c/rate-check

A client told me my pricing seemed 'too cheap to be professional' so I doubled my pressure washing rates overnight

After I raised my rates from $100 to $200 per driveway, I lost half my leads but the ones who stayed actually respected my time and paid without haggling - has anyone else had a rate hike backfire or work out better than expected?

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viola_garcia56•2d ago

Warning: I charged $75 an hour for web design and lost a steady client who thought it was too high

Last Tuesday I quoted a local bakery owner $75 an hour for their site update, and after they said yes I realized I should have asked about their budget first because two weeks later they told me another freelancer charged $50, so how do you handle rate discussions without scaring off good clients?

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webb.hannah•2d ago

Just realized I've been undercharging for rush jobs for 2 years

Had a client last week ask for a full website mockup in 48 hours. I quoted my usual hourly rate plus a 20% markup like I always do. Then a friend who does the same work said she charges double her normal rate for anything under a week. I crunched the numbers on my last 10 rush projects and I left about $3,000 on the table. How do you all figure out what's fair for tight deadlines without scaring people off?

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mason_murray8•3d ago

Had to choose between two freelancing platforms. Picked the wrong one and lost a month of work.

Signed up for FreelancerHub and Upwork at the same time. Went with FreelancerHub because it had a lower fee. Big mistake. Got zero leads in 4 weeks. Upwork got me a $500 gig in my first week. Should have just paid the higher fee. Has anyone else picked a platform based on cost and regretted it?

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jackson.max•6d ago

I tried charging 30% more across the board and only lost 2 clients

I got tired of being the cheapest groomer in Denver so I just raised all my prices by 30% last March. Figured I'd lose half my regulars but I only had two people say they couldn't swing it. Turns out most folks didn't even blink at the new rates and I'm making $800 more a week for the same work. The clients who stayed actually treat me better and tip more now too. Anyone else try a big jump like that and get surprised by how little pushback you got?

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anna717•15d ago

Why does nobody talk about how rates change after 10 years in the same field?

I was talking to a younger freelancer at a meetup in Portland last month and she asked what I charged for social media management back in 2015. I told her $30 an hour and she looked at me like I had three heads. She charges $85 now for the same type of work. It hit me that I never really adjusted my rates as I got more experienced. I just kept doing the same thing for the same people at the same price because it felt safe. She asked me why I didn't value my own history and that stuck with me. Has anyone else gone years without raising their prices because you just got comfortable with the regulars?

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cora_west5•15d ago

Started charging a flat $75 fee for rush requests and it backfired hard

I put a rush fee on my rate sheet back in February thinking it would cover the extra stress of last minute jobs. Last week a client paid it no problem but then expected me to drop everything for them every single day for a week straight. I ended up doing way more work than I planned for that $75. Now I'm wondering if I should make the fee a percentage of the total job instead or just say no outright. Has anyone else had a rush fee totally blow up on them?

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max_schmidt77•15d ago

Debate: Should you charge by the hour or by the project for web dev work?

I started out charging $50 an hour for web development work, and it felt fair. But then I took a flat $400 project to build a simple landing page for a bakery in Denver, thinking it would take 8 hours max. Turns out, the client kept asking for tiny tweaks over 3 weeks, and I ended up spending 14 hours on it. So I made like $28 an hour on that job, which stung. On the other hand, my friend swears by per-project pricing because it helps her land bigger clients who hate hourly uncertainty. So which side do you come down on? Has per-project ever screwed you over too, or do you think hourly billing is the real trap?

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lisas78•15d ago

Just realized the local coffee shop meetup in Phoenix killed my whole pricing strategy

I went to that freelancer gathering at Lola Coffee last month and overheard three people charging double what I do for the same web work. Has anyone else figured out their rates are way off after seeing what locals actually charge?

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