GuidesUpdated Mon 19 Oct 2026
Offer options and tiers in a proposal
Good, better, best without a pricing table: optional extras and one-of-three choices that keep the total honest.
Options turn a proposal from a verdict into a conversation. Done well, the client tailors the scope to their budget in a minute, without a call, and you see exactly what they chose. Done badly, it becomes a menu nobody can total in their head. Two kinds of choice cover almost every project.
Optional extras: on or off
An optional line stands on its own: the project works without it, and it adds something the client can picture. A journal for the shop, two months of support after launch, a set of social images. Switch it on by default when you recommend it, and let the client switch it off.
- Show the effect next to the switch: “−€1,452 · −3 days”, tax included, so nobody has to do arithmetic.
- Never make optional what the project fails without. Testing is not an extra.
- Two to four optional lines is plenty; past that, group them into a tier.
Tiers: one of three
A tier is the same deliverable at different depths: a Refresh of an existing theme, a Custom design, or Custom with art direction. The client picks exactly one. Describe each tier by what the client ends up with, not by a feature grid, and price each with its own working-day estimate so the delivery date moves with the choice.
- Three tiers, not five. The middle one is usually the one you recommend; pick it by default.
- Name the difference in outcomes: “a design of your own: pages, product views, type and colour”.
- One tier group per proposal is clearest. Two at most.
Keep the total honest
Every choice should move every figure that depends on it: the subtotal, the tax, the deposit due on acceptance, the working days and the delivery date. If the client switches off an extra and the deposit doesn’t change, they stop trusting the rest of the numbers.
Here is how it looks in practice
The web shop example has one tier group (the visual design) and two optional extras (a journal and support). Every price below is an example.
| Line | Kind | Days | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kick-off workshopHalf a day at the studio: goals, customers, what sells. | Included | 1 | €600 |
| Content and product inventoryEvery piece photographed so far, sorted into collections. | Included | 2 | €1,200 |
| Line | Kind | Days | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| RefreshA Shopify theme adapted to your colours and type. | Choice: Visual design | 4 | €2,400 |
| CustomA design of your own: pages, product views, type and colour. | Choice: Visual design | 8 | €4,800 |
| Custom with art directionCustom, plus a brief and a day on set with your photographer. | Choice: Visual design | 11 | €6,600 |
| Line | Kind | Days | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| StorefrontShopify build with 40 products, collections and checkout. | Included | 10 | €6,000 |
| JournalStories about the kiln and new glazes, written by you. | Optional, on | 3 | €1,200 |
| Line | Kind | Days | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Testing on phones and browsersiPhone, Android, and the three browsers your customers use. | Included | 2 | €1,200 |
| Two months of supportUp to eight hours of fixes and small changes after launch. | Optional, on | 0 | 8 × €100 |
Example prices. VAT at 21%, a 30% deposit on acceptance.
What happens after they choose
The client’s choices are part of what they accept: the version they say yes to records which tier and which extras were on. If they change their mind after accepting, that is a new version with the difference shown, not a quiet edit.
The rest of the proposal: letter, phases, terms and acceptance
Make the example your own. A copy opens in the editor, ready to rename and reprice; then send your client the link. Free, no account.