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» Forums » Freelancers » When did you raise your rates? And why?
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schardo
Community Member

When did you raise your rates? And why?

This question is really broad, but I'm hoping some of you will grace me with an answer.

When did you raise your rates? What were some signs that you knew your work was worth more?

I know my writing is probably worth more than I'm currently getting, but it's hard to tell. Do my clients like it becuase it's cheap? Or is it really worth more, and I'm charging too little?

Did you ever face similar questions? What did you do?
5 REPLIES 5
kbadeau
Community Member

I did a kind of steady rise from when I started on Upwork to about a year ago, because I knew that without Upwork experience people wouldn't pay me my "real world" rates.

 

Then last year I got so busy that I raised my rates just to try to stop getting invitations. That worked for a while. Then this year I did the same thing again but it kind of seemed to backfire and I got even more offers. I think it was a perfect storm of my profile being at the top of their rotating algorithm, having more than 500 hours on Upwork, my new specialized profile, and it being the time of year that people can focus on getting their books ready for publication.

 

One super bonus is that the clients at this level have all been heavenly to work with.

I read some kind of "rule" about that question some time ago. The rule said basically that if you are being in demand you should raise your rate. Besides if what you do is unique and not many people could get to that same level of quality you can raise your rate based on that advantage.

 

As I side note I'd say that if a client of yours give you a bonus, even if it's a small amount, it could mean that they are very happy with your work and believe you deserve more than what you are charging. Sometimes we are not really aware of how good (or bad) we are.

silw
Community Member

I think back in 2017 when I started and had no clue about anything and started with 15$/h.

A month later  switched to 32$/h.

3 months later to 72$/h.

Another 3 months later to 92$/h.

And about half a year later I switched from hourly prizing to value based prizing, entirely.

 

researchediting
Community Member

I benchmark my rates, and only guarantee the same rates for equivalent work through the end of the calendar year.

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Sarah,

 

I saw your thread and wanted to make sure you were aware of this discussion as well. When to raise profile rates is definitely a topic many freelancers are interested in and we've had some great advice shared here and on other threads in this Community.

Best of luck to you!

~ Valeria
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