Value-based pricing
Your price is anchored to the outcome the client gets, not the time you spend.
Best for: Work with a measurable commercial upside you can point to.
Avoid when: You can't trace a clear line from your work to a number the client cares about.
How it works
Before you quote, you work out what the result is worth to the business — revenue gained, cost removed, risk avoided. Your fee is a fraction of that number. This is a conversation, not a calculation: you have to ask the questions that surface the value before you can price against it.
What it looks like
A checkout fix worth £200,000 a year in recovered revenue supports a £20,000 fee far more easily than a timesheet ever would.
Example project
Fixing an abandoned mobile checkout
An ecommerce brand is losing roughly £18,000 a month to a broken mobile checkout — over £200,000 a year. The fix takes you two weeks. You quote £20,000 against the recovered revenue rather than the sixty hours, and the client signs without ever asking your rate.
Where it wins
- The highest ceiling of any pricing model.
- Puts the conversation on results instead of rates.
- Rewards expertise and speed rather than punishing them.
Where it hurts
- Needs a client who will talk openly about numbers.
- Takes real confidence to quote and to hold.
- Falls apart when the value can't be measured.
Value-based pricing: frequently asked questions
What is value-based pricing?
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Value-based pricing sets your fee from what the outcome is worth to the client rather than from the time it takes you. If the work generates or saves a measurable amount, your price is a fraction of that number.
How do I find out what my work is worth to a client?
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Ask. What does this problem cost you now? What happens if it's still here in six months? What's the deal worth if it lands? These are ordinary business questions, and the answers give you a number to price against.
What percentage of the value should I charge?
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There's no fixed rule, but 10 to 20% of the first year's measurable value is a range clients often accept without argument. Below 10% you're leaving money behind; above 25% you will usually need proof to back it up.
Does value-based pricing work for small projects?
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Rarely. The conversation costs more than the job is worth, and small projects seldom have a value you can measure. Keep fixed fees or productized packages for those, and save value-based pricing for work with real commercial weight.
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