Hi everyone, hope you all are well and having a great time. I’ve just started my foray into freelance web design, and I hope someone can help me with this problem:
I’ve been talking with a prospect who needs to redesign her website, as well as adding features such as an online scheduler. I know that there are online scheduling tools such as Appointy that you can use for free for its basic features, but here’s my question: do you think I can charge for the time it took me to set up and customize it? Since it’s a free app, I feel like I shouldn’t charge, but I’m not sure. I don’t know if I should just buy a premium package and include that cost in my rate (we both agreed to a fixed project rate).
If you just tell him about the online tool, then no. You haven’t actually spent time doing any work in that scenario.
However, if you took the time to set it up and configure it for your client, then yes, it would be fair to be compensated for your time (so long as it doesn’t conflict with what your contract says).
Yes, of course you should charge for your time - provided you make the client aware of the fact before you do so. Explain to the client that it’s a free tool, but it will take x hours to set up, for which you would charge y. If the tool is particularly user-friendly, and can be set up by someone without any technical expertise, mention that fact to the client, so that she has the option of doing it herself if she wants to.
By the way, you shouldn’t choose a particular tool just because it’s free. Ideally, you will take a look at several alternative options, then set out the costs and benefits of each to the client so that she can make a decision. (But you can still make a recommendation.)
