1. We’re afraid we won’t get the assignment. It will go to the cheaper guy.
2. We’re afraid of being laughed at. “How much? For that? Are you serious? Wow, you are way out of line here.”
3. We’re afraid the client will say yes to that big juicy fee, and holy crap we’ll actually have to deliver something that justifies all that money which will be hard because the client will be expecting to be blown away and we might not be able to pull that off which would be hugely humiliating especially if the client wants the money back.
Two choices for rates and cheap isn’t one of them.
A good, experienced freelancer is worth the money. Someone who knows what they are doing and does the job on time/ correctly- you get what you pay for.
I recently read a booked called “My So Called Freelance Life” that really made me realize this. I have since came to realize the value in what I do and brush it off when someone says they can’t afford me. I have lost one gig on it so far but thinking about the worries that come along with underbidding (loss of interest, wishing I could pay my musicians more, is this amount worth the time away from my wife and son, etc) keeps me OK with it. Of course, I am still pretty flexible and will work with people but I’m not going to undermind my training and professionalism (or my profession and collegues) with an ass-bottom, break-even quote.