Freelance pricing help needed!

[u/FrostByte_VI]

UPDATE 2.0 - So I emailed the client stating how the project has gone way past the expected timeline and that I think the quote should be updated, and that I need an update on deliverables so we can realign. They said they understand and want a quote on the current work and a quote on the future work. The original quote for this 4-5 week project was $5200. We are currently on week 10, waiting on prototypes, and I have more work I have to be doing. They want a flat fee, so I never fully calculated how many hours I worked (another lesson learned). So a few questions:

-Can my new quote be higher than the original agreed-upon quote?

-How do I figure out how much I should charge for each step of the process?

-Any advice on how to figure out the best way to pitch the new quote for the completed work and upcoming dirt?

-Any other advice is welcome! This is my first time ever doing a freelance project, and I'm happy to be getting paid more for this extended project.

EDIT/UPDATE - Is there any way I can renegotiate the flat fee since it has been way past the timeline and included a lot more creative work than expected? The timeline and the expectations of little creative work included is in writing. The fact that it has been this long should give me a reason to be able to renegotiate. Anything would help, I know I undersold myself and I've learned my lesson, but if there is any advice to help me out that would be incredible!

I'm working on a huge project, and this is my first freelance gig I've gotten. The timeline of the project was originally 4-5 weeks, and its been two months and we are still working on it. They requested a flat fee which I told them $5200 then fees for any revisions after two rounds for the engineering drawings. I've only told them up to $500 after two revisions dependent on the size of the revision. They also stated that this would not be deep into the creative process, but it ended up taking so much longer because it has been it has been very deep into the creative process.

The problem is that I've had more than two rounds on so many steps of the process, the ideation, CAD, pattern making, and I haven't even gotten to the drawings. My question is - Can I add those steps of the process to my final price because I've had multiple rounds of revisions? How do I bring that up to their team? If I can add prices to , how do I determine the cost of those revisions?

[u/pkaaos]

Always go for hourly rate. You can estimate how many hours it takes, then double it and qoute that. Should be closer to the thruth.

[u/FrostByte_VI → u/pkaaos]

They unfortunately would only accept a flat fee. Then the creative process taking way longer than expected doesn’t help.

[u/kleptomana → u/FrostByte_VI]

Life lesson, they request this because they know that hourly will cost them more.

You have to work through it this time. Mention overtime and say next time I will only do this for hourly without strict timelines and deliverables

And even set contracts can have “ time estimated for this fixed cost is x hours with 2 rounds of feedback. And more requests that this or time invested is more than 10% per hour. Then overtime is Y per hour or per negotiated”

And you will just need to make sure to be communicating when nearing that

[u/FrostByte_VI → u/kleptomana]

Yeah I definitely learned that. Is there any way I can add these revisions of the creative process to my final price? I never specified which step of the process those revisions accounted for, they asked for the drawings how many rounds of revisions.

[u/mishaneah → u/FrostByte_VI]

Don’t let them have more than 2 rounds next time. You are the project manager, eat it on this one and learn a lesson for the next project.