How to price different jobs
Anonymous (not verified) | Wed, 2006-10-11 11:27im in the process of switching from a per-project-cost approach to a per-hour-cost approach.
i understand that prices are rather irrelevant because of country and market differences. still my issue is that depending on the type of work, an hour could be more or less expensive.
for example: i would charge more for an hour of identity work because it has greater importance for the client and generally it gives me more hassle.
but i would charge a moderated amount for static web layout. now how much to charge for implementing HTML and CSS?
i would like to know how do you break the hourly cost depending on the type of work that u do. whats more expensive? whats cheaper? and i think it would be especially interesting to see the relation between the ammounts.
im thinking to break the projects into:
identity / static web layouts / flash sites or banners / HTML and CSS / print (ads, flyers, covers, illustration).
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I give the client the option of having the work done on a contract [ie: a set price for the enttire project, agreed upon at the beginning] or on an hourly basis.
If they decide to go with a contract, I generally charge my hourly base rate + 10%, multiplied by my personal estimation of the hours it will take to complete the project [the client is not told my estimation though]. I'm usually generous in the estimation, and that, along with the 10% extra, means that I'm definitely going to be covered.
Hourly, I have a base rate for design and basic development. The design and basic development includes the entire design process, as well as the basic development of that design into the site. I usually charge the same rate for porting the content of an old site over to a new site. My base rate covers essentially everything you need to get a site up and running.
I charge time and a half for anything more complicated than that - custom scripts, as an example. I'll charge double the base rate for things that are really complicated, though I usually outsource them to people that are better at it than me [but i usually keep a 25-50% finder's fee :)]
I don't do much print work other than my pro-bono work, but when I do i charge my base rate to come up with the design, then time and a half for applying it to various mediums [ie: i'll come up with a basic design for a flyer, then charge time and a half to recreate it as a business card, a publication cover etc]
andrew harrison
http://andrew.harrison.org
Price structure greatly depends on the nature of the project.
Example: When I do Corporate ID stuff, I charge a flat rate. Sort of like a package deal that spells out what they get for that rate. The reason is because This comes fairly easy for me, but I always put a cap on the time. They get up to X amount of hours of design time for Y amount of money.
And regardless of the price structure, I always track my time and reflect this on the invoice.
The bottom line is that the profitability of any given project is always directly proportional to what the client can (and/or will) pay.
I'd suggest: Always track your time regardless of the agreement and always work from a pre-determined budget.
Terrell Thornhill
e-zign Design Group