Unpopular opinion: pricing your first gig by the hour is a trap and I learned it the hard way | First Gig Pricing - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals

Hayden Hunt · 2026-10-05T19:20:02.736849+00:00

I built a Shopify setup for a guy in Fort Worth and charged $25 an hour, which felt fair since it was my first paid work. Then the theme edits took 30 hours and he paid $750 for what a local agency quoted at $4,200. Turns out hourly pricing punishes you for being new and slow, not for the value you deliver. What is the weirdest number someone offered you for a first gig, and did you take it?

Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals

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Unpopular opinion: pricing your first gig by the hour is a trap and I learned it the hard way | First Gig Pricing - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals