Imagine you’re just starting out and your goal is to get a meager $1,500 for setting up a website. You could say something like “You have to understand that to create this website I need to use software that’s cost me over $5,000, I need to hire a graphic artist for you to make the website look first class and professional, I need to hire a copywriter and I need to put in at least 40-60 hours of my own time getting it just right for you so it brings you real sales. I can’t afford to do that for less than say $2,500.”

The key here is to give dimension to what you’ll be doing for your client and the cost, labor and effort required on your part. And to start with a price higher than what you want but not so high that it’s perceived as being a ridiculous high ball offer.

In some cases he’ll just accept your offer which is neat. In others he’ll give you a counter offer that’s at or above what you wanted which is also neat. But if he’s under what you can accept that’s where the real skill starts.

You’ve already established cost so you can make the concession of dropping your price without making what you said look suspiciously insincere. First you can offer to take his lower price by reducing the service you’re going to give.

You can always upsell him back to your original proposal and more later. You can also negotiate for different payment options. For example if you’re charging a monthly fee, which you should, you can say “I tell you what I’ll do. You can invest $1,000 upfront and then just pay an extra $250 each month for the first 6 months.” “That way you’ll be paying out of the profits the website is bringing in for you”.

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