I thought raising my rates would scare off my regular clients in Austin.

I bumped my hourly rate from $85 to $110 for new work starting in January, and told my two best long-term clients about it. Both of them agreed to the new rate right away, with one saying 'honestly, we were expecting it sooner.' Has anyone else been surprised by how clients react to a price increase?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopher_wells44d ago

How much were you undercharging before? Sounds like you were way below market rate. I've seen that happen a lot, where people are scared to charge what they're actually worth. Good clients usually know the real value and expect to pay for it.

the_casey4d ago

Used to charge like $500 for a full branding package because I thought that's what small businesses could handle. Then I saw other designers getting three times that for similar work. You're right, @christopher_wells4, good clients don't flinch at real prices. I was just scared of hearing "no" so I priced for the bad ones instead. Doubling my rates actually got me better projects and way less hassle.

casey_harris4d ago

Honestly, same thing happened when I finally raised my retainer fee. I was so nervous telling my main client, but he just said "about time" and sent over the new contract. Tbh we get stuck in our own heads about what people will pay. Good clients already know your work is worth more and they're just waiting for you to catch up. It's like a weird test we put ourselves through for no reason.