Some clients...

[neato]

Client:
Hey Phillip,
Hope all is well!!! I have a request! I've been looking through XXX's files for our current business card MS Publisher files or image or pdf, and I am finding nothing. Did you design them? If you did, can you send me the publisher file or high quality graphic of the XXX and the XXXXX cards?
Thanks!

NOTE: I designed these years ago and have already sent them the files they needed. Obviously now they want them to do they're own "graphic design" in publisher. No problem...


Me: Hi XXXX
I don't work in publisher but I can sent the PDFs. Do you need all of them that we've created? Or just one version of each?

Client: If you have it with empty space where names and titles would go, that would be best!!

Me: Great! See if these work for you. (I create a blank version of each for him and send him the PDFs)

Client: They work well! Did you also have XXXX & XXX blank name badges?

Me: Sure! See if this work for you.

I send an invoice for $15 for all 4 files, my minimum revision charge.

Client: (copies his boss) ALSO...Why are you charging $15 for something you have already generated and delivered? Nothing new was made!



This was last week, I've heard nothing back after calmly explaining that I bill for my time and if I'm asked to do something that takes time, there will be at least a minimum charge.

Still no response.

Think it's time to raise my prices again.

BTW this is NOT one of my great sign customers.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Client:
Hey Phillip,
Hope all is well!!! I have a request! I've been looking through XXX's files for our current business card MS Publisher files or image or pdf, and I am finding nothing. Did you design them? If you did, can you send me the publisher file or high quality graphic of the XXX and the XXXXX cards?
Thanks!

NOTE: I designed these years ago and have already sent them the files they needed. Obviously now they want them to do they're own "graphic design" in publisher. No problem...


Me: Hi XXXX
I don't work in publisher but I can sent the PDFs. Do you need all of them that we've created? Or just one version of each?

Client: If you have it with empty space where names and titles would go, that would be best!!

Me: Great! See if these work for you. (I create a blank version of each for him and send him the PDFs)

Client: They work well! Did you also have XXXX & XXX blank name badges?

Me: Sure! See if this work for you.

I send an invoice for $15 for all 4 files, my minimum revision charge.

Client: (copies his boss) ALSO...Why are you charging $15 for something you have already generated and delivered? Nothing new was made!



This was last week, I've heard nothing back after calmly explaining that I bill for my time and if I'm asked to do something that takes time, there will be at least a minimum charge.

Still no response.

Think it's time to raise my prices again.

BTW this is NOT one of my great sign customers.

You can't just invoice them without telling them upfront what the cost is... That is sneaky.

Since a previous thread discussing art charges...I've since added verbiage to all my invoices that the files we produce are available at $125/ea.

 

[neato]

Uh no. Sorry. This is a client I had a steady working relationship with in the past, I did work for them almost daily at one point, not so much anymore. They should know by now I don't work for free.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Uh no. Sorry. This is a client I had a steady working relationship with in the past, I did work for them almost daily at one point, not so much anymore. They should know by now I don't work for free.

They clearly don't know that and you should have clarified that upfront BEFORE sending the files. I would have sent them an invoice before sending, and once paid happily e-mailed them over.

If I am asking someone about something and I will be getting billed for that something, I want to know the cost BEFORE proceeding.

What if you called a plumber about a question and he was able to help you over the phone. You hang up happy and then get a bill for $60 a few days later. Would you like that or think it's fair?

 

[unclebun]

Generally, if I have made a sign or sold business cards to someone in the past, and later they want the "file" to use on other projects, I tell them straight up there is a charge for sending them the file. Often, if it's to go on a website or to make their own letterhead in MS Word, I'll send them an appropriately sized jpg for what they are doing and not charge for it. If they want a vector of a logo I created for a sign, but they did not pay separately for, I tell them that there is a charge for it, minimum $120 (1 hour). Usually if they are wanting the logo in vector they are going around you or leaving you. No reason why they should get the design files for free.

 

[neato]

Well, I guess that's the way you run your business, but I do graphic design all day every day. I don't quote everything up front, only on larger projects or with new clients. I would spend half my day and my clients know what I bill and don't expect that.

 

[neato]

I should mention, this customer is STRICTLY a design customer, that's what they hire me for. I don't make signs or any other product for them. They hire me to design, period.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Well, I guess that's the way you run your business,

Yes, and it's to head-off problems like what your facing. There are pitfalls to just billing people and not clarifying your cost upfront.

 

[2B]

Yup, been there and done that. the policy now is a written price BEFORE any work is done and the price must be approved in writing

your price is MUCH better than we charge, they want an editable template. would say the price is 3x what you list.

in addition, we now tag EVERY E-mail with;

• Any additional changes/edits will incur a "Graphic Services" fee.

 

[neato]

Yup, been there and done that. the policy now is a written price BEFORE any work is done and the price must be approved in writing

your price is MUCH better than we charge, they want an editable template. would say the price is 3x what you list.

in addition, we now tag EVERY E-mail with;

• Any additional changes/edits will incur a "Graphic Services" fee.

I love the email tag! Can I steal that?

Unfortunately, there's just no way I can get written approval for every revision I do every day. I think the only solution is to bill in advance from here on out, a paid invoice is just as good as written approval in my book.

 

[2B]

I love the email tag! Can I steal that?

Unfortunately, there's just no way I can get written approval for every revision I do every day. I think the only solution is to bill in advance from here on out, a paid invoice is just as good as written approval in my book.

Feel free to use/modify the tag as needed.
Glad to be of assistance

That is the beauty of the price BEFORE edits start.
for us with design work is billed by 1/4hr. after the initial price is sent.
this way IF they have more edits after review, they already know the price.

So an estimate will read
Graphic Services:
Alteration / Edit to existing designs and/or layouts

additional alterations/edits will be will billed by the 1/4 hr after the initial design(s) are submitted for review.

 

[Gino]

I too, think you should've told them up front that you were going to bill them....... but $15. ?? Who charges $15 for anything ?? That seems way too cheap for anything..... in any business. You might wanna add a policy minimum to your tagline, also.

 

[neato]

I too, think you should've told them up front that you were going to bill them....... but $15. ?? Who charges $15 for anything ?? That seems way too cheap for anything..... in any business. You might wanna add a policy minimum to your tagline, also.

I actually went up to $20 this year for my retail customer for revisions. I know it's not much, but it makes it worth doing these little 5 minute revisions all day. It does add up.

Believe me, it's not the $15 that concerns me about this client, it's the lack of appreciation for the value of my time.

 

[2B]

I actually went up to $20 this year for my retail customer for revisions. I know it's not much, but it makes it worth doing these little 5 minute revisions all day. It does add up.

Believe me, it's not the $15 that concerns me about this client, it's the lack of appreciation for the value of my time.

that is the sad aspect, they assume only their time is valuable and they expect you bend over backward for them at a drop of a hat.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

it's the lack of appreciation for the value of my time.

I feel ya, I'm going to start invoicing companies that make me hold on the phone longer then a minute, the cashier at the grocery store, everyone on Preston Road during the evening rush hour... The nerve of some people!

 

[Emd2kick]

I have to agree with Texas, you need to send a warning shot. You can’t just think it’s “implied”. We do a ton of graphic art, many things we do not produce, and at the beginning of a project we discuss how things are billed etc (hourly rate in 15 min increments).

This request was not part of a project, so the response should be. “No problem, but please not there will be a charge of x to pull and process files.”

Also, it probably costs more money then that for you to generate an invoice for $15...And you even followed up smh

 

[equippaint]

I get the reason but it seems petty to me. We short paid an invoice by a few dollars the other day (clerical error) and the vendor asked us to pay the few bucks with a cc. Most, including us just over/short it and move on with life, it seemed petty to me and diminished my perception of them. Ill have more time in bookeeping adjustments now than what the amount even was.
Attorneys work just the same but we dont get a bill everytime we call ours for something minor.
Wouldnt it just be easier to just raise you hourly rate $10-20/ hr and eat some of this nickel and dime stuff? Its a big putoff to me and am sure that Im not alone with that sentiment.

 

[rossmosh]

You need to quote before charging. It doesn't even need to be a formal quote/estimate/invoice. In service industry like this, people have no idea what's a "free" service and what's a "charge" service. There's an assumption that "simple" and "quick" things should be a free service in the name of good customer service.

Typing something like this in an email covers you in the future:

"Hi, we can resend the PDF files free of charge as a courtesy but to make any edits or changes will be an additional charge. For this it will be $XX. Please let me know how to proceed."

As for the money to generate an invoice, that truly perplexes me. If you can't bang out an invoice in 5 minutes for something like this, then you're doing something wrong.

 

[neato]

I get the reason but it seems petty to me. We short paid an invoice by a few dollars the other day (clerical error) and the vendor asked us to pay the few bucks with a cc. Most, including us just over/short it and move on with life, it seemed petty to me and diminished my perception of them. Ill have more time in bookeeping adjustments now than what the amount even was.
Attorneys work just the same but we dont get a bill everytime we call ours for something minor.
Wouldnt it just be easier to just raise you hourly rate $10-20/ hr and eat some of this nickel and dime stuff? Its a big putoff to me and am sure that Im not alone with that sentiment.

This "nickel and dime stuff" is a BIG portion of my income. So no. Imagine if the vector doctor just did the "nickel and dime stuff" for free?

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

Uh no. Sorry. This is a client I had a steady working relationship with in the past, I did work for them almost daily at one point, not so much anymore. They should know by now I don't work for free.

I'm not even going to read this whole thread, I already know what the other posts are going to say, because this place is nothing if not consistent.

You shouldn't have to tell a customer that you do design work for that modifying existing files for them is going to cost them money. Anybody suggesting otherwise is, at best, woefully ignorant.