how much should i charge?
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- edsplace
i'm leaving my current employer on great terms and may be getting some freelance work from them for the next month or so.
how much should i charge as a freelancer
would you break annual salary down to a day rateor should i add a bit more on top for tax, internet, etc. if so what should i put on top?
- lowimpakt0
The fairest is to work out your daily rate then add additional overheads (you will be running your own office, tax and shit)
you can probably scale up over time. just don't price yourself out of the market.
- e-pill0
what is it you do? you cant just ask how much should i charge and expect an answer..
- lowimpakt0
I don't think he/she is looking for a figure. I think it's more about how to break down costs.
- bored2death0
make a budget for yourself. add 35%.
- monospaced0
$75/hr
- < my standard freelance rate.bulletfactory
- mine too, unless it's a big agency, and then I take them for $100monospaced
- standard of living in missouri is much different than nyc...ethanfink
- Yes it is.duckofrubber
- the bath room is as big as a whole NY apartment. lol.akrokdesign
- indeed- wife and i are moving to nyc - whole different ball game. if there are a ton of hours, i usually figure a project rate.bulletfactory
- Yes, we live at a much higher standard than you white trash fuckwads. Stay the fuck outta NY.monospaced
- Also, I charged this in California.monospaced
- i see.bulletfactory
- $75/hr isn't high at all. Actually, seems kinda low for Cali.gramme
- ediot0
I was recommended to this book a few years ago when I kept asking questions about pricing. Some dude got reall annoyed and sent me this link. I haven't bought it myself, it can probably help?
(Typing on my iPhone)
- edsplace0
thanks,
I'm responsible for artworking emails for a clothing company
as well as front end web design.an email normally takes a full day to get agreed (easy to cost)
then there's normally 3-4 amends/product changes which don't take long at all but all add up!don't want to burn any bridges but also don't want to charge too little (i'm uncomfortable with the whole negotiating money thing)
thanks for the tips
- jimzy0
yeah make sure you cover your costs, not much point in doing work if you're not covering your costs (like you said broadband, tax, porno mags all that stuff adds up).
- monospaced0
Just remember, your old boss charges clients daily and will understand where you're coming from. You don't need to be as scared as you are...if you left on good terms you can even have a conversation about it.
- scrap_paper0
Go to f r e e l a n c e s w i t c h and look for the rate calculator (QBN blocked my post when I posted the line for some reason). This is a good place to start.
I usually try to budget for jobs keeping $75/hr as a a baseline. If during the project the hours get to the point where I start making less then $75/hr then I usually talk with the client and revisit the project estimate.
- MSTRPLN0
You're also not part of any benefits package anymore, so take that into consideration when coming up with your rate.
- edsplace0
really appreciate the feedback
what in your opinions is best practice?
(what makes you looks best to a potential employer)
providing an estimate/flat rate for the job
or an hourly rate and total it up at the end of the job.
- mirrorball0
I think if your freelancing its better to give an hourly rate, sometimes giving them an estimate for the job looks like a made up figure.
If it's print work, take care of the printing for them too (as long as you know your stuff regarding talking about papers etc).
Get trade prices so you can get a bit of mark-up off it.
- ethanfink0
Translate your yearly into per hour...
If you were making 35K a year you were doing production work. So your rates should be $35-$55 an hour.
If you were making 75K a year you were probably doing art direction or higher end work - charge $65-$95 an hour.
- plash0
i'd like to offer the project rate with guaranteed amount of hours at a set price (called a retainer). then bill by the hour once and if you exceed that amount of time. (agreed upon before the project starts)
it allows the client to waste or take advantage of your time and you are compensated for the time over the project limit.
be sure to log your billable hours and make sure you are itemizing your time.
- scrap_paper0
I have to disagree with a couple of posts here. No offense guys.
Freelancing IS NOT the same as taking your yearly salary and breaking it down into what you would make per hour. There are real and concrete mathematics that go into working out your break even point and the profit margins you want on top of break even. Break even is only worst case scenario where your are on the edge of literally not making any money and just covering your expenses.
An end client never should know what your hourly rate is in my opinion. That is for you alone. You use your calculated hourly rate to come up with an estimate that has budget and timeline worked into it. Into that estimate you should also outline at what point the budget/timeline will have to be revisited if the scope of the project changes.
Also realize that project EFFORT and project DURATION are different. EFFORT is that actual hours you put into a project (eg. 3hrs). DURATION is how long the project will take to be finally delivered (eg 2 weeks).
I have found that if you provide an end client your calculated hourly rate they start making way too many assumptions about your time and quite frankly you don't make nearly as much money. You "give away the ghost" and put yourself at a disadvantage.
Now, if you are freelancing in house with a design company. It is different. They are hiring you strictly for the hours you spend with them. At that point you provide an hourly rate.
- edsplace0
so you'd work out a figure based on hourly rate plus overheads and present that how?
surely you can't just put a figure on a piece of paper without any explanation!
- The only thing you present to the client is and estimate with deliverables and timelinesscrap_paper
- utopian0
an arm and a leg
- ethanfink0
You can calculate all you want. If your a production person and asking $85 and hour in Kansas you will not get it...