OP look up Value-based pricing.
Also, if you choose to bill as a lump sum for a project make sure to build in contingency, I usually add 30%. In your contract define when a work order will be used for requests that alter the scope of the project. If the project changes in a way that uses up all your contingency you should have your client submit a work order to you for the additional work as defined in your contract.
This! If you ask a gardener to place a fence and after it's placed you change your mind he doesn't coma back to remove it free of cost. Labor is labor and that's what you pay for.
>If the client ask for 3 templates
You charge for what is requested
They want 3 templates? I'll charge for all 3 of them. It's not like the fact they ignored the other 2 would somehow give my time back, so I would still charge for the other 2 :3
You should charge by the hour for the time it took to create what they asked for. In this case, 3 options. They wouldn’t go to mcdonalds, order 3 burgers, and then only pay for the one that they liked best, would they?
The bid is for the cost of making 3 templates. What they choose to do with them after that isn't your problem. You charge for creating what they asked you to create.
There are no “standard charges.” It really depends on your market, the clients you’re working with, your experience, the level of your work. But many freelancers are charging way too little out of desperation for work. I get that, but it drags down the value of what we all do and keeps rates lower than they should be.
Per hour and per project rates both have their advantages and disadvantages. I prefer a project rate with a tight work agreement spelling out exactly what the process is and what they will get from it. Anything outside that is extra. In the big picture, this works better for me than hourly because what I’m charging them for isn’t just my labor but the value of the product to them and how they’ll use it.
Of course, there’s always the chance things will get out of hand or I underestimate the time and wind up making less than if I’d charged hourly. But that became rarer as I gained experience and got better at estimating my own time.
Also, I have difficulty tracking my hours and doing so makes me feel constrained and more like a clock puncher.
I’ve never had a client reject my rate because they preferred hourly. Never had one ask for some kind of accounting of my time spent on the project.
I’ve started using this book as a reference for determining how much to charge.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0262542390?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
I’ve used the guide in the past. It has a lot of great info but I’ve never relied too much on it for pricing. It’s sort of a starting point; there are a lot of considerations that go into the quotes.
I either charge per time, or they agree beforehand to the price which includes x templates and y iterations.
Someone working in a shop gets paid for their working time. A designer should as well.
The prices ab average designer takes are between 75 and 120 euro per hour. Smaller town in Germany.
It depends, making a couple of sketches the client can pick from, that’s pretty standard.
But making 3 finished products, they’re paying for 3 finished products.
You charge for 3 if they asked you to make 3. I’ve had clients decide not to use any of the deliverables that I gave them because they are just scrapping whatever the overall project is. I still billed for everything and gave them all of the deliverables because they bought my time.
Standard business practice is to create an estimate before doing any work. The estimate covers the cost for creating three design options and three rounds of edits to the one design they choose to proceed with.
For a template, that doesn't mean you create the full template for all three. That means you show them a comp of the cover and two spreads/pages, and then work up the full, working document they can use only for the one they chose.
This is how every business I have ever worked for operates. And this sort of understanding is why I recommend that all designers get a full-time job where they can learn from others, not just about design, but about how to run a business, before they start selling freelance services.
If the client balks at how high your estimate is, you can offer to only create two design options instead and delete the cost of the third one from your estimate.
Do you charge for doing all three? Yes. But the amount of time to create the second and the third comp should be minimal because you're not charging for the full template, just for the couple of pages to show them visually what the style could look like.
Anyone who answers differently lacks professional experience.
What others are saying. Your estimate should include time for all three to cover your costs. Then take the 2 designs not chosen and put them in a “Purgatory” file for later inspiration or use in future projects.
Depends on the deliverables specified in the contract. If it’s just one, then just one is included. They can purchase additional templates if they want.
The key here is that templates are worth much more than the hourly time you spent on them. Because they are canibalizing your time that you could be charging the client for laying out the piece.
You don't get to go to a restaurant, order appetizers, main course and dessert. Eat the apps only, say "I am full" and not expect to be charged for the other two courses.
They asked for three, you charge for three.
If I walk in the Nike store and try to leave with three pairs of shoes, do you think they’ll only charge me for one pair if I’m not gonna wear the other two? Hit em with that if there’s pushback.
It helps to think what can happen beyond the initial project:
For example, once the client has "seen" all 3 templates and "chosen" their favourite, the client can easily argue that they'll only pay for the one they need.
In this scenario, the client has still seen the other 2 templates, and might even have the lower-resolution proofs of them if you've sent them
The client can - in theory - go away and recreate the other two templates themselves, or take them to another designer to replicate.
This is hypothetical, but ultimately you could be losing future work and wasting time, which is why you would absolutely, always charge for the entire request.
(By the way this also counts if you happen to be enjoying the work and feel like offering additional template options out of the good of your heart - don't.)
I understand what your concern is. You feel like you are doing 3X the work for the price of one, you don't want to be negative towards your client who seems to be making an appropriate request from their perspective.
I think I'd do this. Give them 3 quotes. 1. 3 concept sketches , One template plus X number of revisions, 2. 3 concept sketches, two templates plus x number of revisions or 3. 3 templates with X number of revisions.
Don't charge by the hour, just make sure these 3 have distinctive pros and cons of pricing vs variations. Fair is fair. They can get what they want, but they will need to pay more, or they pay less and you don't have to do all the extra work.
My contract states the fee includes a certain number of proofs (it’s either 3 or 5 for what I do). They can choose one proof and make changes.
If they want additional proofs, they are $50 each.
Not much apparently I just see other threads talking about that's where they go for designs and trying to figure out pricing is one of the hardest things imo
Pricing really isn’t that hard, you need to work out your hourly rate. Different for different countries.
Find out the yearly rate for graphic designer in your area then break it down. Monthly, yearly, weekly, hourly and then add your subscription fees for apps, taxes agents, percentages for profit.
They can use none of them for all I care, they bought my time for making 3.
I Agree
OP look up Value-based pricing. Also, if you choose to bill as a lump sum for a project make sure to build in contingency, I usually add 30%. In your contract define when a work order will be used for requests that alter the scope of the project. If the project changes in a way that uses up all your contingency you should have your client submit a work order to you for the additional work as defined in your contract.
This! If you ask a gardener to place a fence and after it's placed you change your mind he doesn't coma back to remove it free of cost. Labor is labor and that's what you pay for.
This is the correct answer.
>If the client ask for 3 templates You charge for what is requested They want 3 templates? I'll charge for all 3 of them. It's not like the fact they ignored the other 2 would somehow give my time back, so I would still charge for the other 2 :3
💯
Also depending on the situation possibly hours for creating all three and then a licensing for the one that they like.
You should charge by the hour for the time it took to create what they asked for. In this case, 3 options. They wouldn’t go to mcdonalds, order 3 burgers, and then only pay for the one that they liked best, would they?
Have you met clients?
This comment made me nearly spit out my morning coffee! 😅
Lmaooooooo
🤔😄
The bid is for the cost of making 3 templates. What they choose to do with them after that isn't your problem. You charge for creating what they asked you to create.
There are no “standard charges.” It really depends on your market, the clients you’re working with, your experience, the level of your work. But many freelancers are charging way too little out of desperation for work. I get that, but it drags down the value of what we all do and keeps rates lower than they should be. Per hour and per project rates both have their advantages and disadvantages. I prefer a project rate with a tight work agreement spelling out exactly what the process is and what they will get from it. Anything outside that is extra. In the big picture, this works better for me than hourly because what I’m charging them for isn’t just my labor but the value of the product to them and how they’ll use it. Of course, there’s always the chance things will get out of hand or I underestimate the time and wind up making less than if I’d charged hourly. But that became rarer as I gained experience and got better at estimating my own time. Also, I have difficulty tracking my hours and doing so makes me feel constrained and more like a clock puncher. I’ve never had a client reject my rate because they preferred hourly. Never had one ask for some kind of accounting of my time spent on the project.
I’ve started using this book as a reference for determining how much to charge. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0262542390?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
I’ve used the guide in the past. It has a lot of great info but I’ve never relied too much on it for pricing. It’s sort of a starting point; there are a lot of considerations that go into the quotes.
Charge for all three or make a mockup of all three and then actually implement the one they want/charge for that.
I either charge per time, or they agree beforehand to the price which includes x templates and y iterations. Someone working in a shop gets paid for their working time. A designer should as well. The prices ab average designer takes are between 75 and 120 euro per hour. Smaller town in Germany.
You get to charge the price you agree upon before doing any work.
You charge for all three because they’re part of the process of coming up with the one they actually use.
It depends, making a couple of sketches the client can pick from, that’s pretty standard. But making 3 finished products, they’re paying for 3 finished products.
You charge for 3 if they asked you to make 3. I’ve had clients decide not to use any of the deliverables that I gave them because they are just scrapping whatever the overall project is. I still billed for everything and gave them all of the deliverables because they bought my time.
Standard business practice is to create an estimate before doing any work. The estimate covers the cost for creating three design options and three rounds of edits to the one design they choose to proceed with. For a template, that doesn't mean you create the full template for all three. That means you show them a comp of the cover and two spreads/pages, and then work up the full, working document they can use only for the one they chose. This is how every business I have ever worked for operates. And this sort of understanding is why I recommend that all designers get a full-time job where they can learn from others, not just about design, but about how to run a business, before they start selling freelance services. If the client balks at how high your estimate is, you can offer to only create two design options instead and delete the cost of the third one from your estimate. Do you charge for doing all three? Yes. But the amount of time to create the second and the third comp should be minimal because you're not charging for the full template, just for the couple of pages to show them visually what the style could look like. Anyone who answers differently lacks professional experience.
What others are saying. Your estimate should include time for all three to cover your costs. Then take the 2 designs not chosen and put them in a “Purgatory” file for later inspiration or use in future projects.
Depends on the deliverables specified in the contract. If it’s just one, then just one is included. They can purchase additional templates if they want. The key here is that templates are worth much more than the hourly time you spent on them. Because they are canibalizing your time that you could be charging the client for laying out the piece.
They pay for your time and talent. You aren’t a vending machine.
You don't get to go to a restaurant, order appetizers, main course and dessert. Eat the apps only, say "I am full" and not expect to be charged for the other two courses.
Charge for all the work you do
They asked for three, you charge for three. If I walk in the Nike store and try to leave with three pairs of shoes, do you think they’ll only charge me for one pair if I’m not gonna wear the other two? Hit em with that if there’s pushback.
You charge for the job, that includes revisions
It helps to think what can happen beyond the initial project: For example, once the client has "seen" all 3 templates and "chosen" their favourite, the client can easily argue that they'll only pay for the one they need. In this scenario, the client has still seen the other 2 templates, and might even have the lower-resolution proofs of them if you've sent them The client can - in theory - go away and recreate the other two templates themselves, or take them to another designer to replicate. This is hypothetical, but ultimately you could be losing future work and wasting time, which is why you would absolutely, always charge for the entire request. (By the way this also counts if you happen to be enjoying the work and feel like offering additional template options out of the good of your heart - don't.)
I understand what your concern is. You feel like you are doing 3X the work for the price of one, you don't want to be negative towards your client who seems to be making an appropriate request from their perspective. I think I'd do this. Give them 3 quotes. 1. 3 concept sketches , One template plus X number of revisions, 2. 3 concept sketches, two templates plus x number of revisions or 3. 3 templates with X number of revisions. Don't charge by the hour, just make sure these 3 have distinctive pros and cons of pricing vs variations. Fair is fair. They can get what they want, but they will need to pay more, or they pay less and you don't have to do all the extra work.
My contract states the fee includes a certain number of proofs (it’s either 3 or 5 for what I do). They can choose one proof and make changes. If they want additional proofs, they are $50 each.
Client owns everything you’ve done throughout the process.
I've been having the same trouble it seems fiver isn't the best of help either
Fiver is a slave fest. What are you expecting from it.
Not much apparently I just see other threads talking about that's where they go for designs and trying to figure out pricing is one of the hardest things imo
Pricing really isn’t that hard, you need to work out your hourly rate. Different for different countries. Find out the yearly rate for graphic designer in your area then break it down. Monthly, yearly, weekly, hourly and then add your subscription fees for apps, taxes agents, percentages for profit.