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Advice on charging needed...
Hello - first time poster...
I'm not strictly a freelancer as such, as I'm employed full time as a graphic designer. Just before Christmas however, my sister told me that her friend's father was after someone to design a few leaflets and flyers for his surgery (I assumed this would be a small GP deal - it turned out to be a very high-end and high-tech affair).
Though I don't know the client from adam, the informal nature of getting in contact meant I didn't bother with a contract, or nailing down prices in advance. Basic error I know, but I've freelanced very little in my career, and only considered this to be a bonus pocket money job. I've now completed a few jobs and there's the prospect of more on the horizon. I'm due to invoice him for the first time and was after some rough guidance on what to charge.
The work has been nothing onerous or particularly creative - 2 A4 double-sided folded leaflets, and a single-side A4 newsletter so far. There was a house style in place from existing promotional material, so it was just a case of rebuilding the documents in InDesign, and plugging in new pics and copy. The only issue was been the sheer number of changes involved - for each simple job, there have been at least 10 lots made (and un-made in many cases, as they changed their minds frequently). Client already has his own printers in place so that's not an issue.
Browsing around online, it seems many companies are charging anywhere between £50 and £90 for a standard leaflet design job. I was considering somewhere in the vicinity of £65. Does this seem fair? Should I charge a flat fee per job or charge by the hour? I don't want to be seen as taking the piss (given that I have replaced a full time design agency which was apparently considered too expensive), but neither do I want to sell myself cheaply (especially given that the business is, by all accounts, doing extremely well for itself).
Any advice appreciated.
Many thanks
Rob.
I'm not strictly a freelancer as such, as I'm employed full time as a graphic designer. Just before Christmas however, my sister told me that her friend's father was after someone to design a few leaflets and flyers for his surgery (I assumed this would be a small GP deal - it turned out to be a very high-end and high-tech affair).
Though I don't know the client from adam, the informal nature of getting in contact meant I didn't bother with a contract, or nailing down prices in advance. Basic error I know, but I've freelanced very little in my career, and only considered this to be a bonus pocket money job. I've now completed a few jobs and there's the prospect of more on the horizon. I'm due to invoice him for the first time and was after some rough guidance on what to charge.
The work has been nothing onerous or particularly creative - 2 A4 double-sided folded leaflets, and a single-side A4 newsletter so far. There was a house style in place from existing promotional material, so it was just a case of rebuilding the documents in InDesign, and plugging in new pics and copy. The only issue was been the sheer number of changes involved - for each simple job, there have been at least 10 lots made (and un-made in many cases, as they changed their minds frequently). Client already has his own printers in place so that's not an issue.
Browsing around online, it seems many companies are charging anywhere between £50 and £90 for a standard leaflet design job. I was considering somewhere in the vicinity of £65. Does this seem fair? Should I charge a flat fee per job or charge by the hour? I don't want to be seen as taking the piss (given that I have replaced a full time design agency which was apparently considered too expensive), but neither do I want to sell myself cheaply (especially given that the business is, by all accounts, doing extremely well for itself).
Any advice appreciated.
Many thanks
Rob.
- Contact in PM
Opus
Messages count : 87Likes count : 3Registration : 4 February 2008The best way of costing this may be to work out how many hours you spent on it and then apply what you feel to be an appropriate hourly rate. I'd also try to work out how much time was 'normal' design and artwork and how much was client alts. Without having sight of the job, knowing your level of experience or knowing the going rate in your area, it's tricky to come up with an hourly rate, although a ball park of around £20-£25ph wouldn't be that unreasonable (the design agency which previously did the work would almost certainly have been charging much more). Do you know the rate your time is charged for at work? This will also allow for Sales, Admin and Account Handlers but it will go some way to helping you. It may not be in your best interests to charge the full rate for the alts on this occasion, given the potential for more work to follow but you need to be careful that you're not setting a precedent that they will expect to be matched on subsequent jobs.
In future I'd be tempted to quote jobs in advance (including an allowance for a reasonable number of alts and quoting a rate for any further changes) and to reiterate to the client that the reason that costs may tend to spiral is the number of alts - for their sake it's important for them to (as far as possible) agree on the brief before you start work.
The other issue for you would be to do with registering the extra income with HM Revenue and Customs. Other people on this site are much more qualified to answer that side of things (see various previous threads) and the following article will also be of help.
How do I freelance on the side? :: Freelance UK
Hope this is of some useOpus Creative Design Ltd - Contact in PM
Rob W
Messages count : 2Likes count : 0Registration : 14 May 2008To answer a few questions:
I've been in the business about 10 years now, working up from production on dodgy local papers, through a couple of trade magazines, to my current role in graphic design for a DVD label. I'd say my current hourly rate was around £20, though that's only going by some very sketchy maths - as you say, dividing annual salary by hours in office skims over a number of other factors.
I probably spent around 2-3 hours rebuilding the original template, then perhaps 2 per leaflet inputting the new text and pictures. Alterations only took about 10-15 minutes a round, so maybe an hour and a half to two hours per project. Adding an hour or so for petty admin (running out PDFs, emailing back and forth) and charging at £20 an hour probably puts me somewhere in the vicinity of the figure I'd initially guessed.
Many thanks for the pointers. Much appreciated.
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