How to make a rate card for any service

Someone asks "what are your rates?" and you start typing a long message. Then another person asks the same thing tomorrow.

A rate card ends that. It is one page that says:

• what you sell;
• what each thing costs;
• what is included, and what is extra.

It works for a creator, a tour guide, a makeup artist, a developer, a photographer or a caterer. If you sell your time or your skill, you can have one.

What a rate card is

A rate card is your price list for a service. Magazines and radio stations have used them for decades to sell ad space. Today anyone who sells a service can use one.

A good rate card does three jobs:

• It saves you time. You send one link instead of writing the same message again.
• It sorts your enquiries. People who see your prices and still ask are ready to talk.
• It makes you look settled. A clear price list says "I do this often, and I know what it is worth".

Step 1: list what you sell

Start with what people ask you for most. Not everything you can do: the things you are paid for again and again.

Name each one the way a client would say it:

• A creator: one Instagram Reel, a set of three Stories, a UGC video.
• A tour guide: a three-hour city walk, a private day trip, a food tour.
• A designer: a logo, a brand kit, a one-page website.
• A makeup artist: bridal makeup, a photoshoot look, a lesson.
• A developer: a landing page, a bug fix by the hour, a monthly retainer.

Three to six items is plenty. A long list makes people stop reading.

Step 2: put a price on each

You have three ways to show a price:

• A fixed price, when the work is the same each time. "Logo design, USD 450."
• A "from" price, when the work grows with the job. "Instagram Reel, from USD 300."
• A range, when it depends a lot on the client. "Wedding photography, USD 900–1,600."

If you are not sure where to start:

• Work out what you need to earn in a month, and how many jobs you can do well in that month. Divide one by the other. That is your floor.
• Look at what people with similar work in your market charge. Their public prices, not what they say in DMs.
• Pick a price you can say out loud without apologising.

Example: Alex, a city guide, wants to earn USD 2,400 a month and can run about 20 walks. That is USD 120 a walk. With up to six guests, USD 35 a person covers it with room to spare. (Example numbers, for illustration only.)

Step 3: say what is included

The price means little without this. Under each item, write one short line:

• how long it takes, or how long it is;
• how many rounds of changes;
• how many people, pieces or hours;
• what the client gets at the end.

Then say what costs extra. Common extras:

• Rush jobs: work needed faster than your normal time.
• More rounds of changes.
• Usage, for creators: a brand that wants to use your video in its own ads, or for longer than agreed.
• Travel, outside your usual area.

Step 4: add your terms

Terms protect you before anything goes wrong. Keep them short:

• Deposit: how much you ask before you start. Many people ask for 50% up front and 50% on delivery. Here is how to ask for a deposit.
• Timing: how soon you can start, and how long the work takes.
• Payment: when the invoice is due, and how the client can pay.
• Changes and cancelling: what happens if the client cancels late.

You do not need a contract on your rate card. You need the four lines a client should know before they say yes.

Step 5: choose your currency

Price in the currency most of your clients pay in:

• A guide in Cape Town who mostly hosts visitors may price in USD or EUR.
• A designer in Manila with local clients may price in PHP.
• A creator in Lagos working with both local and foreign brands may show NGN and USD.

Round to a friendly number: USD 300 reads better than USD 287. Our guide on pricing in dollars or your own currency goes further. When exchange rates move a lot, review the prices you show in your second currency.

Step 6: share it in one link

A PDF rate card goes out of date the day you change a price, and you never know which version a client has.

A link stays current:

• Put it in your bio, your email signature and your WhatsApp business profile.
• Send it when someone asks "what are your rates?".
• Print it as a QR code if you work in person: at a stall, a salon mirror or a tour meeting point.
• Put it on your link in bio, next to proof of your work.

In Piku, your Rate Card sits on your page next to your links. A client taps Request on any item, you send a quote, and the quote becomes an invoice they pay online. Nobody needs an account to request or pay. When the work is done, here is how to invoice a brand.

Mistakes to avoid

• Hiding every price. "Contact me for rates" on every item sends people away.
• Too many items. If people need to scroll to find the thing they want, cut the list.
• No "what is included". The client compares your price with someone else's and cannot see why yours is higher.
• Never changing it. Your skills grow. Your prices should follow.

Questions