Nowadays, prices of pretty much anything seem to be public. When you go looking for a phone or some other piece of tech, you can quickly check out multiple vendors online and decide which one has the best deal.
We compare prices every single day – even when considering whether to get a big or a small coffee on our lunch break.
So it should be the same when it comes to freelance work, right? Turns out, the answer isn’t that easy.
Depending on your business and the situation it’s in, the answer to whether or not your prices should be public knowledge can vary.
To help you figure it out for yourself, we’ve decided to summarize the most popular arguments for and against publishing your rates and tell you in which situations they apply.
Pros and cons of putting your prices on your website
Pro 1: Weed out cheapskate clients
To this day the single most frustrating thing for a freelancer is clients who think that you work for free or next to it. They are the ones who think a logo shouldn’t cost more than 50 bucks, because “it’s just a quick drawing”. When your prices are online, these people will see a big red stop sign. It’s a sign that says they should either pay what you’re worth or not bother contacting you at all. If you’re getting a lot of those, you might consider putting that sign up.
Here are some tips from one of our freelance illustrators on how to avoid underselling yourself.
Con 1: Less wiggle room
If you are, on the other hand, someone who haggles a lot with your clients, that sign can end up hurting your position. Picking different pricing models for different clients is a perfectly legitimate practice. A mom and pop shop around the corner won’t be able to afford the hourly rate of an international corporation. So you don’t want to give them the same price. The bottom line is this – if you have a vast range of clients who can afford different kinds of pricing, announcing a sum out of the door is not a good idea.
Pro 2: If pricing is a conversation you should be part of it
We talked in the beginning about how the price of virtually anything is public knowledge nowadays. And you better believe that applies to your freelancing industry. With a couple of clicks, clients can probably find out what other people are charging for the services you perform. And if you’re not amongst the ones that share their pricing policy online, you won’t be part of those search results. That might mean you’re not a part of the choosing pile by default.
Con 2: You might want a conversation about quality, not price
But you might have already built yourself a reputation. You might not need to advertise a low price just to be part of the conversation. You might want to talk about other stuff. Quality and expertise, to name a couple. Those aspects of your business are the ones that can help you make points which elevate you above the simple equation of pricing (i.e. “less expenses means a better deal”). If you can swing it in a way that these are the things that matter, you don’t have to put up your pricing sign.
Pro 3: Clients value transparency
Scratch that, people value transparency. It’s something that automatically appeals to us. Someone who says they know what they’re worth and isn’t afraid to say it publicly is someone we trust. That’s because transparency gives people the feeling that you’re not trying to pull one on them. You’re not someone who wants to trick others into paying more than you are actually worth. And that can go a long way.
Con 3: Your competition gets to underbid you
Do you know who else values transparency? The people who do the same exact thing you do and are always ready to adjust their prices in a way that makes yours look bad. That’s a huge problem in freelancing. And, if you share your prices on your website, it’s going to be a problem for you, too. If you have tons of competition and are trying to stay on top of an oversaturated market, this argument is definitely something to consider. There are some great tips to compete with freelancers who have lower prices than you, though.
Do you put up your prices online? What helped you make that decision? Share your insight and experience with the community in the comment section below!
