[keefe]

>1. The word "between.

I largely agree with this article and even this point in particular, but I think you will often end up in a situation where stating a range can move things along quickly. If you qualify it properly, it can be a useful way to turn the tables. For example, if you are discussing rate you could say well, from the other people I've been talking to it looks like positions like this one pay between $45 and $65 an hour, depending on various factors, but of course more detail is required to pin the number down exactly and it varies for each individual, so what kind of budgetary, time and code quality constraints are on this project?

I think this is a nice way of turning the tables, it would be socially weird for them to just ignore the question and be like, "so what EXACTLY were you looking for?"

Of course, they may end up offering you at 45 to start, but you can just kind of scoff at that (if you want) and be like well this seems more complex/difficult because... there's nothing wrong with continually edging away from the question until they get frustrated.

[nostrademons]

Problem is that once you've said "between $45 and $65", you've indicated that $45 is acceptable. Otherwise, why did you say it?

I've made this mistake before, and find that people always zoom in on the lower number and think that's your actual offer. And then it's quite awkward to say "Well, I didn't really mean $45, I won't do it for that little."

I've found that offering a range works much better when I make the lower number of the range quite a bit higher than what I actually want. That gives me room to come down, so that even once they've talked you down from that lower range, it's still higher than what you wanted.

[keefe]

it depends on how you frame it. Saying that this type of position typically pays X doesn't mean you're willing to take it.

[enjo]

In my experience that sort of thing has rarely turned out well for me. There really is something to the concept of anchoring. When you throw out $45-$65 their going to anchor on the $45 and now you have to move them off of that.

Although I suppose if you threw out a really high range that might have the same effect. "I'm thinking $60-$85" and get them anchored on the $60 number you're really after. You might scare them off with the top number in the range tho...

I've always done a lot better by coming in at slightly above the number I really want. If I'm looking for $60, I'll come in at $70. I'll justify why I'm charging that, and then let them move me off of it down to what I wanted in the first place. After all, if I said "$45-$65" and they paid $60 then they feel like their paying too much (their coming in at $15/hour over what you anchored them on). By starting at $70 and coming down to $60 they feel like they got a steal.

[jimbokun]

"you could say well, from the other people I've been talking to it looks like positions like this one pay between $45 and $65 an hour"

Or you could just say "well, from the other people I've been talking to it looks like positions like this one pay about $75 an hour."

[btilly]

But what if they know that the range is $45 to $65? In that case you've just made yourself not look very credible.

[StormN]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with saying "between X and Y" in my opinion. You just always make sure X is what you actually want, and Y is at least 30% higher. Give them the opportunity to grind you down, it'll make them happy; give you the ability to say "look, I've already let you take X% off what this should cost" which will come in invaluable later, because it's an instant ego-booster for the other guy. Always let the other guy think he's won, simple rule.

[tonyshili]

I think it's fine to say and let the counter party realize that various factors and details may affect the actual rate, but another to do this is to still state a single rate and qualifying it with a statement that lets the counterparty know that it is still negotiable. Because sometimes giving a range I feel is almost giving off as a sign that I'm not confident in negotiation process and I don't exactly know where to place the counterparty.