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That 'lower your rate for the first project' trick really cost me $2,000 last month
A client I met at the Austin Freelancer Meetup talked me into offering a discount rate on our first job together. They said it was a trial to see if we worked well. I cut my usual $80/hour to $50/hour for a two week project, thinking it would lead to a long term deal. Turns out they just used that cheap rate for the full scope, then ghosted me when I tried to raise it back. The work was top notch but they never intended to pay full price. Has anyone else had a trial rate backfire like this?
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aaronroberts2h ago
oh man, that sucks. i learned that lesson the hard way too. now i tell people the trial rate is just for the first week or a clearly defined small scope, not the whole project. gotta put that in writing and cap the hours before you start, otherwise they'll milk it dry.
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keith16453m ago
dude same thing happened to me last year, some startup founder talked me into half my rate for a "test run" and i ended up doing like three months of work for peanuts lol. never again, now i say the discount is for the first 20 hours max and that's it.
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