Serious question, do you tell clients your rates up front or wait until they ask?

I was at a coworking space yesterday and overheard two freelancers arguing about this. One said she always puts her day rate in her email signature to avoid tire kickers, the other said that scares off clients who need convincing first. I used to hide my rates and I ended up wasting hours on calls where people ghosted after hearing the number. But I also tried being upfront and lost a gig at $500 a day that I maybe could have talked up to $600. What do you do and why?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai8399d ago

$600 a day and they ghosted? Thats rough. I put my base rate right in my first reply now. Lost too many hours to folks who balked at $350. Better to scare off the wannabes fast.

sandra_moore309d ago

Dang @kai839, $600 a day and they ghosted?!

mila_murphy9d ago

Didn't you read that freelancer thread about setting boundaries early though @kai839?