Do you ever have problems with clients and prices?

[KimberleyCreative]

I'm kind of ****** off, because I've just lost two clients because of what I charge.

I quoted $85 for a flyer. And they got back to me saying that it looked cheap and my designs probably reflected the price. When I was really going for affordable. So I put the price up.

I charged the next person, someone opening a business $120 for a poster design, and they said that it was too much. I recommended that they asked the government about financial support. Because the Australian government encourages people to open their own business.

People want design for peanuts, and don't seem to understand the importance of design.

Anyone else had this problem? Should I ask what their budget is first, if they are a new business?

[Toon]

It's half the battle of being in the industry, its highly undervalued. After a while you get to be able to read a client and know what kind of service they're after, try to avoid the cheap ones they're more trouble than their worth.

[SidekickWD]

I struggle with this too. My hubby, who does custom work on vehicles, offered this piece of advice to me.

He will ask the client what he wants done, then ask the client what he wanted to spend, then he will tell him if he can get everything he wanted done for the price he wants. Usually if the price is too low he will tell his client "I can create what you want, but you will either have to come up in price to have it, or cut back on what you want done."

So I've tried a similar approach with my clients, plus a few other tools (Thanks Tommy) and have been able to justify to my clients why I charge what I do, and why it will cost them that certain price for what they want. So far it's been working well.

If none of that made sense it's because I'm doped up on cough syrup today..sorry.

[StiligeCecilie]

How do I know how much to charge?

I just drew a car in vector for a guy on a forum, I spent 6 hours on it, and I think maybe I can charge some for .ai file so he can use it for prints and such.

How much would you charge for that?

Here's a pic of it (with copyright all over it)


I just wanted to make sure that the guy didn't just save the preview and then "forget" to pay me :P

[Rexibit]

I agree that you need to discuss with the client what they actually want, then make some recommendations about how they can achieve it. If you show you care about helping their goals be reached, they will be more willing to work with you on price.

Don't sell yourself short, and always quote a little more than you think it will take to do so you cover yourself. If you think you can get something done in 8 hours, quote 10. This will also cover small changes that you wouldn't feel justified to charge a change order for.

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Cecilie, I would look on the Internet for vector art prices. Get a few quotes and charge the average or what you would feel good about receiving. I personally know how hard it is to do a good vector art, and have issues doing simple ones - so I wouldn't sell yourself short.