If you are freelance, how often do you increase your hourly/daily rate?

[Mythreeknights]

Just that really...posting as I saw another thread on % pay increase for PAYE people, and I thought a freelance comparison would be useful. I've been on the same rate since 2015, and have asked for a £2/hour increase this year, but it is being 'considered' rather than agreed straight out. For context, I've changed role twice within this organisation, increasing responsibility both times, but staying on the same rate. If you are freelance, how often do you put your rates up, and by what %?

The AIBU bit is, am I being unreasonable asking for a £2/hour pay increase

As a freelancer, I state my rate is going up with my clients. I don't request it to happen. I'm not an employee. However, I will negotiate with some clients if they are reliable and have a decent amount of work. If they are what I call PITA clients (pain in the arse clients), I charge a higher rate for the inconvenience of working with them. If they pay it, great. If they don't, I can find new clients.

I increase my rate once a year and at least in line with inflation if not a little more. What I was paid 10 years ago would be nowhere near enough to live on now.

But I also don't have a standard hourly or daily rate. I do a project rate and it differs depending on the need of my clients. The more work they require, the higher the project rate is going to be. And that will increase each year, and sometimes sooner if the scope of the work changes.

I do a project rate and it differs depending on the need of my clients. The more work they require, the higher the project rate is going to be.

I do the same. Usually the rates increase once a year.

And rush rates are always higher than the advertised ones. I work those out individually with clients.

I don't have a standard hourly rate, I have a project rate as different clients have different needs and I prefer to set an amount based on what I'm doing rather than how long it will take.

When I started out I tried an hourly rate, but found that when clients required an edit or small rewrite they weren't prepared to pay for the extra time it took to rewrite. After that I decided to charge by project.

@Mythreeknights

The AIBU bit is, am I being unreasonable asking for a £2/hour pay increase

No you're not, I put my rates up more than that last year, then left my biggest client after they ummed and ahhed. It was a congenial end but they in reality had come to depend on me. And now I do the same work for them but for more money and way better rates, because they pwnoxked at the idea that I'd gone. Personally I'd play a bit more hardball OP.

Panicked not pwnoxked

"...and have asked for a £2/hour increase this year, but it is being 'considered' rather than agreed straight out. For context, I've changed role twice within this organisation, increasing responsibility both times, but staying on the same rate."

Confusing. If you're a freelancer, you're not an employee and so should not be "within" the organisation in any normal sense, surely?

As for rates, I don't "ask", I tell clients what my new rates are, just as an electrician or an IT consultant would tell their clients. Client may not accept my rate and in that case I will no longer get work from them and that's fine. Free market and all that.

You sound bit too dependent on one client.
Time to get marketing and find more?

I increase my rates every time I negotiate - at least every 12 months, but more frequently for shorter term work. I charge a daily rate and sometimes a project rate depending on the client. Mine are partly cost of living increases, but mostly based on my growing skill/experience.

I take pretty much every chance I get to leverage my value in the market for more cash. Want my specialist skills, golden reputation, and quick turnaround times? Well, you're going to have to pay for it!