People who ask how much you charge...

[ErinHill226]

500 times. Am I the only one who gets those? I have been dancing back and forth with this one guy for like... a month? And he has asked what I would charge him at LEAST 5 times. As in, he asked me up front, and I gave him a price range. He wrote back telling me what type of products he sold, and then asked what I would charge again. He wrote back with pictures of those products and asked AGAIN. Then he waited several weeks, and then sent me an email with a link to a product today and asked what I'd charge for something like that.

I have officially decided he's wasting my time. DUDE. Asking me a million times isn't going to change my rates. I won't forget what I charge and accidentally quote you a lower price. You can either pay my rate, or you can't. But stop asking already!

This is not the first time it's happened. It's usually surefire sign that the person has no intention of ever actually hiring someone. They ask what you charge 50 times and then disappear. I send a final "As I've said in previous emails, these are my rates. This is a reflection of the lowest amount I charge, and the price might go UP not DOWN depending on the exact nature of your project. Mmmkay?"

Alright, so I don't say it quite like that. But come on! Do they think I'm suddenly going to decide to give them a huge discount just because they asked me ten times? Or, are they just too lazy to read through our previous emails?

[Jenna P]

Usually, I find they just ask me what I charge once - and then vanish. Where are the clients who will actually pay decently...I haven't been able to get 2 cents a word lately!

I think they're trying to haggle. Badly.

[jwinter]

When I get those I find they are trying to wait a few days and get me to lower my price. I have told some in the past that my fee is based on several factors and is as low as I am willing to go for the amount of work, research, etc on the project. Discounts are only offered to clients with 1 year of consistent paying orders and no late payments. That usually gets them to go away or go ahead and place an order.

[beanandpumpkin]

How annoying! I haven't gotten that, exactly, but I did have one client write to ask me my rates, which I gave her. She said "okay," and I did some work for her, which she paid for. Then several weeks later, she wrote to me as though I didn't know who she was, and asked my rates and what I could do for her. I answered and she said, "okay," hired me and all was fine. Then several weeks later, the same thing. I responded to her, "Xxx, I would be happy to do this again; we worked together in February and April on this same project. Just let me know exactly what you need; the rates are the same as they were before." Since then, I've been getting semi-regular work from her. It was really odd, though!

[ErinHill226]

I have a friend who designs and makes vintage inspired dresses, and she said customers will also write to her, ask the price, change the subject, and ask the price again more than once just like that as well. Maybe they really are just THAT flaky? lol. This guy finally did send me a little work to 'see how it goes." So, maybe I was wrong about him. Who knows? He was driving me a little nuts there for awhile, though.