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Hourly rate versus flat rate

  • mandy Level 1
    • 10

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    Hourly rate versus flat rate

    If you are a freelancer, you know that you can pick an hourly rate or a flat rate to work on projects depending on where you list your service at. Does one make more sense to you over the other? How do you decide which one is right for you? Here are some things to keep in mind when deciding what the fair rate of pay should be for your freelance service you are offering.

    There are many positives and negatives for each rate. First off, did you know you might make more money with one over the other. For example, lets say you are writing an article on a subject that you do not know a lot about. You will have to do lots of research for this service then. That takes up a lot of time. If you say that you are going to charge $15 an hour, and the article you are writing takes you 2 hours to research, and then another hour to write, you have made $45. However, if you just go with a flat rate of say 7 cents per word, and the word count is expected to be 1000 words, you have made $105. Even if it took you only 3 hours to research and write, the flat rate would more beneficial to you. But if you are just starting out, and only charging a low 2 cents per word, you would only make $30 off it, so the hourly rate would be a better deal.

    Do note that it is sometimes hard to have an hourly rate when you have to keep track of the time you are spending online researching and writing the articles. That can sometimes be a pain for writers. And there are also some clients that will say ok I will pay for 3 hours of work and it may take you more than that do complete the service.

    The rate of pay in which the freelancer is paid is up to the freelancer themselves. Just make sure that you are getting the fairest solution and being fair as well to the client. God luck with your freelancing career!

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    ralph101

    ralph101

    Great post Mandy. It is hard sometimes to know what something is worth because if you have never done freelance work, you just don't know the time that goes into it!
    11 years ago

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    tangee

    tangee

    This does really make one wonder how they should be paid. It can be beneficial to be paid one way and not the other way but it also depends on the assignment you are working on as well.
    11 years ago

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    angie828

    angie828

    Thanks for putting this in perspective for us Mandy. A lot of us would just assume that an hourly rate was always better but not all the time.
    11 years ago

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    twilight

    twilight

    Great article here. Good advise on how you should charge. Sometimes it can be confusing to know what to charge.
    11 years ago

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    evie

    evie

    Great post. I have never really thought about this. I always just assumed that with a flat rate you would most likely always be getting less then you deserved. Guess you just need to look at the individual projects.
    11 years ago

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    Jackson

    Jackson

    Most buyers will only pay flat rate as they want to ensure the final price beforehand. They're not really thinking of what's in the best interest of the seller.
    11 years ago

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    Justin

    Justin

    I would prefer to charge by the hour with a maximum number of hours being paid for. So for instance, I would tell the client that I'm willing to write articles for $15 per hour, maximum six hours. But guarantee at least 3 articles. So for the blog owner, that would be $30 an article, though most likely I would deliver more.
    11 years ago

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    elladavidson

    elladavidson

    I would prefer to charge by the hour with a maximum number of hours being paid for. So for instance, I would tell the client that I'm willing to write articles for $15 per hour, maximum six hours. But guarantee at least 3 articles. So for the blog owner, that would be $30 an article, though most likely I would deliver more.

    This is a good thing to think of. If you are going to do hourly rates, you need to have something implemented that says you will do so much.
    10 years ago

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    angie828

    angie828

    I would prefer to charge by the hour with a maximum number of hours being paid for. So for instance, I would tell the client that I'm willing to write articles for $15 per hour, maximum six hours. But guarantee at least 3 articles. So for the blog owner, that would be $30 an article, though most likely I would deliver more.

    I too like this idea. It gives you a fair price without being too much for a customer really.
    10 years ago

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    ricky44

    ricky44

    I usually do a flat rate. I think that this is much easier to keep track of.
    10 years ago

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