Design | Why A Blog Custom Design Costs "So Much"

Hello Lovelies! I hope you all had a fantastic Fall weekend are are ready to get back to work this week. Today kicks off another round of Design posts and I think you'll enjoy what I have in store!

I recently had a very public Twitter conversation with someone who questioned why or how I could charge $350 for a full scale Blogger (Blogspot) design and I replied as best as I could in 140 characters or less explaining what goes into that fee. As you would expect, I wasn't able to really get into the why's and how's so I was inspired to write this post and it immediately went into my Evernote draft queue to wait until another design week rolled around. 

And here we are friends! I can't promise that my explanation will satisfy everyone but I think I have come up with a good way to explain the breakdown of why designers charge what they do. So click clack jack, let's get to the goods!

1 | Time

The biggest thing clients tend to forget is that it takes time to create anything. Whether you create a physical product, no matter how streamlined your process may be, you have to allot for the time it will take to create your product, from start to finish. 

Since I consider my time valuable, I charge for it. I don't believe in "charging what you're worth" because absolutely everyone believes they are priceless and would charge a fortune. So how I figured it was based around what I would make if I worked the same hours in a corporate job (before takes & etc.). Prior to being a SaHM and then an entrepreneur, I was a technical writer and analyst for a local company and I made what came out to $25 an hour. Notice I said before taxes. That also doesn't include the unpaid time of traveling back and forth to work, gas and other expenses. Since I knew I would have to figure out my own tax situation and that there wouldn't be any travel to and from or expenses incurred by being an at home designer, I did not bother including that. I also took into consideration that I don't work 9-5, Monday through Friday. I only work on my clients designs three days a week. When you break down the flat $350 for a full blog design + branding package and divide it by my previous income of 25, I only put in about 14 hours per client design. 

Are you following me so far?

2 | Materials

I know it sounds almost asinine to suggest that I have any material expenses when creating a completely digital product but that's before you consider the fees for image hosting, Adobe Creative Studio, Vectors, Fonts and stock photography (if needed). 

Since not every client design requires all of those things, I don't charge for them up front and instead choose to go per client on what is needed. That's where the add-on's for my designs come in. If a client is hell bent on using a specific vector, that cost is on them. Usually I don't need to go that far but it has happened. 

However, certain tings cost me fees every month and I eat those costs because it seems unfair to tack it on to a fee for a client who may not even require I use those particular things. I see it as a business investment and thus a tax write off anyhow :)

Some client's require extra revisions on mood board design or brand boards. This also costs the extra because we go back to the time factor again. 

Overall, 

Some designers are perfectly comfortable charging upwards of $2000 and I don't put them down or judge them that. It is their business and this is mine. I am perfectly comfortable charging what I charge. I know that I am on the affordable end of custom design and that having someone who clearly has no idea just how hard I work for every penny come along and tell me I am charging too much seems a bit hurtful to me. I certainly do not mean for this post to get all weepy and personal but I really felt attacked when this conversation took place. 

But before you jump and say that anyone's prices are too high, think about what you are actually asking of them and how much of their time it will take. No one wants to feel undervalued and, without knowing exactly how to do what they do, you probably shouldn't start passing judgement on whether or not their fees are too high. 

Not to be rude but... After all, if you could do what we do, you wouldn't be hiring us.

Start the Discussion:

How much do you think your current design is worth? 

Do you think blog designers charge too much? Why?

How much really is TOO much?

Happy Blogging!