Haggling - direct.

[MarillionFan]

They offered £150. You want £240. So ask for £330.

Then start negotiating towards the mid point.

[SizeZero]

Question: How long can you last out with your warchest/savings? No matter how many people here tell you to hold out or ask for double, only YOU know if you can afford to see this one go. The rate is very low, lower even than permie salary, but it's better than JSA if you're entitled to that.

You have nothing to lose by making a sensible counter offer and justifying your worth. But at the end of the day, only you know the client, how thick and fast other offers have been coming, what you might stand to lose if negotiations fail.

[DS23]

and remember that they will be saving on the agency fee and you will suffer from extended payment terms.

[Wanderer]

They have offered £150 a day which I think is around £100-120 a day off what I'm worth and is around £90 a day less than my last contract. And that was through an agency!

He has basically used that as a starting point, and indicates indirectly that he expects me to haggle kind of thing. What do I do??

Haggle!

I guess it's stating the obvious but you need to haggle. It's part of being a business man and the outcome all depends on what they are willing to offer and you are willing to accept. No one here can tell you what your rate should be.

Points to remember:

The client is saving on agency fees (probably about 20-25% markup on the rate you get)
You won't get paid on time (purchasing are a PITA to deal with)
If they are only willing to pay peanuts then you have to ask yourself if they are a mickey mouse penny pinching outfit that you wouldn't want to work for anyway.
You are NOT a permie, so don't let them (or yourself) go comparing the rate to permie rates. No Employers' NI, pension, sick, maternity, holiday, redundancy, tribunals etc for them to worry about or you to fall back on.

Any decent business will recognise that you have to pay the going rate to get decent people working for them, but of course they don't want to pay more than they have to. Point out that by going direct they are saving 25% anyway so let's split the savings on this and by the way my daily rate is X amount and that's a fair price if you want the job done properly. A great quote is that "If a business doesn't pay the right rates then it won't be able to recruit and retain the type of people they need to make their business a success". Sounds a bit better than "if you pay peanuts then you get monkeys, and the monkeys bugger off at the first sign of a better gig"

Good luck!

[BolshieBastard]

do you want to work for £150 a day? Prob not.

So ask for what you actually want, and tell them that's what it will take to get you. Not a penny less. If they don't meet your requirements go somewhere else.

It's really simple this stuff, why do people find it difficult.

whs.

[TFour]

Do you want to work for £150 a day? Prob not.

So ask for what you actually want, and tell them that's what it will take to get you. Not a penny less. If they don't meet your requirements go somewhere else.

It's really simple this stuff, why do people find it difficult.

I don't think it is that simple. Say he says he wants £250 a day, they think it's a negotiating position and offer £230. Is he going to walk away for the sake of £20 a day (in the face of no alternative contract)? I've seen procurement geeks talk about minimum acceptable outcome, and most desirable outcome. Even if he sets his minimum acceptable at £220, and they offer £210, does he still walk away?

Personally I hate negotiating, I like the "this is the price, pay it or don't pay it" approach, but even then you end up in the same conundrum if the client/agent thinks it's a negotiating position. But, if you tell them it's £220 or you walk, then accept £210, you look weak?

I guess it all comes down to the individual situation - how many options the client has, how many options you have, what the average rate is for the type of contract and whether amongst all that and the daft negotiating games, you can find a sum both of you are happy with.