Rate Card / Price List
Published prices by unit, with validity dates and the terms attached.
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| Issued | October 14, 2026 |
| Valid until | [date] |
| Item | Unit | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| [add one line per item] |
Terms
[tax, payment terms, notice of price changes]
What is a Rate Card / Price List?
A rate card is your published price list: each item or service, the unit it is sold in, the price, and the dates the price holds good. It exists so that everyone quotes the same number. Without one, three people in the same business give three prices for the same job, a customer compares notes with another customer, and you spend the next month explaining a discount you never intended to give.
Agencies, printers, freight companies, media owners, consultancies, training providers, equipment hire firms and trades all publish rate cards. Sales teams quote from them, finance measures realised price against them, and buyers use them to build budgets and compare suppliers. Internally the rate card is also the reference point for discount policy: you cannot say a deal was struck at fifteen percent off unless there is a published figure to be fifteen percent off. Many businesses maintain two versions — a public card and an internal one showing cost and margin floors.
How you present prices to different buyers is regulated. Where you sell to consumers, price display rules in the UK, EU, Australia, India and many US states require prices to be shown inclusive of mandatory taxes and fees, and prohibit drip pricing where charges appear later in the process. Business-to-business cards commonly show prices excluding VAT or GST, with the tax stated separately. If you operate in a market with price marking or unit pricing orders, those apply too. Check the consumer protection and price indication rules for each market you publish into.
A rate card is not a quotation and not a contract. It states what you would charge for a standard unit under standard conditions; the quotation applies it to a specific job with its actual quantities, timings and exclusions. Publishing a card does not oblige you to accept every order at that price, provided your refusal is not for a discriminatory reason. It also does not lock the price for existing customers with signed agreements — their rates are whatever their contract says, and a new card does not override a term already agreed.
What to put in a Rate Card / Price List
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Business name | For example: Barton Supply Co. |
| Your address | For example: Unit 7, Barton Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Prices valid until | Free text |
| Price list | One per line: Item | Unit | Price | Notes |
| Terms | For example: Prices exclude tax. Payment 30 days from invoice for approved accounts, otherwise on… |
How to write a Rate Card / Price List
Define the unit before you set the price
Say what is being bought: per hour, per day, per thousand impressions, per pallet, per square metre, per user per month. Ambiguous units cause the arguments. ‘£850 per day’ needs a stated day — seven and a half hours on site, travel excluded — or you will be invoicing for a ten-hour day the client thought was included. Define minimum charges and call-out fees in the same place.
State what the price includes and excludes
List inclusions and, more importantly, exclusions directly under each price: materials, travel, out-of-hours loading, artwork amends beyond a stated number, delivery outside a named radius, third-party costs recharged at cost plus a percentage. The exclusions list is what stops a client treating a headline rate as an all-in figure and disputing every line on the invoice.
Version the card and give it an expiry
Head it with the version and the dates it applies from and to — ‘Rate card v4, effective 1 April 2026, prices held to 31 March 2027’. Say how much notice you give before a change, and how existing bookings or contracted work are treated. Without an expiry, someone will present a two-year-old PDF from your website and expect you to honour it.
Show tax treatment and payment terms clearly
State whether prices exclude or include VAT, GST or sales tax, at what rate, and add your registration number. For consumer-facing prices, check whether your market requires tax-inclusive display. Set out payment terms, deposit requirements, late payment charges and the currency. If you quote in more than one currency, say how the rate is set and when it is fixed.
Publish volume tiers instead of ad hoc discounts
If you discount for volume or commitment, put the tiers on the card: quantity bands, annual commitment levels, agency or trade rates with the qualifying condition stated. A published tier is easier to defend than a negotiated favour, it removes the need for most approval forms, and it stops customers discovering that a comparable buyer got a better deal for no visible reason.
Common mistakes
- Publishing a day rate without defining the length of a day, then arguing about overtime on every project.
- Leaving out the exclusions, so the client treats the headline figure as all-inclusive and refuses the recharged travel and materials.
- Issuing a card with no version number or expiry, so an outdated PDF circulates and gets quoted back at you a year later.
- Showing prices excluding tax on a consumer-facing card in a market that requires tax-inclusive display, which can breach price indication rules.
- Handing out ad hoc discounts instead of publishing tiers, until nobody in the business can say what the actual price of anything is.
Frequently asked questions
What should be on a price list or rate card?
Each item or service with a clear unit of sale, the price, what is included and excluded, volume or term tiers, minimum charges, tax treatment and registration number, payment terms, currency, delivery or travel charges, the version number, and the dates the prices apply. Add a contact for quotations on anything non-standard, and a line reserving the right to quote separately for bespoke work.
Should I show prices with or without VAT on my price list?
For business customers, prices excluding tax with the rate stated separately is normal, since they reclaim it. For consumers, most jurisdictions require the total price including mandatory taxes to be displayed, and prohibit adding unavoidable fees later in the checkout. If your card is seen by both audiences, show both figures. Check the price indication rules in each market you publish into.
How often should a rate card be updated?
Annually is the common rhythm, with the effective date aligned to your financial year so budgets and quotations line up. Update sooner if input costs move materially. Whatever the interval, version the card, state the notice you give before a change, and say how work already quoted or contracted is treated — customers accept increases far better when the mechanism was published in advance.
Do I have to publish my prices?
Not generally in business-to-business selling, where quoting on request is normal. Consumer-facing sales are different: price display obligations apply in many jurisdictions to goods offered for sale, and regulated sectors may have their own transparency requirements. Publishing tends to help anyway — it filters out enquiries you cannot serve profitably. Check the consumer price display rules for your sector and market.
Can I charge different customers different rates?
Yes in most commercial contexts, provided the difference is not based on a protected characteristic and does not breach competition law. Published volume, term or trade tiers are the cleanest way to do it, because the basis is objective and visible. Businesses with a strong market position face tighter constraints on discriminatory pricing — check the competition rules for your market before adopting a structural difference.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.