PRICING

[CaroLine5EBE]

Hey guys, I really need your help.

Pricing a client tends to be tough especially because we all love and enjoy what we do. I am at this exact impasse with my client. We agreed that project-based pay was the best way forward and I really need your help in establishing the BEST/ FARE $value figures for the following services. 

1.a design for a 2 pocket folder

2.two slicks for print and for pdf to email

3.trifold

4.business cards

5..letterhead

6.badges

8.infographic design for Instagram page highlights 

I know they vary from designer to designer but please help me out with ballpark numbers for a fairly new designer that does not want to scare off a potential client and also not sound too cheap. $values against projects highlighted above would be highly appreciated, Thank you all so much!!

[John T Smith]

You might want to ask in the forums that are specific to the programs you use

To ask in the forum for your program please start at https://community.adobe.com/

[Nancy OShea]

@CaroLine5EBE,

Clients always want fast, cheap and good but must be content with 2 out of 3.  What the market will bear in your part of the world may be very different than mine.  Nobody here can say for sure what YOU need to meet your financial obligations except you.  Contact some local print & design professionals in your region and ask them what they charge for the same products & services.  Also find out what their turn-around time is. 

[EuanWilliamson]

I point clients here to make their choice 😉

https://fastgood.cheap/

[floramc]

Hello,

none of us know the requirements that these works involve. We don’t know the brief and if you want to be paid by hours or by other terms.

It is not a crime to check on other designers’ websites and see if they have a pricing list, then adjus to your needs.

My penny on this:

- consider the time they require and which tools you are using;

- is it all your own work, do you need an assistant, do you need to buy or rent tools? Remember that you are paying a subscription to deliver the service with the top applications on the market today, that alone places you in a range among designers.

- proofs and tests? Do you preprint and test before sending? Do you want that to be included in your cachet?

So first put together all that it would cost you to complete the service. Then:

- how complex is the job? How many hours required? Which specific skills if any? Would this take hours, days, weeks?

- who is the client, what relation do you have? How did they find you? Is this a one time job or are there any chances that this will be a returning client? Is it worth to consider a “friendly option?”

- where do you work? Big city? Hard competition, low competition?

Start pulling down questions and answers, and then looking at your background, years of study, commitment and give it your price. If you feel you are selling yourself too cheap, google designers at your level, and compare.

Don’t make the mistake to believe, in case this is your first work, that you lack in experience and that has to weight on the price. If you start cheap, it’s hard to justify your raises later in time. Give yourself a credible value that you will adjust to the economy. Of course if you develop in a great designer, you can ask an important amount of money for your work. You can value your name. But never start cheap, of you will be the one that people contact for the cheap thing.

Hope this helps 

[ls_rbls]

++ Adding to the valuable tips in this discussion,

First of all, you have too many different  projects on the table.

Second, each of those may involve similar developing tools, but that doesn't necessarily means that you can't charge each project separately.

A ball-park figure for all 7 different projects is certainly not the best way to go.

Third, In my very humble opinion, I think you don't need to worry about pricing just yet, and much less to look at yourself as a "fairly new designer". 

That last statement is not really important, specially nowadays where design technology have made it very easy for anyone with little experience or no degree to get their hands dirty with a wealth of Do-it-yourself online tools.

What should be really important to you is, to determine if this customer is wasting your time or not.

Every second you spend without locking that Client in some sort of official agreement (or commitment) is already a waste of money and your time.

You must ensure not squandering so much energy researching price and how other competitors do it IF a prospective customer  is not willing to commit in a contract;  avoid at all cost loosing real prospective custmers that are willing to pay you immediately and up-front... that is key to a successful start.

You'll know for sure if this prospective customer is willing ( and serious) to do business with you the moment you tell them that you charge anywhere between $150-$250 an hour of consultation.

If the person is really  interested, they will  agree immediately, otherwise beware; they might as well could be picking your brain and go ask elsewhere if they can do your great content ideas for less.

Just remeber, don't waste your valuable time without charging the prospective customer for that time.

People who are in business understand this with no problem. 

That said, not because you charge cheap it means they will not go with someone else.

In fact, you always charge high first. Study their reaction, and upon discussing real  pricing, then you're half-way in locking the prospective customer in a contract.

The important detail here is that, should the prospect turns your offer down, you've already got them to agree to pay you for a full hour of consultation with undivided attention. 

Let's say they agreed to pay you $250 for a full hour of consultation, and assuming that they are already willing to do business with you, THEN you can drop the consultation hourly fee down to $ 50-75 for example. Keep in mind that you still haven't negotiated pricing for the entire project... you're just collecting data and brainstorming with the prospective client.

This is a very direct and clear boundary to let that prospective customer that you're not here to waste anybody's time and that you mean business; that is what really matters.

During that full hour of consulation, you gather as much info as you can from that prospect, and you never talk about pricing.

You just orient and direct the prospect in the things  that you're capable of doing.

You also breakdown for the customer  a realistic timeline to meet their goals or deadlines, and you also discuss how many stages, roadblocks, or alternatives are available for the prospect on each phase of each project.

So, after consulattion is paid,   you can then establish how you'll manage the project for that customer.

You schedule another meeting, in which you'll present the customer with 3 ideas, each one priced from highest to lowest. And let them choose what they can afford and are willing to pay. As soon as they choose the idea they like, this is when you talk about the pricing.

At this particular stage of a project, for example, some people that I've worked with in the past usually charge the client 40% of the total price and 60% when the project is finalized.

Others go 30/70, 20/80 etc.  It really doesn't matter how.

What is important is that you can tell at this point if the customer shows a commitment to move forward and that they understand that you're not going to work for free... they don't pay you, you keep all the art.

You must have a good binding agreement in writing (signed by both parties) so there's no misunderstandings.  between consultation fees amd actual project development fees.

[Abambo]

Sorry, I will not be of much help here. Just a couple of thoughts:

• What is the customer's pain point? (Does he normally work with professionals or is he a do-it-yourself-in-word-guy?)
• What is your pain point? (Cost of living!)
• Can you estimate the time you will need to design with all the iterations needed?
• Do you want the job, or do they want you for the job?
• Do you need the reference for starting your business? If you make a good price, let him know that it is a special price for him.
• What is the cost of external providers (printers, for example)?

Are you developing a CI, or are you basing the design on an existing CI? Looking at the scope, you are designing the CI.