Hello everyone!

What kind of discount is typical for retainer fees? It is something I hope to have to think about as my business starts flying but my husband needs to know as he has been presented with a immediate opportunity.

Some info... They want to book him 20 hours per week for at least 6 months. He almost always gets a per project fee...but has billed clients at $95 an hour.

What have others done? Monthly fee? weekly?

What about after the 20 hours...if he has time?

I saw a few where they gave % off...does this seem to be the best?

Thank you very much in advance for the help.

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Kari

I offer a 10% discount for pre-payment of my services.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

Just perused a few other posts...looks like this might be considered "discussing rates"...never mind...I'll keep searching google.

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Kari

Hi Kari -

No...it's not considered discussing rates, just to ask what kind of discount is typical. As far as I recall, we can even discuss how we structure packages, and what are typical ranges for the industry as a whole. What I believe we can't discuss (and the admin will correct me if I'm wrong) is for you to ask how much we each charge, and for us to tell you $xx.00 / hour. In other words...we can't discuss specifics.

So in that light...I also have done a 10% discount for retainer. From what I've seen, that does seem to be typical.

HTH

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Pam Blackman - The Process Coach
Get more done in less time by streamlining!

Pam,

Thank you for the clarification. I wasn't sure and didn't want to start a subject that I shouldn't have! 10% seems standard so far. I was surprised at how little info came up on a Google search...though I may not have the right search words yet.

Thanks again!

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Kari

I'm glad I did open this thread, I didn't know about not discussing specifics when it comes to rates.

I have seen two scenarios and am just curious which one you support: when offering a client retainer package or pre-booked hours at a discounted rate, do you bill any additional time at regular (non-discounted) rate, or at the same rate that retainer/pre-booked hourly rate comes down to? The first one, in my opinion, "penalizes" the client for giving additional work, however, it encourages the client to increase pre-booked hours in the future. The second one allows the client to "slack back to pay-as-you-go"...

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Sara
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