I've been doing this for a few months now... what are you folks charging for logo design? Has the economy hurt your business?
It's hard to define a "going rate" especially when graphic design is world wide. I personally don't do freelance graphic design(I do it for my own projects), but when I do hire graphic designers I hire usually on a flat rate for the whole job. I use sites like Rentacoder and eLance, and specify how much I am willing to pay up front for the whole job. I usually pay no more than $25 for a logo, and no more than $75 for a wordpress layout. Other layouts I will pay more such as Joomla or complete custom. This is just for the PSD, and personally I am a cheapskate . Usually people will pay more for high quality work, and if you hit up sites like eLance or RentaCoder you can request more money and you will usually get the rate you are worth, even though others from developing nations will undercut your bid. So don't settle for less than you fill you should be making, and you should get it. Unless you are still building clients/portfolio.
as said, there really is no 'going rate'. if you would like to name your own rates, then search google for how to price your services. there are many well written formula for figuring out what to charge without ripping yourself off. they usually take into account any overhead you might have like materials, hardware, software, rent, etc. but since it appears you are rather new to the game, you most likely will not have all of these things to worry about. I would suggest entering a few contests (they like to call is 'crowdsourcing') there is a section on this forum, but the going rates are lower than most as it's not moderated at all. meaning no minimums. check out sites like 99designs.com or crowdspring.com for a better controlled pricing system. both are free for designers to join and submit too.
yes, there is no going rate as the field is more competitive now a days , more and more designers are emerging all over , it all depends on the buyer and his need , if its a nicecompany then they dont care for a brandable logo as high as $1000 and personal logo can be made as low as $5..it all depends..99designs is the biggest site i ever come across...it is a place where designers are paid upto thier mark...other places you have to compete on bid prices like freelance sites and forums like DP...custom works are always paid good.
I've been charging between 150 and 300 for logo/branding work, which comes out to about 25 an hour, and I think I can get more for it...
going rate for graphic designer is not as much as it used to be. the best way to make profit as a graphic designer is to get into video production (tv broadcasting) my going rate for graphic design is $30 an hour
It all depends on experience/quality to be honest. Sure you can get a logo for $10 but it'll most like be horrid, just remember you get what you pay for.
$80 per hour, but you'll find although hourly rate increases with experience, remember that they get faster at working too, so overall project prices could end up more similar than you expect
I will never charge more than $20 for a logo unless it is very complex but just a simple image and text logo does not take that long to make and can be done in your spare time.
If you look at my site (link in the sig) my aunt made the logo for me, she's been doing graphics design for about 15-20 years now...but she charges between 200 and 300 dollars for what she did for me. A really simple thing that took her 12 minutes to make 4 for me to choose from. And all she did was use a font to make the star and another font for the words.
Just wanted to chime in and say that this isn't always the case. When purchasing a logo, research is important. I've come away with better results for designs that I paid $20-25 for than a few that I've paid $75-200 for. It depends how hard you search for the right designer for the project. Every designer has areas that they're awesome with, and areas they need to work on; so find the designer that fits the project.
How much you charge is based on these factors: How educated are you? There are designers out there who have worked up the ranks, and there are deisgners who have focused on learning the trade in post-secondary education. Then there are members of graphic design 'guilds' like RGD or AIGA who work at an even higher standard of quality. How much work have you done in the past? We're talking quality work, big clients. What skills do you bring to the table. A graphic designer gets paid not for their skills at realizing a concept, but fr the creative power that brainstorms the concept. Starting with strategy, concepts, refinement, rationale and ending with execution. You are paid based on how good your ideas are. What are your deliverables. Making a logo is making a logo, but making a logo and delivering it in a CMYK PDF costs more, and even more is designing an identity and supplying a brand manual on how to use it. do you offer variations? B&W, various arrangements, various formats.......the possibilities are endless and that's something that has to be negotiated between you and the client. Well, that's a start at least, should get you thinking.