There are good reasons in favor of both sides of this question. If you post your fees on your site, you can prequalify prospects and save time responding to inquiries. But if you don’t post them, you can vary your fees based on the prospect’s needs and situation. Here are some pros and cons about posting fees and some suggested alternatives for making this information available.

Why You Should Post Your Fees

• Prequalifies prospects so you don’t waste time speaking with people who can’t afford you
• Saves time otherwise spent in responding to routine inquiries about cost
• Establishes your prospects’ expectations about costs before you get into a selling situation
• May convince more prospects to get in touch because they already know they can afford you
• Shows prospects that you have nothing to hide

Why You Shouldn’t Post Your Fees

• Limits your flexibility to vary rates depending on the type of client or project
• Allows you to communicate benefits, scope, and the value of working with you before quoting a price
• Gives you the opportunity to discuss the prospect’s needs and customize a solution before setting a price
• Higher prices can deter prospects if you haven’t yet made a personal connection or established your credibility
• If prospects can obtain your fees anonymously, you don’t have the option to discuss their concerns or follow up with them

If you decide to post your fees, be sure you provide your prospects with enough information about your services to understand the value of what they will receive for that price. It’s more common for professionals to post fees when they are selling “packages” of some kind than when they charge by the hour or day. So a coach offering a “three-month career transition package” or a graphic designer providing a “print identity package” might post prices for these items, where those offering service by the month or the hour wouldn’t.

If you decide not to post your fees, one alternative is to use an autoresponder to send them out on request. That way you still give prospects the option of learning your fees before speaking with you, but you then have the option to follow up further with anyone who makes the request.

Another alternative is to provide a contact form on your site that asks people to provide more information about themselves and their project when they request your fees. That way you can send different rate sheets to different people or make a more accurate quote for their project.