A practical guide for freelance web designers
When a client asks for more: add, swap or defer
Turn an extra request into a clear choice about the work, its price and its timing.
A client likes the website you are building and asks for a case-study page. It sounds useful. You want to help, but your price and delivery date were based on a different plan. Before starting, compare the request with the agreed deliverables and give the client a few concrete ways forward.
Start with what is already agreed
Find the current proposal and any changes already confirmed by the client. Check page counts, functionality, included revision rounds, exclusions and who supplies the content. A request might be an included revision, a correction you need to make, or genuinely additional work. If the wording is unclear, ask a specific question before calling it an extra.
Keep the original agreement visible. Record the new request separately, along with the relevant scope reference, your estimate and the decision. A pending suggestion should not silently change the approved price.
Offer three ways forward
- Add the work. Explain what you will deliver, the additional fee and the proposed delivery date. Include assumptions such as the client supplying finished text.
- Swap part of the scope. Identify a specific deliverable the client can remove or reduce. Agree its credit explicitly; removing something does not automatically recover its full price, especially if work has already started.
- Defer the request. Finish the current project as agreed and estimate the extra as a separate phase. That future estimate stays outside the current project total.
Only offer options you can actually deliver. A swap does not automatically preserve the deadline: a smaller feature may still introduce a new dependency or require a different review process.
A worked example: keep the totals separate
The following numbers are fictional and demonstrate the arithmetic, not recommended rates. Assume all figures exclude taxes and third-party costs.
You agreed a small website for $1,500. The client later confirmed an additional $100 task. Your current agreed project total is therefore $1,600.
The new case-study page needs an estimated four hours at $75 per hour: $300. For the swap option, suppose you and the client agree to remove an unstarted downloads page for a $200 credit.
| Option | Change to this project | Proposed total |
|---|---|---|
| Add | +$300 for the case-study page | $1,600 + $300 = $1,900 |
| Swap | +$300 for the new page, −$200 for the removed page | $1,600 + $100 = $1,700 |
| Defer | No change now; separate $300 estimate for a later phase | $1,600 for the current project |
These are alternative proposals, not three charges to add together. The already accepted $100 appears once. Until a new option is confirmed, the agreed total remains $1,600. Also keep payments separate: an agreed project value is not a statement of money collected.
A message you can adapt
Replace the bracketed details and check every amount and date before sending. The removed page and its credit need agreement too.
Subject: Options for the case-study page — [project name]
Hi [name],
Thanks for the idea. I checked it against [proposal version/date]; the case-study page is additional to the listed deliverables. Our current agreed project total, including the previously confirmed $100 change, is $1,600.
Here are three options:
- Add: include the page for $300 extra, making the project $1,900. Proposed delivery: [date].
- Swap: replace the unstarted downloads page, with a proposed $200 credit. The net addition is $100, making the project $1,700. Proposed delivery: [date].
- Defer: keep this project at $1,600 and consider the page as a separate phase, currently estimated at $300. We would agree its schedule separately.
The page estimate assumes [content, functionality and revision allowance]. Please confirm your preferred option, including any removal, price and delivery date. I will record the agreed change before starting the additional work.
Thanks,
[your name]
Close the loop before doing the extra work
This example is an estimate and discussion aid, not a contract. Use your existing agreement's change process and any additional terms your project needs. A status you enter in a tool is your own record; it does not verify the client's identity or prove their acceptance.
Save the actual confirmation, its date and the selected option. Update the agreed scope, fee and schedule together. If the request changes again, revise the estimate and confirm the new version. This keeps the next conversation anchored in what both sides actually discussed.