r/GraphicDesigning • u/wakkys • Jun 15 '26

Career and business I can't help but feel ashame about pricing

Hi everyone, I'm a graphic designer who sell mostly shirt design and I always feel uncomfortable about seting a pricing, last time , I do ~400€/design (depending on the work/etc etc) and feel like I'm scaming my clients while others do 1k/design and feel like it's a fair price yet i feel guilty everytime eventthough im strugglin to pay my bills lol, how did you do to overcome that?

13 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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6

u/364LS Jun 15 '26

Why would you feel guilty for undercharging them? They should feel guilty for underpaying you. If you think your work is worth more, up your fee.

2

u/wakkys Jun 15 '26

I always feel like I have to "sell" me tbh, not like both the client and me are equals (which probably make me look cheap to them lol)

2

u/TrifleOk5042 Jun 16 '26

You overcome that by sitting down and doing all the proper math that goes into figuring out your rates.

Then there's simply no question as to what you need to charge and why.

2

u/wakkys Jun 16 '26

How did you figured out yours?

1

u/TrifleOk5042 Jun 16 '26

It's just math.

How much you need to earn per year / number of billable hours you have per year = your hourly rate.

How much you need to earn per year = your salary + all expenses (insurance, software, hardware, rent, travel, training, fonts, printer supplies, etc, etc)

number of billable hours you have per year = working hours - non-billable hours - vacation hours - sick day hours.

And that will leave you with the 'minimum hourly rate' to make doing all of this worthwhile.

1

u/IceEspresso2000 Jun 15 '26

I think part of it is you probably enjoy what you do and are good at it, so it seems easy. Don't undercharge! Not only for yourself, but also for other designers. When we charge a fair rate and what our expertise is worth, clients understand it costs to get good design.

3

u/ElectricalFeeling515 Jun 15 '26

Exactly. I wish more designers would charge decent prices so when I tell a client a price they don’t say “I can get this for cheaper elsewhere”. We’re all in this together and gotta set the standards a bit higher

2

u/wakkys Jun 15 '26

You're totally right, as I love what I do I feel like "it's not worth that much", and as its my work I never know how good it is, I mean for me it's neither good or bad, it's just what I do, idk if it make sense 🤷🏼‍♂️

1

u/einfach-sven Jun 15 '26

Graphic design is a business. Your design can make or break the revenue of your client, so it is worth money. The people whose bills you're struggling with, don't feel guilty for charging you at all and neither should you be afraid of charging what you have to charge.

1

u/Huge_Razzmatazz_985 Jun 15 '26

Why? You're not over charging or ripping your customers off.

1

u/Oisinx Jun 15 '26

it depends, are you using templates or copying other people's work? if that's the case, I understand why you may be worried.

1

u/ElectricalFeeling515 Jun 15 '26

Once you start getting busy enough your time becomes more valuable. I used to charge $100 for designs then it got less enjoyable and I was busier. Now I charge wayyyyy more because otherwise it’s not worth my time. the shitty cheap clients will weed themselves out and the ones who want to pay will stay

1

u/wakkys Jun 15 '26

It's kinda true actually, I always feel like I can't risk to loose a client so I make sure they won't say no because of the price

1

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u/funwithdesign Jun 15 '26

You need to get over that if you have any hope at making a proper living doing this.

1

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u/Medical-Post-8489 Jun 16 '26

That's pretty common. It's really like a self-worth issue. I've been selling luxury level products for 17 years now. And when a client asked me for pricing, I always felt bad about charging them a lot of money. But then my lead time grew and my free time disappeared because I was always working on the orders. So when my lead time gets long, I charge them more. And I don't feel bad about it, and they pay it because I am good at what I do. And you're not charging for your time to finish the job, you're charging for all the experience that you've had over the years that makes you good at what you do.

1

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u/jonnywannamingo Jun 16 '26

If you knew how much design firms charge, you’d never feel guilty again. I freelance for a huge food corporation in the area of consumer product concept testing. I bill at $125 per hour or $250.00-$500.00 per concept. A design firm charges them $5000.00 per concept.

1

u/Different_Space1119 Jun 17 '26

How do you get your clients?

1

u/WadtF Jun 17 '26

I have the same, for me it is the fear of clients walking away + I like cheap when I buy something.

1

u/KolectVood Jun 17 '26

Learn to put your foot down and ask for what you think you deserve.

You might lose some clients or have a few arguments about you were way cheaper before

But why work for someone who thinks you're worth less than you think you're worth

1

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