Should I charge for a super minor update to a slide deck?

[benaleh]

I completed a fixed-price pitch deck design a couple of weeks ago. My client who will be giving me more work in the future asked for a last-minute update- that literally involved me replacing the number "50" with the number "79" on the slide, saving it as a pdf, and emailing her the update.  From the communication with her to sending the update, it took no more than 5 minutes. She offered to pay for my time but this seems so minor that I don't even know what to charge. Should I come up with a price or just do it for free knowing I have more work from her coming in the future.

Thoughts?

[prestonhunter]

She offered to pay.

She is doing the right thing.

She is behaving in a professional manner.

I strongly advise you to charge for this work.  But you do not need to charge a lot.

[wlyonsatl]

If you like working with the client and the extra work time worked out to be a tiny fraction of the total project cost,, I'd suggest you treat this as what in New Orleans is called "laignappe" - a little something extra for a customer at no cost.

[pgiambalvo]

Nah, even though you have the right to do so, I'd just give it to her for free in the interest of maintaining a good relationship, or making a good one even better.

[data_divas]

At your current rate you can charge $10.42 for this 5 min. task.  I say throw it in for free because as a customer when this kind of thing happens to me, I'm always delighted and have good feelings about the person/company.  When there is a choice, I will always pick them first.

A client having warm and fuzzy thoughts about you and your work with future work on the table is probably a worth $10.42 freebie.

[tagrendy · Accepted solution]

It depends, if the client is the type to appreciate it, do it for free. If it is the type to learn that now she can expect more free things from you, charge.

[benaleh]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. Like most suggested, I did it free of charge. 

[prestonhunter]

Ben:
You did it for free.

I think you made a great choice.

I think you're a great freelancer.

But I also want to point out that the client did the right thing by OFFERING to pay.

And any client who asked you to work without offering to pay would have been violating Upwork ToS.

But forget about ToS.

Here's the real secret:
I'm a freelancer.

When a client always offers to pay me, even for something very small that I decide to NOT charge for...
Can you imagine the kind of loyalty that simple act secures?
A client who wants to save time and money is always offering to pay people, rather than to get stuff for free. Such a client is like a charismatic leader who I'll willingly follow into battle against impossible odds, as compared to the cheapskate client who is like a general who conscripted soldiers at the point of a sword.

[benaleh]

Yes- I hear what you are saying. I'll see how this turns out- honestly, I spent way more time thinking and investigating if and how much I should change than the few minutes it took to make the adjustment.

Are you saying if I would have charged her, it would have built more loyalty? 

[prestonhunter]

re: "Are you saying if I would have charged her, it would have built more loyalty?"

No.

I am saying that by offering to pay you, she engendered loyalty from you.

[benaleh]

I see what you're saying now!

[jeremiah-brown]

There is no right answer.  Think of it as setting boundaries.  If you do it for free, will the client expect more work for free?  Will it turn into "but you did this for free, therefore I would also like...".  Conversely, setting that boundary can also send a message that every minute is on the clock, no matter how small it may be.

Personally, I would weigh everything as a whole.  If the risk outweighs the reward, charge.  If the reward outweighs the risk, dont charge.  Minor freebies are good for things such as word of mouth, they MIGHT have a recency effect and be good for reviews, or maybe its the difference between a single project or returning customer.  On the other end of the spectrum, that inch might turn into a few miles.

[zhasan64]

No, you shouldn't if its a minor update. It happens every time