I recently came across this question on Quora:
I’ve got problems with charging my services online, so I’d like to hear how do you guys go about it. Be as detailed as possible.
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I always find the answers people give to be a bit vague, so I thought I’d chime in with my answer. Upvote if you get value from it:
This was something I struggled with when I first started out, as well. It’s a constant battle between charging enough to make it worth it yet still get enough jobs to make a living.
It always seemed the answers I found were a bit vague, so let me try and give you some specific steps to figure out what you should charge:
1. What Is the Market Price?
Depending on what exact service(s) you’re offering, there is presumably already a market with a market rate for those services.
Now, this isn’t some price written down somewhere that everybody agrees upon… it’s simply what most people happen to charge for these services.
You need to know this. You need to do this research.
Every service has an upper limit regardless of how much you may *want* to charge. Competition dictates this. So, you need to know what it is for the market you’re in.
Again, every type of service is different so someone can’t just tell you. You need to do the research.
2. What Are You Willing to Accept?
Are you willing to accept the market rate? You’ll be miserable if you keep working for less than you think you’re worth.
So, really take some time to think this through and make sure you’re comfortable with the market rate.
3. What’s Your Strategy?
Finally, you can tweak your pricing depending on what your strategy is…
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Great post.