Vent: I cut my rates to get more work and it totally backfired

Last quarter, I dropped my hourly rate from $85 to $60 hoping to land more clients. I got a few quick jobs, but they were all super picky and wanted endless revisions for no extra pay. One guy in Phoenix even asked for a full website redesign on a 3-page site budget. I ended up working way more hours for less money and felt totally burnt out. I learned that cheap rates attract the worst kind of clients who don't value your time. Has anyone else tried lowering prices and gotten stuck with nightmare projects?

3 comments

3 Comments

hugow302mo ago

Ugh, that's the worst. Been there, done that. Lower prices totally send the wrong message. It filters out the good clients who understand quality costs money and only leaves the bargain hunters. They nickel and dime you because they see your work as a cheap commodity, not a real skill. Raising my rates back up was the only thing that fixed it.

john4302mo ago

You mentioned that raising your rates fixed it. Did you lose any of those old cheap clients when you did, or did they just leave on their own?

vals382mo ago

Yeah, the nickel and dimers usually leave on their own because the new rate makes them see the real cost of the work they were asking for.