A few years ago, a client asked me during a call, "What's your price for this work?"
I had no idea. I had listened to them, understood the work and knew roughly how much effort it would take. But when it came to the price, I was guessing. They told me they had a $25K to $30K budget, and in my head I was thinking $10,000.
Even today, "What should I charge?" is the question designers ask me most. So if you freeze when a client asks for your price, you're not alone. I froze for years. This letter is everything I changed to stop guessing.
For a long time, I believed that if I charged less, I'd get more clients. I'd look at designers charging three times my rate and assume they must be struggling to find work, while I was the one working nights and weekends just to pay rent. And at first, low prices did seem to work. I stayed busy. But I worked long hours and barely made enough money, clients checked every little thing I did and pushed for extra work, and the best clients went to someone else, because my low prices made me look new.
My worst project was with a client who didn't really know what was being built. Too many people were making the decisions, so the suggestions kept changing, and after a month and a half of work I still lost the money and had to refund it.
The moment it finally clicked was a small one. After months of work on a project, a client asked me for a discount, again. I wanted to say no, but I was scared they'd leave, and in that moment I saw that undercharging wasn't helping me at all. It was keeping me stuck.
That's when I understood I didn't have a pricing problem. I had a boundary problem. Price is not a number you pick. It's a boundary you set once and then protect. So I changed three things.
1. Never say your price first
I stopped saying my price first. Clients know their budget very well. They may have spoken to other designers before you, but they're still talking to you, which means they're interested. And the moment you say a number first, you lose the chance to ask for more.
So now I ask what budget they have in mind. Even a rough number helps me give a price that fits, and then I give a range rather than one fixed figure. If a client tells me their budget is $15K, I might say my range is $12K to $18K, depending on the scope. Now we're having a real conversation instead of a guessing game. There's a book called Win Without Pitching by Blair Enns, and one idea from it has stayed with me ever since.
When you name the price first, you lose power in the conversation.
2. Set your baseline
This one changed everything for me. A baseline is simply the lowest you'll go. For me, that means I don't take projects below $8K, and my hourly rate doesn't go below $300. Before I had one, I kept saying yes to $3K and $2K projects. I was getting more work, but less money and a lot more anxiety.
If $8K feels far away for you right now, start small. I didn't start there either. Back when I was undercharging, I raised my rate by just 10% on my next project. I didn't overthink it, I just tested it, and the client said yes right away. That's when I saw that I was the one holding myself back, not my clients. If your hourly rate is $100 today, you could quote $125 on the next project and leave yourself room for a small discount, as long as you never go below your baseline.
A baseline also changes who you say yes to. In my experience, the clients who paid the least always asked for the most. They took up my time, didn't respect my work, and pushed back the moment I set a boundary. Once I stopped giving discounts out of fear, better clients started showing up. I even show my prices on my contact form now, so the wrong clients filter themselves out before we ever talk.
3. Know your numbers
A client won't accept a price you can't explain, so you need to know where your number comes from. When a project comes in, I look at four things. The scope of work, the extra work the client hasn't thought about yet, my experience with similar projects, and how long it will actually take me. Then I open a spreadsheet and write down each part.
- Landing page design: 20 hours
- Signup flow design: 10 hours
- Total: 30 hours
I multiply the hours by my rate, so 30 × $300 = $9,000, and then add 5 to 10% extra, just in case, which puts me around $9,500 to $10,000. The number always looks big when I first see it. But it makes sense, and I can explain every part of it, which is exactly what a client needs to hear.
Of course, a higher price only works if the client believes you're worth it. That's why your portfolio should show the problems you solve, not just your skills, and why your reviews should show real results rather than "great to work with". The way you talk about your own work matters too. If you sound sorry about your price, the client will feel it.
I won't pretend every client says yes. Sometimes my number is too high for them, and that's fine. I tell them that if I go strictly by hours, it will cost this much, which is probably uncomfortable for them too, and I offer a range instead. Usually it makes sense to them. When it doesn't, we simply weren't the right fit.
A few years ago, a client asked me for my price and I had no idea what to say, so I guessed, and I guessed low. Now I let them talk first, I know my baseline before the call, and I give a range I can explain.
The number stopped being a guess.
What's your baseline right now?
See you in another one!
Let's grow together 🙌
P.S. If you want to see how I put a price into a proposal, it's all in the Proposal Kit.
