New experts often seem to have questions about quotes. Some of the most frequently asked ones are: how and when should I provide a quote? How much should I charge? What does the indicated budget actually mean? With this post, we are attempting answering these questions in as much detail as possible.
How and when should I provide a quote?
A quote can be provided right after the expert proceeds to a request by clicking on “View request”.
An expert then has an option to message the client with a quote (only visible to the expert and the client), or without.
The advantage of messaging the client with a quote is that it might lead to a connection faster, as the client only needs to click on “Accept the quote” button. However, it is also important to make sure the client’s expectations are communicated clearly, which sometimes creates the need to ask more questions first, such as the word count or a request to upload a document.
In both cases, the quote can be provided again in a new message.
How much should I charge?
First and foremost, the provided quote should cover the entire request. The way a quote is built up often depends on several factors:
Rate per word
The first one is the expert’s desired rate per word; that is why it is important to know a word count of the request.
Deadline
For instance, the requests with tight deadlines can be charged more than the ones with a larger time limit. It is also important to understand the level of expert’s involvement and the quantity of work. This will be measured by the client’s level of English and by their specific needs. For example, providing editing services will be more expensive than the manuscript review.
Peerwith Fee
And finally, there will be the Peerwith fee, which is 20%, and possibly VAT. While the Peerwith fee is there by default, the VAT percentage will need to be entered manually. On Zendesk, we have an article with more detail on how VAT works: https://peerwith.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/208556869-How-to-deal-with-VAT.
Once the expert knows how much they would like to charge, they can enter the amount in the “Fee” window. If VAT applies, the percentage can be added too. The final quote, which should cover the entire document, will thus consist of the expert’s fee, the Peerwith fee and the VAT (if applicable).
What about the indicated budget?
Clients have the option to indicate their budget. However, often it can be misleading. Some clients will indicate a small amount simply because they don’t have a clue of how much is usually charged for requests similar to theirs. In these cases, I would recommend providing your own quote, regardless of the budget indicated by the client. The client will then either accept the quote or start negotiating.
This is it on quotes for now. If you have any thoughts or tips you would like to share, please do not hesitate to leave a comment below!
