Why does nobody talk about the retainer trap with monthly clients?

I took on a retainer client in Seattle for $1,800 a month and figured it was steady money. Turned out they expected unlimited revisions and weekend replies, and I spent 30 hours a week on them. My hourly rate worked out to like $13, which is less than I made delivering food. Has anyone else had a retainer that ate your whole schedule, or am I just bad at setting limits?

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charlie1989d ago

That $13 an hour math hits hard because it exposes the whole lie of "steady money." I've watched this pattern with so many freelancers, where the retainer becomes this golden handcuff that makes you say yes to everything because you're terrified of losing the monthly check. It's like the subscription economy did the same thing to services that it did to gym memberships, people feel like they paid for unlimited access so they squeeze every drop out of you. The real trick I've seen with people who make retainers work is they define the scope in writing BEFORE the first invoice, like a cap on hours and a separate rate for anything extra. But honestly, most clients don't even realize they're being unreasonable until you show them what their "unlimited" actually costs them in real dollars, and then they either get it or they show themselves out.