Just saw a guy at the coffee shop in Austin charge $50 for a logo, but his work looked really good. | First Gig Pricing - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals
Just saw a guy at the coffee shop in Austin charge $50 for a logo, but his work looked really good.
I was getting coffee and the guy next to me was showing his friend a logo he made for a local bakery. He said it was his first paid job and he only asked for fifty bucks. The logo was clean and professional, way better than I expected for that price. Should you charge low to get that first job on your resume, or does that set a bad price point from the start?
Used to think you should never underprice your work, but seeing stuff like this makes me wonder. That first real job on your resume can be worth way more than the money, right? Gets you a real client to talk about and a finished piece to show. But then how do you ever jump from fifty bucks to what you're really worth? Feels like a trap either way.
Ugh, that's the real question, isn't it? So you take the fifty dollar job to get the example. What's the actual, step-by-step plan for the next client? Do you just add fifty bucks and hope, or is there a better trick?
Yeah but that fifty bucks is just for the first one... you can't keep that price. Like john_lopez said, it opens doors, but you gotta walk through them to a real rate fast.