84. Beware of Line-Item Pricing

Most clients will be drawn to fixed-bid pricing. They want to know exactly what the project is going to cost and they expect you to stay on budget. From the designer’s side, fixed-bid pricing isn’t altogether bad, since you will know exactly how much you are going to make on the project.

When I first started freelancing, I worked exclusively via fixed-bid pricing scales. A client would send me the specs for a project, and I would attach pricing to the project and gain the client’s approval for that amount. I would be meticulous in this, breaking down each item the project would entail in minute detail.

First, I would figure out how long the whole job would take, and then I would break it out into itemized pricing. ...

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