The invoice template typo that exposed my pricing math

I quoted a logo package at $75 flat and realized after sending it that I forgot to factor in the 3 revision rounds, which took 5 extra hours. The client's reply of "looks good, thanks" made me see I was basically paying them to work with me. Has anyone else caught their rates being off only after the invoice went out?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_john1d ago

$75 for five extra hours of revisions is brutal, that works out to like $15 an hour before you even count the original work lmao. I once charged a flat rate for a poster and then found out the client wanted source files included, which took me another day to figure out. Honestly, it stings worse when they say thanks because it hits you that they got a steal and think you're just being nice.

abbyf7917h ago

and that flat rate trap is exactly why I stopped quoting without a written list of what's included. Source files, revisions, file formats, all of it needs spelled out or they'll just assume it's part of the deal. The worst part is when they act like you're doing them a favor, so you can't even charge extra without looking like the bad guy. I've had clients say "oh you're so easy to work with" right after I ate three hours of unpaid work. That's when you learn to say "sure, that's a change order" before touching anything.