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Where what you sell ends
You'll leave with the sentence that spells out what your service includes and what's billed separately, written down before you have to improvise it in front of a customer.
By Yodai · Published September 6, 2026 · Updated October 12, 2026
A customer writes you: "okay, and can you throw this in too?" They've already paid, or they're about to. If you hesitate half a second, you've lost: either you say no and look like you're ripping them off, or you say yes and work for free.
That doesn't happen because the customer is being difficult. It happens because your service didn't have a clear boundary before you wrote your website. And a website that doesn't know where what you sell ends promises more than it should, without meaning to.
Decide the limit before you put it in writing
The rule is simple: the price covers everything it takes to reach the result you're promising. Anything that isn't needed for that result, or that's only needed sometimes, stays out and gets billed separately.
If you promise "boiler checked and running," that includes diagnosis, cleaning, and adjustment. It doesn't include a part that turns out to be broken, because you didn't know that when you set the price. If you promise "logo ready to use," that includes the files in the formats people actually use: print, web, social. It doesn't include redoing the logo from scratch when you already signed off on it three months ago.
You decide this boundary yourself, once, calmly. You don't decide it in a chat, with the customer waiting and the fear of losing the sale pushing you to say yes to everything.
What you leave out is a second revenue stream, not a flaw
Leaving something out isn't being stingy, it's where your margin lives. The replacement part, the travel, the emergency weekend visit: those get billed separately because they cost you extra. If you fold it all into one price, the customer who never needs the extra ends up paying for the one who does, and you don't come out ahead with either one.
A practical rule for figuring out what's extra: if it happens less than half the time, it's an add-on you name and charge for when it comes up. If it happens every time, it's included and part of the base price, even if it costs you something to have ready.
A designer who includes "two rounds of revisions" in a logo's price isn't being generous: they know almost every job ends up needing two rounds, so they build that into the base. A third round is an add-on, and they say so before starting.
- One price, zero questions when you hire
- The customer who barely uses it pays for the one who uses it a lot
- Works when the service is the same every time: a haircut, a one-hour class
- The entry price is lower and attracts more people
- Each extra, explained upfront, gets billed later without an argument
- Works when the job changes case by case: a renovation, a design project, a repair
Which one to pick: Choose all-inclusive when the work is identical every time and calculating the add-on would cost more time than it's worth. Choose base plus extras as soon as the work varies depending on who's calling: it protects your margin without having to raise your starting price.
- You have a sentence written down that says what your service includes and what's left out
- You know which extras you charge separately and why, not just guessing in the moment
- Decided whether your business works better with a single price or with base plus extras
- Next up: the name for your website
Yodai builds the site from what you tell it, with a store, bookings or quote requests depending on what you do. See what the website for your business looks like.
NextThe name on your website doesn't have to be your company's legal name