[thomasvining]

Hey people,

I was wondering what you guys generally charge as a freelance rate.... in the UK that is?

I'm just about to start doing freelance, and really have no idea what price to put on my work. I'll be doing CSS, XHTML and Flash, with the odd bit of PHP & Javascript.


Any suggestions would be very cool!

thanx in advance!

[briljant oranje]

Usually you do what you want to earn per year divided by amount of billable hours per year, and add a bit for expenses and overheads.

but really if your just starting out you need to get as much work as possible to make a name for yourself, whilst not underselling yourself - and doing an extra good job to get referals.

take into account where you are, if you already have clients or are starting from scratch, your experience etc.

(if your in the city you'll be able to charge alot more than if your in a small town to start with.)

[Transmogrify]

How much do you need to earn as a minimum? From that, you can work out a rate. Can't divulge my rates I'll be letting on to how much i'm under charging or (unlikely) over charging

[mike_m]

How Much to Charge?

[tomson]

I charge £200 p/day (that's design only with 7 years agency experience)... fairly good junior coders can be had for under £120 a day in London tho.

[thomasvining]

cool, cheers for the advice!

yeah, I did charge £200 a day for a brief freelance project I did for an agency before going full-time again, however I had no idea at the time if that was normal as it was what the agency offered - all I knew was that it seemed pretty good compared to any equivalent I could get doing full-time work.

To be honest, that's definitely more than enough for me to live off, but I really just want to work for some cool clients and gain experience in the areas I need to progress in.

I guess I've gotta just get as much in as possible to start with, and make some clients happy, but at least its good to have an idea of the kind of rate to charge.

thanks as always!

[Scott]

virgin digital wasnt a cool client??

[thomasvining]

Originally Posted by BlueSteel

virgin digital wasnt a cool client??

virgin digital was an amazingly cool client and they are at the end of my road, but they need me full-time and I want to make a name for myself doing a variety of work for different clients.

Sounds utterly crazy perhaps to most people, but I feel if I don't make a break for it and do my own thing then chances might just pass me by.

[Scott]

supose, dont let them go though!

[pedge]

It does depend on your overheads and what you need as a wage - even if your overheads are low you need to take into account tax, holidays, slow periods, equipment/software purchases and the inevitable bad-debtors (as well as legal costs if you're going to go for them when they try to screw you - try http://www.thomashiggins.com as a solicitors letter before action costs £2 and usually gee's the debtor up to pay within 7 days but if they don't you're looking at £180 to take em to court which you'll get back when you win it, but you have to stump it up first); oh yeah, and build in a bit for profit too if you want to grow!

£200 a day will bring you in around £52,000 which sounds good but you should build all of the above in if you're serious; at that rate your wage may come in lower than you think.

I'd look at around £350 per day minimum (£50 per hour) - remember, you won't be working every hour generating income, you'll also be handling invoicing, phone calls and the obligatory hour or so at the pub for lunch.

Hope that helps & good luck!

P.S. Get yourself a bulletproof contract stating your terms of business and get it signed by every client - they're worth their weight in gold should they play silly beggars (been burnt before, but not again)...

[thomasvining]

hey pedge, top feedback there - I really appreciate it!!!!

I'm gonna get onto all the legal stuff very shortly, so that advice is seriously useful!

[cam]

A cup of earl gray and a chocolate digestive per day.

[tomson]

Originally Posted by pedge

I'd look at around £350 per day minimum (£50 per hour)

Bear in mind that for that sort of money a client can get a small agency to work with...
and an agency can probably offer a more solid business proposition, have financial security, have an established client base etc etc, all of which can be very appealing to the person with the cheque book.

[aaron]

£350 per day for a freelancer? Haha

[Brown]

is that incredulous or bitter laughter? i don't see the problem with that as an ad-hoc short term work rate. for long term freelance contracts you would be lucky but again, you can get it and more.

[Stickman]

And

Originally Posted by thomasvining

Location: London

[top_buzz]

I don't see why location really matters anymore. I've had some clients for 2+ years and never met in person. I could be living on the moon for all they care.

Maybe I should just pretend im in London and jack my prices up, they'd never know!

[Limbo]

Originally Posted by top_buzz

I don't see why location really matters anymore...

You ever lived in London?

15%-20% more expensive than Yorkshire - the women especially: High maintainence

[top_buzz]

Yeah but whats that got to do with it?

Do people working in London only have clients also based in London? Some of my clients are in London, does that mean I can charge them more?

[d*d]

yes