The Pros and Cons of a Public Price List

Freelancers can be very flexible on pricing. They can charge by the project or by the hour, increase their rates for rush jobs, decrease them for charities or work completely for free for friends and family if they choose. However, some freelancers choose to publicly disclose their prices on their website or brochures, eliminating some of the flexibility they may have on pricing.

Here are the pros and cons of a public price list so that you can think about them before putting your prices up where everyone can see them.

The pros of a public price list

• Eliminates negotiating

  Just like how stores put their prices on tags, you can put a tag on your services and eliminate the negotiating that freelancers sometimes have to deal with.
  
  

• Eliminates time wasters
  

  Many freelancers draw up proposals for potential clients who really aren’t interested in creating a project, but instead are interested in seeing how much it would cost. Making your prices public means they won’t waste your time.
  
  

• Clients will know what they’re getting into
  

  Most of you may have presented a proposal to a potential client, only to see their eyes bug out when they see the price. It’s embarrassing for you and the client when you are clearly not on the same page about pricing. Putting your prices on your website will eliminate the shock factor of some proposals.

The cons of a public price list

• Less flexibility
  

  When publishing a price for a small website or business card design, you lock yourself into that price and feature set. You get into a situation where you need to explain to your client that what they are requesting falls outside of the bounds of your prices and you’ll need to explain why. This can sometimes increase the time it takes for a proposal instead of decrease it.
  
  

• Cheap services
  

  Usually (but not always) people who publish their prices are using that as a selling point, because they are less expensive than their competition. You do not want to position yourself as a “cheap” freelancer.
  
  

• Temptation to keep your rates the same
  

  If your rates are printed in brochures or published on your website, you’ve got a couple more reasons to keep your rates where they are instead of constantly striving to earn more.
  
  

• Every project is different
  

  Whether you’re a freelance consultant, designer, writer or programmer, every project is different and should be treated accordingly.

Ultimately, most freelancers choose to keep their prices private and quote per job. For most freelancers that’s probably the right decision. However, not all freelancers are the same. You need to weigh the pros and cons to figure out whether or not to tell the world what you charge.