Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Never Negotiate Your Freelance Rate

planscope.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 36 posts

Re: Never Negotiate Your Freelance Rate

#11

Post by keithwarren »

15 years on my own and after having this discussion with clients nearly every single time we begin a relationship, I have learned to embrace rather than fear the situation.

Often times this is a pattern, the person on the other end feels like they need to get a win in some form and the easiest and most obvious to them is always pricing.

Find out why they are asking this question, find out what they really want - 8 out of 10 times for me, it is just them asking because it would be dumb not to ask. Explain your rates, be open and honest about them. If they feel like your rates are too high for them then be willing to negotiate.

It is incredibly important that you negotiate, so many other people I talk to simply balk and let their rates come down some. This is insanity, it is surrender not negotiating. I always, always ask for something in return if I am giving up something and do my best to make sure what I get in return is more valuable than the money discount they are asking for. Often time I use this as a segue with a customer to discuss retainer billing models. Most people balk at it but if it is part of a give and take over the rate they will embrace it. Give me the choice of a project with pre-paid hours at 150/hr vs NET 30 at 165 and I am choosing the 150 all day long.

Another point, if you relax your rate - sunset the change. 'I am willing to do this project at $150/hr but only for this project - future work we do together will revert to the $165/hr rate'. Put it in writing.

Re: Never Negotiate Your Freelance Rate

#13

Post by keithwarren »

fizx wrote: post #7

Or, you can do what everyone else does. Set your rates 20% higher and give anyone who asks a 20% discount. Or set your rates 10% higher, and give a 20% discount for something that is valuable to you, but not necessarily valuable to the client (e.g. prepayment).

This is almost normal course of practice for everyone I know who works for themselves.

Re: Never Negotiate Your Freelance Rate

#14

Post by joshfraser »

People like to feel like they got a deal. They want to be able to go back to their boss and tell how they talked you down from $250/hr to $200/hr. Why not pad your pricing to begin with and let them feel like they won? This is particularly important for dealing with people for big corporations where buyers are evaluated on their ability to squeeze vendors. In the end, you'll still get the price you need but you can leave them with that warm fuzzy feeling that you gave them special treatment because you value their business so much.

Re: Never Negotiate Your Freelance Rate

#15

Post by judk »

joshfraser wrote: post #14

People like to feel like they got a deal. They want to be able to go back to their boss and tell how they talked you down from $250/hr to $200/hr. Why not pad your pricing to begin with and let them feel like they won? This is particularly important for dealing with people for big corporations where buyers are evaluated on their ability to squeeze vendors. In the end, you'll still get the price you need but you can l…

This practice turns off honest customers who just want good work at a good rate. Those customers will just not call you, or go to a competitor who has lower no-bullshit face pricing

Re: Never Negotiate Your Freelance Rate

#16

Post by joshfraser »

judk wrote: post #15
joshfraser wrote: post #14

People like to feel like they got a deal. They want to be able to go back to their boss and tell how they talked you down from $250/hr to $200/hr. Why not pad your pricing to begin with and let them feel like they won? This is particularly important for dealing with people for big corporations where buyers are evaluated on their ability to squeeze vendors. In the end, you'll still get the price you need but you can l…

This practice turns off honest customers who just want good work at a good rate. Those customers will just not call you, or go to a competitor who has lower no-bullshit face pricing

Not always. It comes down to knowing your audience. I'm guessing you've never negotiated with a buyer from a fortune 500 company.

Re: Never Negotiate Your Freelance Rate

#17

Post by Noughmad »

judk wrote: post #15
joshfraser wrote: post #14

People like to feel like they got a deal. They want to be able to go back to their boss and tell how they talked you down from $250/hr to $200/hr. Why not pad your pricing to begin with and let them feel like they won? This is particularly important for dealing with people for big corporations where buyers are evaluated on their ability to squeeze vendors. In the end, you'll still get the price you need but you can l…

This practice turns off honest customers who just want good work at a good rate. Those customers will just not call you, or go to a competitor who has lower no-bullshit face pricing

People are irrational beings, and so are customers. We will rather buy something that's on sale from 100 to 80 than the pretty much same item that's selling for the regular price of 70. Stores artificially raise prices and then offer discounts, why shouldn't freelancers?

Re: Never Negotiate Your Freelance Rate

#18

Post by sparkzilla »

judk wrote: post #15
joshfraser wrote: post #14

People like to feel like they got a deal. They want to be able to go back to their boss and tell how they talked you down from $250/hr to $200/hr. Why not pad your pricing to begin with and let them feel like they won? This is particularly important for dealing with people for big corporations where buyers are evaluated on their ability to squeeze vendors. In the end, you'll still get the price you need but you can l…

This practice turns off honest customers who just want good work at a good rate. Those customers will just not call you, or go to a competitor who has lower no-bullshit face pricing

Everyone wants a discount. The first thing I do when I see "fixed pricing" is ask for a discount. If I don't get one I move on to the next supplier.

Re: Never Negotiate Your Freelance Rate

#19

Post by danenania »

chasing wrote: post #4

I'm not sure that "never" is a good word to use, here. There are many cases I can think of where it'd be worth your while to negotiate your freelance rate: - The client is a non-profit or under-funded project that has little money but you can help out because you support the good they're trying to do in the world. - The client is offering you a huge chunk of work, and the overhead they're removing from your life (fin…

On your first and last points, my general rule is that I either work for my full rate or for free. I find it much simpler and less stressful to make a clean divide between things I'm doing because I believe in them, and things I'm doing because I want to make a comfortable living and advance my business.

In the middle territory, no one wins. You'll have expectations placed on you because you're being paid something, but it won't be enough for you to put in a professional level of focus.

When you do these kinds of projects for free instead, you get a lot of goodwill in return and you aren't burdened by unrealistic expectations that can add stress and interfere with your bottom line. It also forces you to decide if it's really something you believe in, or just a sub-par arrangement that you're getting pressured into.

Post reply on HN