How much to charge???? Help Me

It is hard to judge because there are so many factors.

1-Geographic location (NYC vs. Kansas) NYC commands higher fees due to higher cost of everything.

2-Experience-1yr vs 10+yrs

3-Talent

4-Client Budget - You get what you pay for. I know you could do a better job on a logo if you spent 40hrs exploring concepts instead of 2. (I know, not always true, I have had great ideas in 10 seconds and have struggled for weeks on things too)

5-Expenses - some of my prices may seem high (or low) but for a wedding post card, it may take you 1-2hrs, maybe 1-2 hours in revisions and $1000 in photography expenses.

For me personally, here is a range:

I have 15+ years experience and do work for many fortune 500 companies in the NYC area.

Full Website Design (how big?) min 3000 - 100,000 (not too helpful, but how many pages, for who...etc) I am currently doing a 150,000 site (with lots of coding and lots of cost involved)

Full Company Branding (What should be included in this besides a logo?) min $2000 max 20k (just my max, I know people who have charged 100,000+)

Brochure Design (2 pages meaning how many spreads, front back etc....)
- 2 page 2-5000
- 4 page 2-8000

Wedding/Event Invite (Doublesided Postcard) friend $0 otherwise 300-1000

Letterhead include with other items (card,logo etc) make this a freebee.

Business Cards 500-1000

Slideshow (With design template for future use) How many slides, what media etc....from 500-10k hard to say.

This may or may not help you, there are just too many variables involved. You should really figure out your rate and determine your hours and expenses.

I charge a minimum of 90/hr + 10% over expenses.

Good luck.

Generally charge as much as you can. And, every year try to charge more and more since you get more and more experience and skill.

You are at the beginning stages of your career, you will need as much experience as you can get. You need to do a lot of work, you need to learn the business. Just work, work, work. And, learn as much as you can from all kinds of sources.

Don't worry too much about the prices yet. Don't do things for free, because you need to learn the business side of being a creative, but don't worry if you undersell yourself for now.

In a year or two you will reach a stage where your skills will stand out from the crowd. Than you can start charging as high as client will bear.

That's what someone taught me when I asked that question the first time. I've found there's a fine line, especially when you're just starting out. Here's what I do: I find out what the going rate in my area is. How much does company "A" charge for a 5 page website with no frills. Just graphics and information, maybe feedback form. Then I see what company "B" charges. Are they similar? (Find out about companies C-G, if they exist. We have 34 design companies in our little town of 65000 people. That's 1 for every 2000 people. Excluding freelancers.) You need to be competitive, you can't charge more than "established company K". Ask them for a quote? (If they don't charge you for one.) And make sure you outdo them. Give something extra. Do a little bit of research and surprise your client. (Always think what would the users of this site - for example - like. What is missing from company C's brochures.) Your client will see that you are innovative, and come back, and hopefully bring some friends to the party. And as Ivan says, don't go for making your first million within the first couple of months. Rather aim at getting experience, and getting your name out there. Push your prices up slowly until you're satisfied that your customer base/income equation is starting to level. I charge R250 (I live in South Africa.) per hour. That's $40. The Average over here is R400. It depends on what you want out in the long run. My advice then? Keep an eye on your competition. Like they say - Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

This really helps but i need some perpective how much is undercharging?
At the Moment i Charge:

Full Website Design (No Php or Coding) $80
Full Company Branding (Logo and Theory of Brand + Use of Brand) $20
Brochure 2 Page $30
Brochure 4 Page $60
Wedding Invite $20
Letterhead $20
Business Cards $20 Just Design no Print
Slideshow $30

I can see this is too little but please i need suggestions for me. I don't really want to charge per hour because sometimes i like to spend ages on a low cost project but which is a really good concept. But i want to charge enough to allow me some more money to study and buy graphics books and allow myself to design better. Please add to your IM i live in the middle of no where and need to talk to some other designers.

Well Mintsause made a good point about learning what your competitors are charging. This is idea that I have done as well and it allowed me to set my prices based off what other companies are charging.

As for the prices that I see you have listed, I can tell you that you are way underpriced. I checked out your website and your portfolio, you are very good. But you need to also call around other places to see what they are charging your potential customers.

Here is a good source for pricing and other salary guidelines:

Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines
http://www.gag.org/pegs/index.php

And don't undercharge yourself! You probably do enough free stuff for friends and family.

REMEMBER: You are not selling just a brochure, you are selling your years of training, your experience, your talent and professionalism.

Matt, underpricing yourself too much is not only bad for your income, it may actually make it harder for you to get clients.

Although everybody likes a good deal, if the price is ridiculously cheap they will automatically assume that you're an amateur who won't be able to do the work they want. Hiring a designer is a bit like buying a tool: if you get something too cheap, it'll break the first time you use it and you've wasted your time and money.

If you want to have extreme low prices to get your foot into the market, I would suggest something more like:

Website: $500
Branding: $250
Brochure 2 page: $200
Wedding invitation: $100
Letterhead: $100
Business cards: $150

As Mintsauce and yoelnino have already said, it also depends where you are. The prices I've listed would be the minimums for my area for me to consider taking a designer seriously -- if I remember correctly you're in the UK and you might want to raise them a bit more.

Also, reading your website, it has a bit of a "begging" tone; you say you're an experienced designer yet you're very submissive when it comes to asking for money -- you need to build up a lot more professional arrogance. Don't be anybody's design b*tch! ;-)

If you're still having trouble getting work, don't be afraid to get on the phone. Call all of the companies in your area and ask them if they need any design work done. It may not be a bad thing to say that you're a young, talented designer who will work cheaply because you're building your portfolio. And by cheaply I mean something like the prices I've listed here.

Let us know how you make out!

That really helps and thank you all. There is a problem with ringing local designers though because well there are none! i live in a small place with about 1000-2000 people. You guys should look around here its like the land where design stood still on all the posters is wordart from microsoft word and clipart. This is really bad because it has become the standard to do it yourself. There is one company that kind of does design and thats a signage company basically a old guy with corel draw 5 and a load of printers. So as you can imagine most of my work comes from the internet with people who just happen to stumble over my site so my prices were probably turning away most people i guess.

And please add me to your IM i really need to talk to some talented designers.

What will the market bear? What are your associates charging? Read this post for more:
http://creativebits.org/job_estimate

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Powerpoint is not a design application

When calculating what to charge, always factor in that nearly half of what you make is expenses: Taxes and incidentals. So if you charge $80/hr for a website, it's really $40/hr in your pocket.

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Powerpoint is not a design application