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Standard VA Rates
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Can anyone tell me what their standard VA rates (hourly, please) are in their own locations? I am being approached by several customers out of my area (WAY out of my area ... like in other COUNTRIES) and would like to know what the "going rate" is in their locations, i.e., Ontario and/or Quebec, CAN and Australia (at the moment).
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Deb Lamb on -
Good morning Carol,
I'm not sure about rates in those particular areas, however, you might search the Directory page within FV and see what is listed on some of the VAs pages for the area your needing. Most of them do have their rates listed. I hope this helps, make it a beautiful day!
Deb :)
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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Sullivan on -
Hi Carol
There are no "going rates" and the problem with trying to create a "going rate" is that the term Virtual Assistant encompasses many things. There are VAs out there who are really managers, technical gurus, awesome writers, ace marketers etc and there are also VAs who are cover the very "traditional" secretarial skills. There cannot be a "standard" rate for these very different skill sets.
A business owner can hire someone from overseas (read India) for as low a $4 per hour. (Of course there are some real risks with doing this and unfortunately the business owner finds out the hard way). On the higher end of the scale, a highly skilled VA with lots of technical experience can even charge $75 + per hour.
You rates should depend on your skill level and what you as a business owner wants to charge. The bottom line is that you are a business owner and can charge what you like. Whether the market will pay is another thing.
You will get a lot of responses to this query--some in direct conflict with mine, but that is ok. There are many, many ideas about how VAs should set rates. Enjoy the upcoming conversation.
Kathleen
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Permalink Reply by Carol L. Hebach on -
Kathleen: Perhaps you could have a look at my Profile on LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/In/CHebach) and let me know where you think my skill sets lie ... I am being approached by two separate companies (one in Quebec and the other in South Brisbane, Australia), both of whom charge fees for me to work for their clients (I get paid an hourly sum, they get paid for finding me the work) and I don't know what my "normal" fees here in the US will translate to in those countries. Normally, I have charged around $25 an hour for my services, but I don't want to undercut myself ... especially if those countries' exchange rates dictate that I should actually raise my rates in order to meet their "norms" and have enough to pay my associated companies for finding me the work in the first place ... confusing? Me, too!
Kathleen Sullivan said:Hi Carol
There are no "going rates" and the problem with trying to create a "going rate" is that the term Virtual Assistant encompasses many things. There are VAs out there who are really managers, technical gurus, awesome writers, ace marketers etc and there are also VAs who are cover the very "traditional" secretarial skills. There cannot be a "standard" rate for these very different skill sets.
A business owner can hire someone from overseas (read India) for as low a $4 per hour. (Of course there are some real risks with doing this and unfortunately the business owner finds out the hard way). On the higher end of the scale, a highly skilled VA with lots of technical experience can even charge $75 + per hour.
You rates should depend on your skill level and what you as a business owner wants to charge. The bottom line is that you are a business owner and can charge what you like. Whether the market will pay is another thing.
You will get a lot of responses to this query--some in direct conflict with mine, but that is ok. There are many, many ideas about how VAs should set rates. Enjoy the upcoming conversation.
Kathleen
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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Sullivan on
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Hi again Carol
Hmmm.
You said: I am being approached by two separate companies (one in Quebec and the other in South Brisbane, Australia), both of whom charge fees for me to work for their clients (I get paid an hourly sum, they get paid for finding me the work) and I don't know what my "normal" fees here in the US will translate to in those countries.
I am not familiar with this kind of situation, but out of curiosity do you get the work first and they take a fee or do you pay these companies fees first? Have you had much success with them finding you work? How long have you been doing this?
If you feel comfortable with charging $25 in the US, then what I would do is calculate what $25 USD would be in Australian/Canadian money and charge that. With the exchange rates today, you would charge $30.86 CAD and $36.20 Australian dollars. I would think that most people would just pay you in USD though. Here is a link to the site I got these exchange rates from:
Kathleen
Beware of scams--there are lots of them
Carol L. Hebach said:Kathleen: Perhaps you could have a look at my Profile on LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com/In/CHebach) and let me know where you think my skill sets lie ... I am being approached by two separate companies (one in Quebec and the other in South Brisbane, Australia), both of whom charge fees for me to work for their clients (I get paid an hourly sum, they get paid for finding me the work) and I don't know what my "normal" fees here in the US will translate to in those countries. Normally, I have charged around $25 an hour for my services, but I don't want to undercut myself ... especially if those countries' exchange rates dictate that I should actually raise my rates in order to meet their "norms" and have enough to pay my associated companies for finding me the work in the first place ... confusing? Me, too!
Kathleen Sullivan said:Hi Carol
There are no "going rates" and the problem with trying to create a "going rate" is that the term Virtual Assistant encompasses many things. There are VAs out there who are really managers, technical gurus, awesome writers, ace marketers etc and there are also VAs who are cover the very "traditional" secretarial skills. There cannot be a "standard" rate for these very different skill sets.
A business owner can hire someone from overseas (read India) for as low a $4 per hour. (Of course there are some real risks with doing this and unfortunately the business owner finds out the hard way). On the higher end of the scale, a highly skilled VA with lots of technical experience can even charge $75 + per hour.
You rates should depend on your skill level and what you as a business owner wants to charge. The bottom line is that you are a business owner and can charge what you like. Whether the market will pay is another thing.
You will get a lot of responses to this query--some in direct conflict with mine, but that is ok. There are many, many ideas about how VAs should set rates. Enjoy the upcoming conversation.
Kathleen
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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Sullivan on
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http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/RBC:SWGqj6wWAA8AE3DATDg/cgi-bin/travel/...
Exchange rate site (didn't show up in my post).
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Permalink Reply by Vickie Turley on -
I'm not out of the country, but I am in Kentucky. BUT - all of my clients are out of my area. That's why I enjoy being virtual - they don't have to be here. Anyway, even when I had local clients, I was still charging my normal VA rates, which are now at $60/hour.
HTH!
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Permalink Reply by Danielle Keister on -
Asking other Virtual Assistants what they are charging is one of the worst ways to run your business, especially when the vast majority of Virtual Assistants aren't pricing their service profitably nor succeeding financially.
Setting your Virtual Assisant rate should first be based on the operational and profit needs of the business. This is done using simple, established business formularies. You can get a free automated Excel Service Pricing Worksheet from the VACOC, which will help you figure out exactly what the overhead in your business is and set a rate that not only will pay your salary as the "employee" in your business, but also create profit and cashflow, which are the lifeblood of every business.
Second, pricing is also about sending a marketing message. It's important to be smart and intentional about pricing because it can attract the worst clients or the best clients. Your pricing also sends a quality/value statement to your market which can say to them, "This is an amateur who may or may not be very skilled" or "This is an expert in the field who can provide great value."
You might want to read some of my blog posts on the topic of pricing at http://www.grittyva.com
Free Service Pricing Worksheet: http://www.virtualassistantnetworking.com/resources.htm
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Permalink Reply by Elaine Cantwell on -
Hi Carol
I once hired a VA in China. That was cheaper (about $10/hour) I think. But they really did a good job! I think if you can provide high quality service, you may charge higher rate. Because customers really care about how their tasks go not how much money they spend. And actually I am this kind of customers.
Hope everything goes well!
Elaine
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Permalink Reply by Dinesh |Your Virtual Assistant | on -
Your rate should be depends on your skills and kind of work you are going to perform...I am from India here basic hourly charges is only $5 per hour..Even Web designer like me charge only $5 per hour..
Thanks,
dinesh
http://www.websitedevelopment-india.com
web designer assistant $5 per hour
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