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uziiuzair
8y

Question: How do you guys charge your clients? I have had an hourly rate for quite sometime now, but never have I been able to use it since I do not know how to calculate it.

What I usually do is charge a fixed fee and charge on top of a feature is requested,
or I charge a monthly fee for long term contacts and charge on top if any additional feature is requested.

I want to try out hourly charge but since most of my clients are online, I do not know how it will work since the client can believe that I am simply adding additional hours or delaying work causing the hours to increase. (Most online clients are new to my services, unlike clients I meet offline, online can be less trusting)

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  • 4
    8y
    Some related advice here, but not about charging them.

    Make them sign a contract. Like physically sign it. That way when feature creep sets in you can just say "this is what we agreed to".

    Also can offer you legal fallback if they refuse to pay.

    Biggest mistake I made as a freelancer was not having a contact.
  • 1
    8y
    @Michael-Hancock oh I already have a contract. Every client is required to sign it unless the client is referred from a design studio (than they have a contract with the studio and the studio pays me my rates)

    But even with a contract I have never charged hourly.
  • 1
    8y
    @uziiuzair Charing people is tricky. You don't want to overcharge because then they will go somewhere else. But don't sell yourself cheap.

    I've always charged per day. Then given them an estimate of how many days I think it'll take.

    (Usually a couple more than it actually takes so I can look industrious when I finish 2 days ahead of schedule 😅)
  • 1
    8y
    @Michael-Hancock that actually sounds better! Charging per day compared to per hour.

    I believe charging per hour can only work if you can meet the client face to face, build a trust.
  • 1
    8y
    @uziiuzair yeah I agree. I always put together a changelog.md as well. So every day the client can see I am working. This will help build trust!
  • 2
    8y
    @Michael-Hancock change log, that's a pretty clever idea. I'll start doing that too! Thanks for the idea! :D
  • 0
    8y
    We mostly work with the same client so do fixed price, means we take the risk, if it goes wrong then we lose our but if it goes well then profit! Makes it easier for our client to plan with fixed costs as well
  • 0
    8y
    I only charge by the hour for existing work with minor changes, not features. Projects are always quoted, new features are akways quoted and it's always a fixed fee. If a fixed fee project spec changes its re-quoted. I base my quotes on how long things take from experience. My hourly rate is based on my professional employment and how much they used to charge and how much they paid freelancers.
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