22, 2004. If the offense was committed on or after June 22, 2004, the maximum Sherman Act fine is $100 million for corporations and $1 million for individuals, and the maximum Sherman Act jail sentence is 10 years. Under some circumstances, the maximum potential fine may be increased above the Sherman Act maximums to twice the gain or loss involved. In addition, collusion among competitors may constitute violations of the mail or wire fraud statute, the false statements statute, or other federal felony statutes, all of which the Antitrust Division prosecutes.

In addition to receiving a criminal sentence, a corporation or individual convicted of a Sherman Act violation may be ordered to make restitution to the victims for all overcharges. Victims of bid-rigging and price-fixing conspiracies also may seek civil recovery of up to three times the amount of damages suffered.
Click to expand...

I guess advice can be offered, but no set denominations can be discussed. Someone else mentioned the GAG Pricing Book, that's a great start. There's also many different books/websites that offer advice on figuring out your hourly rate.

You might want to check this out:
http://www.creativelatitude.com/neils_newbies/neils_newbies_0206.html
 
where you based first off, us and uk rates will be different etc :)

also price depends greatly on where you are and how much competition there is.

Me, I look at the work whats needed then I quote a price that I feel covers the amount of time/work that is needed to achieve the brief. If they're looking at revisions, include how many they get that sort of thing.

As to how much, not putting that info out there, unfair on me and competitors in that respect :)

If they like my work they can ask for a free quote but I usually check to make sure the potential client is who they say they are as you never know how crafty your competiton can be :)
 
Depends on the client.
Depends on the project.
Depends on how deep their pockets are. ;)
 
iGav said:
Depends on how deep their pockets are. ;)
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Ditto.

I'm not suggesting that you milk them or anything, heh. I charge a lower hourly rate for the academic and non-profit work I do, which happens to be the majority of the work I do. But I enjoy it.
 
as much as possible in whatever way covers my ass the best. you do not want to be in a situation of working for free because you are on round 28 of revisions because you did not specify only 3 rounds in the design brief.
 
Um, there's no law that says you can't discuss how much you charge.

The Sherman Act pertains specifically to price fixing and the like, not people discussing how much they charge. We're looking at price fixing, price gouging (oil industry, anyone?) and the like with Sherman. Besides, it's pretty much unenforceable in this context. You'd have to prove the people engaged in the conversation were direct competitors and were colluding to set artificial prices AND were in a position to enforce those prices (quasi-monopoly).

Besides, even if two of us were agreeing on set pricing, there's 35 other freelancers in our area that could undercut us which would render our "collusion" moot; again, the gas station/oil industry example is a better one in relation to why Sherman was enacted, and we all can see how well enforcing it in that context has been. :rolleyes:
 
oscuh said:
Um, there's no law that says you can't discuss how much you charge.

The Sherman Act pertains specifically to price fixing and the like, not people discussing how much they charge. We're looking at price fixing, price gouging (oil industry, anyone?) and the like with Sherman. Besides, it's pretty much unenforceable in this context. You'd have to prove the people engaged in the conversation were direct competitors and were colluding to set artificial prices AND were in a position to enforce those prices (quasi-monopoly).

Besides, even if two of us were agreeing on set pricing, there's 35 other freelancers in our area that could undercut us which would render our "collusion" moot; again, the gas station/oil industry example is a better one in relation to why Sherman was enacted, and we all can see how well enforcing it in that context has been. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
http://www.hwg.org/resources/faqs/priceFAQ.html

Scroll down to number two.

And here's the Dept. of Justice's link:
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/guidelines/211578.htm
 
$40/h hour for friends

$49/h for clients

$59/h for clients who want to help

$69/h for clients who try to do it themselves and I have to fix it.
 
Just don't undercharge for years like I did. I was so pathetic my main client TOLD me to charge them more, lol. How often does that kind of client come along? Then I was subcontracted by another design firm and they told me to charge them even more so that's now the price I charge everyone else. Yes, I still hear about people who charge more than I do but I know I still have alot to learn and since I now charge alot more than I used to, I'm happy.

It's hard to determine a good price to charge when it's such a weird conversation to try to have with other people. About the only way I could find out what other people charged is by getting close to the people I work on projects with in other disciplines and ask them what people like me charge. That way, they aren't talking about themselves or giving away any secrets in their own field.
 
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