Practicing *this* could help you earn more in your freelance business

What I'm learning about negotiation from eBay when it comes to raising freelance rates

Author

Diana Kelly Levey
July 09, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

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I think for some freelancers, asking for more money is scarier than public speaking (and you know how introverted some of us are.)


But even asking for a little more money when negotiating a freelance rate adds up.

I found that asking for more money for a project and doing it over and over gets easier every time. 

Salespeople do this all the time.  They expect it. You should anticipate some back and forth as part of the process, too.

Another fun side hustle of mine (other than selling digital freelance projects) is selling things on eBay. I like to do this when I go through a cleaning phase, when I have slow seasons, or when I need to declutter.

I saw that a purse someone had gifted me that was listed there over three months ago got a bid on it this weekend. 

It was listed for about $55 and the bidder came at me for $45. Since the purse was listed for quite a few months and I didn't have any bites, I easily could have accepted that first bid. But it's about playing the game on this selling platform and I asked for $4 more—which would pretty much covers my shipping fees.

The person accepted the counteroffer. I found that in the past, the potential buyer expects you to counteroffer the bid and the first rate thrown out isn't their “best and final” offer. (Same goes for buying a home, shopping for a car, and for many services.)

These little wins can teach someone how to raise their freelance rates with their next client or even with a client they already have.

It’s awkward enough to ask for money in the first place but, the more you practice, and the more confidence you put into it, the better you’ll get and the easier it becomes.

(Also, having an emergency savings helps so you don’t give off those ‘desperate’ vibes.)

TWICE in the past year have I asked for $10 more an hour from freelance clients before I started and it’s worked out to thousands of dollars more — while turning in the same work!

Recently, I lumped a few writing assignments into a project package to get a higher rate which helps me block out my time to dedicate to these assignments.

I’m giving you two challenges:

Try raising rates with a current client. It could be 10%.

You could tell them it’ll happen in Q4 to give them some time.

Most likely, if they can’t afford it, they’ll say no, and you’ll continue at the status quo.

You won’t know unless you try.

Raise your rate with a new client. 

They don’t know your hourly rate, word count, or project rate. Again, the worst they can say is no. And if they ghost you and don’t respond, I promise you, you’re better off without them.

Are you up for the challenge?

Reply to me if you’re in. I’ll follow up in a month to see how it went.

Thanks for being a freelance friend and audience member.

Diana

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