Appreciation post: Took a flat fee project over hourly and it backfired

A regular customer offered me a choice... either $50 an hour for a new website, or a flat $800 for the whole thing. I picked the flat fee thinking it would be simple and I'd come out ahead. The project dragged on for three weeks with endless tiny changes and extra meetings. Ended up making way less than if I'd just charged by the hour... anyone have a good way to spot a bad flat fee deal early?

4 comments

4 Comments

lucas3891mo ago

Honestly, did you ask for a list of all the changes they wanted before you gave the flat fee price? Tbh that's my first move now.

quinnm771mo ago

Yeah that's a hard lesson to learn the expensive way. Been there, gave a flat rate for a "simple website update" once and it turned into them wanting to change every single photo and rewrite all the text. Took me three times as long as I planned. Getting that full list in writing first is the only way to sleep at night.

beth1471mo ago

I read a blog post that said to always scope creep into the flat fee price. Lucas389 is right about getting that list first.

cameron_hernandez699d ago

Wait, did the blog actually say to "always scope creep into" the flat fee price? That sounds like terrible advice to me. I read something similar a while back from some freelance guru who insisted you should just quote high and then let the client add whatever they want. So I tried it with a guy who wanted me to redo his local bakery's website. I quoted him double what I normally would for a basic five page site. He agreed. Then he started asking for this weird animated cupcake that spins around on the homepage. I figured it was fine since I left room. But then he wanted a whole online ordering system with custom pricing and I was three weeks behind schedule trying to figure out how to code it. I ended up spending way more time than the flat fee was worth. Learned my lesson the hard way. Now I just stick to a clear list like Lucas389 said, no matter what some blog tells me.