Thanks for your comment!

I actually agree with you… :) I probably shouldn’t have used a 20yo uni student as an example, but I guess the key part is where I wrote “if you provide the same service or end product”.

If a freelancer is not available during business hours to support their client then they’re not providing exactly the same service, so in that respect their rate should definitely be lower than an agency.

On the flip side of the coin, there are some freelancers who might be available both during and outside of business hours. Will they charge a premium (over their normal hourly rate) for this? Probably not. Will they win more business because they go the extra mile? Almost certainly :)

There are so many permutations and combinations that go into pricing that we could write a book on the topic, but I think a client would be very unhappy if they were being charged a “reliability/security” premium. Who’s to say a big agency will be around longer than a freelancer or a small start-up? :)

That’s not quite true, Scott. You should understand that as a freelancer it is difficult to provide the same professional service as an agency. An agency may provide additional marketing/communication/design services that an individual cannot compete with.

An agency is always on call for clients during business hours and available to help with updates/fixes/changes whereas a 20 year old freelancer still at university may be in class or at the pub with his mates when the site goes bung.

An agency isn’t going to go travel Europe for three months or spend a week in Queensland leaving their clients back home with an unsupported site.

I could go on, but my point is that as agencies are delivering an increased level of professional service they of course (and are entitled to) charge at an increased rate and the clients are buying better service and security for it.