Price Increase Letter Sample: Four You Can Copy, and How Much to Raise

Your rates haven’t moved in two years. You know they should have.

You’ve written that email twice now. Deleted it twice too, because the first draft read like an apology and the second one read like a demand.

So the price stays where it is, and you keep working for a number you set when you were less experienced and your costs were lower.

Here’s what most guides miss about writing a price increase letter. The letter isn’t the hard part. Deciding the number is, and almost nobody tells you how, so you guess and then write an email you don’t believe in.

Below you’ll get both. How to work out the increase, a price increase letter sample for four different situations, and what to say when somebody pushes back.

What a price increase letter actually has to do

Four things, and that’s all.

State the new price. Give the date it starts. Give one reason, not five. And thank them for working with you.

That’s it. Every extra paragraph in a price increase letter is another thing a client can argue with. The shortest versions work best, because a short, calm notice reads like a decision that’s already been made. A long one reads like an opening offer.

Don’t say “I’m sorry” or “I hope you understand”. You’re informing them of a business change, the same way your insurer informs you of theirs.

How much should you actually raise?

This is the part that’s missing from nearly every price increase letter sample you’ll find, and it’s the only part that takes real thought.

Start with what it costs you to stand still. Work out roughly how much your own costs have risen since the last time you changed your prices. Software, insurance, subscriptions, materials, your own time. If you want an outside benchmark, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the Consumer Price Index showing how prices have moved over the same period. If that’s two years and your costs are up around 6%, then a 6% increase leaves you exactly where you were. It isn’t a raise.

Now add the correction. Most people undercharge at the start and never catch up, so there’s usually a gap between your price and what the work is worth now.

Here’s what that looks like with real numbers. Say you’re at $80 an hour and you haven’t moved in two years. Costs up 6% means $85 just to hold position. If your margin was thin to begin with, $90 is the honest number, and that’s a 12.5% increase.

Most increases land somewhere between 5% and 15%. Go below 5% and you’ll be doing this again next year, and two small increases irritate people more than one clean move. Go above 20% in a single step and you’ll lose some of them. Not over the price. Over the feeling that something changed between you.

Is the honest number 30% or more? Then don’t send it as one increase. Stage it over two steps six months apart, or change what you’re selling. A new package at a new price is an easier conversation.

One more test. If you’re winning almost every job you quote for, you’re too cheap, and your pricing is telling you so. When you quote for new work, losing some of them is normal and healthy.

When to send your price increase letter

Thirty days before the new rate starts is standard for ongoing clients. Long enough for them to budget. Not so long that they start shopping around.

For clients on a contract or a retainer, check what you signed. Plenty of agreements set their own notice period. If yours does, that wins over anything you read here. If you’re putting a new agreement together, this is exactly why a retainer agreement should state upfront how and when rates can change.

Two timing rules. Never mid-project, where it reads as leverage. And not on a Friday afternoon either, or it sits unread all weekend and lands cold on Monday.

Send it to each client individually. A visible mass email tells people they’re one of a list, which is the wrong feeling on the day you ask for more money.

Price increase letter sample: four you can copy

Swap in your own names and numbers. Resist the urge to add paragraphs.

1. Standard increase, ongoing client

Subject: Rate change from 1 March

Hi Sarah,

From 1 March my rate moves from $80 to $90 an hour. Anything already booked before that date stays at the current rate.

This is my first adjustment since 2024 and it reflects the rise in my own costs over that period.

Happy to talk it through if it’s useful.

James

2. Retainer or contract client

Subject: Retainer update, effective 1 April

Hi Daniel,

Your monthly retainer moves from $2,000 to $2,250 from 1 April, which is the start of the next billing cycle. The scope stays exactly as it is.

In line with our agreement, this is 30 days’ notice.

Thanks, as always.

Priya

3. Long-standing client

Subject: A change to my rates from 1 May

Hi Marcus,

You’ve been a client since 2022, and I want to give you plenty of notice. From 1 May my day rate goes from $600 to $680.

You’ll stay on the current rate through April, so anything we schedule before then is unaffected.

I’ve valued working with you and I’m glad we’re still at it.

Elena

4. Cost-driven increase

Subject: Price update from 1 June

Hi Tom,

Materials on this type of job have risen sharply this year. From 1 June my prices go up by 9% to cover it.

Work already quoted is held at the quoted price. Anything new from 1 June is at the updated rate.

Thanks for your understanding.

Rebecca

When a client pushes back

Some will, even after a well-written price increase letter. It’s usually one of three things, and none of them needs a long reply.

“Can I stay on the old price?” No, and say it plainly. What you can offer is time: hold them at the current rate for 60 days instead of 30. That’s a real concession that doesn’t cost you the increase.

“That’s a big jump.” Agree with the feeling, not the premise. It’s the first change in two years, around 6% a year. Say that and stop talking. Most people object to the surprise, not the number.

Silence. The most common response of all. They’ve seen it, they’re not thrilled, and they haven’t replied. That isn’t a problem. Carry on and invoice at the new rate on the date you said, and if you need to nudge them before then, keep the follow-up short and specific.

And if a client leaves over single digits, you’ve learned something useful. They were buying on price, and they’d have gone to the next cheaper option.

Price increase letter mistakes that cost you clients

Apologising. The moment you sound sorry, the price becomes negotiable.

Giving five reasons. One is confident. Five sounds like you’re building a defence, and defences invite attacks.

Burying it. If the rate change shows up in paragraph four, or first appears on an invoice, you’ve turned a routine notice into a surprise charge. On longer jobs this matters more, which is one reason progress billing works well: the client sees the numbers as the work happens rather than all at once at the end.

Raising prices for some clients and not others with no logic. Clients talk more than you’d expect.

And leaving it too long. A business that raises prices 5% a year has an easy conversation. One that waits four years has a horrible one.

Frequently asked questions

How much notice should you give for a price increase?

Thirty days is standard and enough for most situations. Check any contract or retainer first, because a stated notice period there takes priority. For large corporate clients with budget cycles, 60 days is safer.

Should you send a price increase letter by email or post?

Email, almost always. It’s timestamped, easy to reply to, and reaches the decision maker. Keep posted letters for supplier contracts that require written notice.

Can you raise prices for new clients only?

Yes, and it’s a reasonable first step if a full increase feels like too much. Just set a date when existing clients move across too, or you’ll run two price lists for years.

What if a client refuses to pay the new rate?

Decide in advance whether you’d keep them or let them go, not in the moment. If they stay at the old rate, put an end date on it so it doesn’t become permanent by default.

The short version

Work out the number before you write the price increase letter. Cover what your costs have done since your last increase, then correct for what you were undercharging. Most land between 5% and 15%.

Keep the price increase letter to four lines. New price, start date, one reason, thank you. No apology.

Give 30 days, send it individually, and expect a bit of pushback from a small number of people.

Then hold the line, because the increase you talk yourself out of is the one you’ll still be thinking about next year.