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Had a chat with a plumber buddy that made me rethink my pricing structure
He told me he charges $150 just to show up and look at a job, no work included. I've been giving free quotes for graphic design work and it hit me how much time I'm wasting on tire kickers. Has anyone else added a consultation fee and seen their real clients get more serious?
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hannahj493mo ago
Free quotes are part of building trust before someone pays you, and slapping a fee on the front end might scare off potential long term clients who just wanted a ballpark. Charging for a simple chat feels like you're putting up a wall before they even know if you're a good fit.
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ray6133mo ago
My neighbor asked me for a quote on painting her fence last year, I spent like 45 minutes measuring, checking the wood, and explaining options. Then she just said "thanks" and never called back. I get why people want free quotes, but after that I started charging a small fee for detailed estimates. It filters out the people who are just shopping around and wasting your time. Now I just give ballpark ranges over text for free, but if they want me to come look at anything, it's 20 bucks. That little fee has actually saved me from a bunch of dead end conversations where nobody was serious anyway.
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