We can't talk prices here. It's against the forum rules.

However, I can tell you this from my own hard lessons... Always have a contract. Have an even longer, stricter contract for family and friends... they will be the first to screw you. In your contract, list not only the price but what you require for a down payment and how many revisions that price includes. Then state how much each revision will cost after that. (Note: Always make that amount steep to deter chronic indecisiveness.) Hope that helps.

there are a lot of good resources out there to find out what to charge clients. I don't really have time to do a search, but I know AIGA has a standards manual. search this forum for that and other resources with regard to pricing. I will tell you this, for a logo and stationary, etc you are selling yourself short. Did you do the math before quoting this? How much did you charge for your time? How much did the paper and printing cost you? Personally, I always sit down and figure in time, revisions, and if any, paper, ink and printing costs. Do your homework and if the client thinks its too much, show them a break down of the costs, if they still think its too much, move on...No matter how badly you may think you need this client, you don't need them badly enough to continue to devalue yourself and thereby devalueing all your future work, to say nothing of other design professionals.

you get what you pay for

i have had clients frown upon my set logo pricing & i always give them the option of paying me hourly with the condition that i update them along the way (as far as time goes) & if they break the formentioned set price It will not go beyond that. This has helped them realize how much time is involved.
good luck. The higher price seems low even for a noob, are you a student?

thanks for all the comments.. my client and i settled on a lower price.
vtwin gary - no im done with school now. just starting to freelance at the moment.

A client shouldn't get work done without a quote first.

As you don't have a contract, you could have stuck to your guns on this one.

I mean, when you get any service done in life, you pay what they charge. You can get a quote BEFORE getting the work done, but you certainly can't get a quote and haggle after the fact.

I might be overstepping the topic of this particular thread here.. and going way out on a limb etc..

*Rant* I am getting very very very disguested by the "Outsourcing" and "Off Shore" Work.. The people that are "in Charge" of business today have sold off to many of the "American" Jobs.. America was founded upon Terrific principals.. one of those principals is that Hard work pays off.. Well nowadays that has been changed to "He who is cheepest gets the job" too often.. What about Quality.. What about Pride in ones Job etc.. I heard just the other day of another group of "Investors" being jailed for Insider trading etc.. Its getting more and more common for the rights of the little people to get trampled for the sake of a few $'s..

Don't sell yourself short and lets try to preserve what is left of a once great country.. its been sold off to the highest or lowest bidder in many instances..

Graphic Designers perform a valuable service that others are not able to do.. You can tell often times when someone decides they will try and save $ and "Do it themselves" etc.. It is similar to a lawyer has a fool for a client if he has himself as a lawyer etc.. A Business that does'nt use a graphic designer has a fool for a graphic designer..

*Whew*... really burns me getting far.. less than I am worth..

Not all good designers live in America. People get what they pay for. If you can't compete with super low priced overseas companies, step up your skill level so that you aren't lumped into the same group as them.

Business goes offshore for a reason. There's not really anything you can do personally to stop it happening. Just impress the clients you need.

You are kind of stuck on this one. Get over being embarrassed to talk money. Practice in front of the mirror (no, that's not a joke) until you can look yourself in the eye and say "My minimum for corporate identity work is [insert outrageously high number here]". Then try it on some friends until you can say it without a flinch.

Honest, you will be your own worst enemy until you can do that.

Some things I've found helpful:

1) Show the prospective client that they are making an investment, on which they will get a good or bad return.

2) Be completely willing to say "I'm sorry, you can't afford me" and walk away. It's an odd truth that when you are, you seldom have to.

3) Always, always, always give a quote and get a signed contract with down payment b-e-f-o-r-e starting work. It's not just that this is good sense, although it is. Not doing this marks you as not professional, and that alone will cut down how much clients will expect (or be willing) to pay. Besides, clients deserves to know what they're getting into, and have the right to decide their own budgets.

A nice little piece of advice I got (not from a Graphic Designer, but still applies) is that if you are getting 100% of the jobs that you quote for then you are too cheap. You should only expect to get 80%.

It isn't quite what you are asking, but it always makes me feel better when I get turned down on a job because of price!

If you believe in your quality, charge the price you deem justified.
Clients who say it's too expensive are probably not your targeted market.

If they haggled you and refused the price during the meeting you should have just gathered your things, pick up ALL examples and leave. If you've already provided them with a pdf or printed sample you're screwed. If you haven't then all they'll have is the memory of your great logos and your backside.

don't justify your price, I tell clients upfront I am expensive and I don't haggle on my prices, try billing at 20% higher than market value for your area. Alot people see low price low quality some don't. The people that don't see the value in your work you don't want as clients.

I agree with Big Perm-dizzle, I too charge $x/hr. I need to pay my bills! The ones that complain about the price, are likely the ones that will be late paying you or not paying you at all. If they are serious about hiring a professional graphic designer, they will not grumble about the price.

Make a contract stating that you need a percentage down before you start. But AT LEAST have a contact. When you send proofs, make them low res or create a Copywrite stamp (similar to what a photographer does) so they can't grab your artwork and send it to a printer.