Are you stuck trying to figure out your freelance pricing?
It’s tricky…especially in fashion where no one talks openly about salary and pay rates (or anything that has to do with money).
(And it’s even trickier when brands want you to work for free for exposure.)
But here’s the thing:
There are strategies you can use to calculate (and negotiate) your rates. And whether you want to freelance hourly or freelance by project, you can use these techniques.
The best part?
It’s actually really simple.
So, if you want to know how much to charge for clothing design, fashion styling, textile design, or anything other freelance work in the fashion industry, this article will show you step by step how to figure that out.
You don’t want to bid a project too low, but you also don’t want your clients to think you’re ridiculously expensive…
“I’m not sure how much to charge…what should my freelance rate be?”
This is by far the #1 question designers ask.
And unfortunately, there’s no magic answer.
Your rate will be different than my rate or the rate of the other fashion designers reading this guide.
Because we are all different.
We don’t live in the same area, we don’t have the same skills, and we don’t offer the same services.
But, as different as we are, there is one thing we will all go through.
No matter where you live, your skillset, or how much I prepare you right now, we will all experience the same thing during our freelance journey.
It’s called undercharging. And it sucks.
It’s also the biggest mistake most designers make.
In the fashion industry, nobody talks about money, so you don’t know what to charge.
Sometimes you feel like you’re just guessing and then later, you realize that $150 project took you 10 hours.
And $15 an hour (before taxes) is not a living wage.
So, why does this happen? There two main reasons. (And remember, we all go through this, so don’t feel bad.)
First, you lack confidence to charge a higher rate, so you tend to lowball yourself.
Second, you underbid a project.
I’ve done both of these things, and I’ve done them more than once.
It will happen to you more than once too.
Just don’t let it discourage you.
Learn from it and move on so you can do better next time.
But to help get you started on the right foot so you don’t feel overworked and underpaid, I’m going to give you a few strategies to figure out your rate.
Now, I know I said there wasn’t a magic solution to this, but there are some simple tricks you can use.
Some of these I’ve learned from financial experts like Ramit Sethi, who teaches even more advanced strategies like how to raise your hourly rate once you have a happy client.
For now, let’s keep things simple to figure out your base pricing.
I suggest everyone start with hourly. It’s the simplest option for you and your clients. Here are some techniques you can use to figure out how much to charge, and you can even use my freelance hourly rate calculator to make sure you’re making enough.
Pros and Cons to Charging Hourly
This pricing structure is more common with UK freelancers than US ones.
I also see it being used more for temp work “onsite” freelancing, which I discourage unless this is the arrangement that you prefer.
If you’re doing a few days of onsite consulting, a day rate may be a great option. This is the only time I’ve ever used this pricing structure.
Pros and Cons to Charging A Day Rate
You can earn more money this way, but it can bite you in the butt if you underestimate or don’t put your foot down against an abusive client.
Even almost a decade into my freelance career, I can still underestimated big projects, especially when working with new clients (I’ll tell you a story about that later).
Things get tricky and you have to know what questions to ask and be really good at clearly outline and managing client expectations.
You also have to make sure you look through any files you’ll be inheriting so you don’t wind up with a bunch of unusable Illustrator flats that have thousands of anchor points and aren’t grouped or joined.
Because if fixing or recreating that wasn’t part of your proposal, it’s a hard thing to bring up after the fact.
You don’t want to look inexperienced, so you wind up doing the work and resenting the project and the client, and that feels shitty.
Which, in a nutshell, is why I really recommend you start out hourly and move into project rates later.
But if you’re more advanced, here are some ways to calculate a project rate.
Pros and Cons to Charging By Project or Piece
Whatever option you choose, set a rate you feel good about.
Don’t try to get the max wage possible right away, but don’t go so low that you resent the project and client.
Pick something in the middle and focus on getting really good at understanding your client, reaching out to get work, and closing deals.
You can always raise your rate later.
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