Do freelancers work for free?
Yes, of course! Why else would they be called “Free”lancers?
After that sad pun which is the general perception, let’s start this blog with a disclaimer because why not?
If you came here looking for some sort of a rate card; greeting cards Rs. 500, posters Rs. 1,000, wedding invites Rs. 2,000. Etc then I suggest you close this tab immediately.
Pricing is very personal just like bras. There’s no one size fits all. So we are here to discuss the cup size and the strap width, texture, material, push or no push etc... sorry! We were discussing pricing, right?
Before we dive into the different factors that I consider before putting a price tag on my work, there are majorly two types of pricing that you can work with; a fixed price and variable/fluctuating price.
Fixed price : you pick a rate card for yourself depending on the kind of work you do/ you’d like to do. E.g.: Any or every wedding invitation will be charged Rs. 2,000 (imaginary figures) regardless of the brief (kind, type, size, etc).
Variable price : the pricing will depend on the brief.
Again, I am no expert in this field (I will always be a newbie) and I’ve learnt things the hard way (and I’m learning everyday). Here are a few pointers I tend to keep in mind before giving a quotation to a client (please bear in mind that this advice is coming from someone who once charged a client Rs.15 for a doodle!).
Time : the amount of time it will take you to make the said artwork. E.g.: an artwork that takes you 5 hours to make should ideally cost more than something you can whip up in 15 minutes. Some freelancers also charge a fixed rate on hourly basis. E.g.: you charge Rs.500 per hour. You work on a piece for a total of 4 hours then 4*500 = cost of total project Rs. 2,000.
Effort : this is hard to quantify but comes with practice. Effort as the word suggests is the effort you’re going to put into the artwork. E.g.: it could be a single character illustration but may require a complex amount of detailing and layering which will take time and a lot of effort when compared to making a stick figure of a human.
Scope of work : I’ve discovered this only recently (from my mistakes, you shall learn). I think I can best explain this pointer with an example : if you were to make an A5 size poster for a client and charge them Rs. 1,000 for it. But the client uses the same artwork as a book cover and prints say, 1,000 copies of it. Prints bookmarks and posters, and even wall art of the same design makes a thousand copies of each and sells them in the market, then congratulations! You’ve been fooled. *hands a paper crown*. In such cases, always know what the scope of work is, where all it’s going to be used, have the client sign a terms & conditions document which prohibits the client from using the artwork outside of the scope agreed upon.
Size of artwork : sometimes size matters. Sometimes! It’s a simple case of designing an A4 size poster Vs. designing for a food truck. The latter will require more effort and time and greater scope of work, hence the client has to part with his/her kidneys!
Timelines/priority : my favourite breed of clients are the ones who use the words ‘ASAP’ and ‘URGENT’. They will always ask for top notch quality with quick turnaround time and want to pay you peanuts for it. Now, you cannot compromise on quality (because I am assuming you’re a decent artist and human being) so you’ll burn the midnight oil and deliver within the “URGENT” timelines. So in such scenarios, the one thing you can do is demand more money. Because you are pushing other commissions to make space for this one, you better get reimbursed for making their priorities yours.
How to get pricing right?
Nobody knows (ok! Maybe some people do. But hey! This is my blog and I will give shitty advice).
Trial and error (this is my mantra for EVERYTHING in life. Glad I don’t have kids yet!).
DON’T EVER WORK FOR FREE (I will stab you in the eye if you do!). You can work for free for NGOs working for a cause you believe in or for your grandfather (poor old man. Have a heart!). But otherwise, as a rule of thumb, please don’t ever work for free. If you work for free for a client/organisation, you’re not only securing yourself a comfy spot on the pavement to sleep for the rest of your life but also hitting the rest of us. Because then it’ll be a case of, oh! Sharma Ji’s son worked for free, you should learn something from him. We will all end up on that pavement. And people in our country DRIVE on pavements!!!
Ask yourself how much you’d be willing to pay for the piece you’ve created. Or ask a friend how much they’d be willing to pay for it (a real friend not those imaginary ones)
The other thing you can do is ask the client for their budget and see if you can match their budget or meet them halfway. You could alter the project E.g. An A4 poster with complex detailing and colouring can be reduced to an A5 poster with less background work, one character eliminated, etc to match the budget. Basically, work together with the client to make the project work. But don’t work for free! (I’m watching you).
You can (and should) revise your pricing every 6-12 months. This is again assuming you have polished your skill set and you’re producing better work and know your craft a little better than you did 6 months ago. To ensure the client doesn’t completely ruin your life, see if you can get a full or 50% advance payment before starting out. A lot of companies don’t agree to the 50% advance payment method (unfortunately) because they have their own 30 day payment schedule, in which case it’s a gamble. So you decide whether you want to risk it or not, how badly you want the project, and how reliable is this brand.
A quick wrap-up of this very serious and very useful blog :
70% of the clients will claim to be poor.
And IF you are working for free as a one-off then make sure it is a one-off only and the “exposure” or “cross promotion” “collaboration” is worth it. Because if its not, I am coming after you with that knife!
Make sure you include cost for ideation if you’re also working on the idea/storyline/layout etc for a project in your total quote. You can totally charge for rough drafts/samples/and even extra iterations.
And lastly but most importantly -Pricing depends on you, your skill level, your experience, & your needs.
Please remember that it’s ok to fumble, be confused, make mistakes, underprice (happens with me all the time) & overprice (the client won’t let this happen). At the end of the day, you need to decide how important the project and that experience is for you. You might come across a very interesting project which will also look amazing on your portfolio but the money isn’t great. Or the money is good but the project itself is bleh. It’s a choice you have to make!
Hope all this rambling was useful. If not, I am not sorry, you chose to click and read.
