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Rush jobs, rush policies, and rush fees

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Betty in Client Management, Clients, Contracts, Freelance Business, Pricing & Rates No Comments
Hurry ASAP! Rush fees.

ASAP! Need this today! Urgent! Top Priority!

A lot of my projects have quick deadlines. And I’m happy to accommodate those when I can. But doing rush projects makes it difficult to schedule other work, and often means that I will be pushing off other client work and working long hours or on the weekends. To compensate me for the extra stress, I charge a rush fee.

I’ve always had a rush charge policy that stated:

“Rush projects may be charged a 50% rush fee at my discretion. I’ll get your approval on the fee before starting.”

Here’s the problem. Sometimes a rush job comes in and the only way to get it done in time is to start right away. But if I have to wait for approval on the rush fee, I can’t start right away and may run out of time to get the project done.

So I have changed my policy. Starting next month, the policy is:

“Projects or changes with same day or next business day deadlines may be accepted at my discretion. Projects and changes with requested same day and next business day turnarounds will incur a 50% rush fee. Rush Fees may be waived at my discretion.

Rush Fees may also apply to other projects, at my discretion. I will give advance notice if Rush Fees will be applied to projects other than requested same day or next day turnarounds.”

This new policy will let me get started right away on these super-rush projects without waiting for the client to get back to me. And by their nature, same day or next day projects are fairly small, so the rush fees won’t be too high.

I’m hoping my existing clients understand and will continue to work with me. But I’m just a little worried as I wait for them to sign new contracts with the rush fee noted. Cross your fingers for me that all goes well!

Do you charge rush fees? What’s your rush job policy?

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About me

I'm Betty, and I created Freelance Q & A to share what I've learned as a successful freelance graphic designer.

I'm based in Boulder, CO and work with clients across the USA. You can visit my business site and see my portfolio at
Betty Taylor Design.

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