What is Answerbag?

Ask questions and share your knowledge with the world here on Answerbag. Get the best answers where there are no duplicate questions and questions are always open - our community of over 1,129,000 will find your answer!

Join For Free!
 

How to Price Graphic Design Services

Monday, March 24, 2008
Related Tags: design | services | grantastic | resources | clients
 

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

  • Customer contract
  • Proposal form
  • Step 1:
    View the price lists for comparable products and services offered by competing design companies. You should review price lists from online design firms like Grantastic to keep your products from exceeding market value (see Resources below).
  • Step 2:
    Run proposed projects past outside contractors before supplying a final quote to a potential customer. The hourly rates for printers, painters and other specialists can drive up the expense of completing large marketing campaigns and publishing jobs.
  • Step 3:
    Calculate the costs of printer paper, paints, toner and other materials as you price your graphic design services. Divide the total material cost in half on purchases from suppliers like Good on Paper to shoulder some of the burden (see Resources below).
  • Step 4:
    Analyze the running time for large-form printers, plotters and design equipment as you price your design services. Divide the total sales price for equipment through Robins Design by a portion of the project time to make up for equipment depreciation (see Resources below).
  • Step 5:
    Request exact specifications from your clients before supplying final quotes to avoid wasted time and resources. Companies like Printing Images use detailed request forms to force clients to make decisions on paper dimensions, colors and other criteria (see Resources below).
  • Step 6:
    Input the hourly rate of employees into the price quote for graphic design services. A good way to track the exact number of hours devoted to a specific project is dedicated project numbers used during computer log-in.
  • Step 7:
    Offer pre-set packages for basic projects to cut down on the time spent pricing services for individual clients. Most designers have established prices for black/white and single-color print materials that can be multiplied by the quantity needed.

Tips & Warnings

  • Assess the amount of work that a client will provide in the future as you price graphic design services. Clients who have a single project do not offer the benefits of repeat business and discounted bulk purchases from materials suppliers. Offer discounts at certain levels of work to increase the likelihood of additional projects.
  • Avoid losing business to competing firms by looking at your business volume during the proposal process. You should lower your prices during economic downturns to develop customer loyalty, while keeping your staff busy.

Resources


Related Content
Definition of Graphic Designer
Graphic designers combines text and images to create an effective piece of visual communication such as a poster, book, advertisement, billboard or website. They create designs in the service of...
What Is Proposal Writing?
Proposal writing is one of the most important skills in business and technical writing. Companies write proposals to attract new business, sales clients and projects. Research professionals write...
Business Proposal Ideas
Begin writing your business proposal with a brief summary that is generated from an outline. In the outline identify who will be performing the day-to-day duties; identify the manager of the...
How to Bid on a Construction Job
Bidding on a construction project is the process of estimating the cost of each component of the project, determining availability of materials and labor, and presenting this information to the...
Definition of a Request for Proposal
A Request for Proposal is a document used in many different industries. It helps formalize the bidding and pricing processes so that prices can be easily evaluated and compared. The Request for...