What workarounds did people try for "How to figure out how much to charge for freelance work"?

Question

Accepted Answer

Community members documented 66 workarounds:
1. Looking up posts about figuring out rates
2. Asking clients for their budget
3. Multiplying former employee salary targets by two or three times
4. Doubling or significantly increasing hourly rates to account for nonbillable time
5. Tracking all time for a month to gain awareness of actual work distribution
6. Transitioning from hourly billing to flat rates, retainers, or value-based pricing
7. Assuming lower weekly billable hours when calculating annual income needs
8. Charging 2-3x the equivalent employee wage cost
9. Calculating a base minimum annual income and multiplying it by a daily rate factor
10. Using 'The Squeal Point' method by testing rates on a small group of clients
11. Aiming for a specific contract rejection or close rate percentage to gauge optimal pricing
12. Pursuing repeat clients to avoid frequent rate negotiations
13. Staying silent and undercharging out of fear of losing clients
14. Silently raising prices or springing increases on clients last minute
15. Second-guessing increases and attempting to reduce them before they take effect
16. Charging a greater base pay or fixed retainer for monthly reviews that accounts for extra cleanup
17. Charging an hourly rate for reviewing books and tutoring
18. Screen recording the cleanup process and charging for access to captures
19. Recommending external Excel and bookkeeping courses
20. Pricing based on what the market will bear
21. Tracking gross margin separately from owner pay and overhead
22. Pricing from labor hours, materials, disposal, equipment, insurance, and a cushion for rework
23. Upping prices gradually after reaching review benchmarks
24. Raising prices by 10-20% for each closed deal until it stops working
25. Waiting it out and changing prices once a year due to inflation
26. Calculating a rough hourly pay based on yearly salary and estimated extra hours
27. Checking what athletic coaches or other academic clubs are paid and making a similar offer
28. Laying out a timeline of required hours for the school to determine the stipend rate
29. guessing an hourly or flat rate based on estimated hours
30. asking peers on forums for pricing advice
31. Calling local shops to check their labor rates and charging a fraction of that
32. Using flat rate manuals to estimate job duration
33. Improving photography lighting and angles
34. Refining product descriptions and marketing copy
35. Adding detailed measurements to listings
36. Adjusting shipping costs or baking them into the item price
37. Adding up all annual expenses and dividing by total estimated annual labor hours to find a basic rate
38. politely decline the work
39. treat the service as charity
40. charge a discounted friendship rate
41. Setting prices based on lot size and square footage
42. Charging a flat starting rate for monthly or bi-monthly general pest services
43. Calculating prices based on business costs and desired profit margins
44. Charging a reduced hourly rate for friends and neighbors
45. Bartering services such as lawn mowing and helping out
46. Doing the work for free or in exchange for a couple of beers and food
47. Asking for a rate slightly lower than a current public sector job
48. Charging a rate matching a full-time salary based on company affordability
49. Stop selling to friends and family
50. Quote a price before touching the material and take half upfront
51. Sell to strangers who pay full price instead of personal acquaintances
52. teaching kids they know for free
53. Charging a fixed price for the final product or deliverable rather than billing by the hour
54. Not itemizing or disclosing the hours spent on the task
55. Focusing on the value, speed, and accuracy of the final delivery rather than the time taken
56. Charging a diagnostic fee upfront
57. Doing a flat service call fee for each time showing up plus labor for actual wrenching
58. Charging an hourly labor rate plus a separate percentage or itemized fee for supplies and operating expenses
59. Baking all supplies and expenses directly into a higher flat hourly rate
60. Keeping normal rates simple while billing unusual materials or clearly defined extras separately
61. Charging 50% of a flat project fee up front and 50% upon delivery.
62. Estimating the number of onboarding hours needed and multiplying by an hourly rate to set a minimum retainer.
63. Charging the first month's regular fee at the time of onboarding instead of calculating a separate project retainer.
64. Draft a strict scope document and charge a fixed project fee with milestone payments
65. Bill any feature requests not included in the original scope as change orders at an hourly rate
66. Charge a separate monthly retainer for ongoing maintenance and updates rather than taking a percentage of sales

How to figure out how much to charge for freelance work

What the numbers show

What people tried

Found another way around this?

In their words

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised