What Prices to Charge as a Freelancer

Here is a very good article that deals with pricing jobs on a freelance basis. It deals with architectural renderings but the concepts are all there.

Thanks for putting this up, I really like this author and article. I might even send it to people who complain about rates.

Thanks to Mr. McCoy for posting. I am going to start a new string on this subject of contracts.

I’d say US$100 - $150 per hour is not unreasonable for an expereinced freelancer these days. I don’t think clients can hire in-house people for less. We get no benefits and usually do it faster, better, and cheaper than if they had to hire and train salaried staff themselves, not to mention we usually have to buy and maintain our own software and equipment. They don’t have to pay us salary during lull periods and have no legal liability using a contractor as opposed to supporting a full time employee. It’s never going to be fair because a good designer can literally help the company make millions with the intellectual property created so it’s always a win for the client any way you slice it if he is using a good freelancer.

I had read somewhere, a couple of years ago that an consultancy charges anywhere from $75 to 150 /hr. True?
I wonder what recruiters/freelance outplacement agencies charge their clients when they offer the ID’er $30?

True. I know at legit ID firms, staff designers can be billed out at $150 per hour to the client and Principals are around $200 or so. I think agencies can bill out clients 3X what they pay the freelancer.