When an agency messages us for the first time, it almost always comes down to the same question: "Okay, so how much do I keep?" It's the right question. If the model doesn't leave you a healthy margin, it doesn't work, no matter how good the work looks.
Here's how agency pricing works, how to calculate your margin and which mistakes shrink it without you noticing.
Three prices you need to know
In the white label model, there are three different prices. Mixing them up is the most common mistake.
| Price | Who sets it | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Public price | Blides Publicity | It's what a business pays when it hires us directly. It serves as a market reference |
| Agency price | Blides Publicity | It's what you pay. It's always lower than the public price |
| Your selling price | You | It's what you charge your client |
An example of a public price: our Professional Brand plan costs $350 a month for any business, and new clients pay $250 for the first month. Your agency price for that same service is lower. We send the full agency price list on WhatsApp, because it varies by service and we want you to always have the current version.
How to calculate your margin
The formula is simple:
Your margin is what you charge your client minus your agency price.
But that number isn't your profit yet. From that difference, subtract your own costs:
- Your time spent selling, serving and delivering.
- Commissions if you have salespeople.
- Payment processing fees from whatever platform you use, like PayPal or cards.
- Taxes depending on your country or state.
- Tools you pay for your agency.
What's left is your real profit. Do this calculation once per service and you'll know clearly which ones are worth pushing harder.
A practical way to do it: open a spreadsheet with one row per service. In one column, put your agency price; in another, your selling price; in another, your own costs; and in the last one, what you keep. Once you have the agency price list, filling in that sheet takes a few minutes. And it saves you from discovering, months later, that a service you sold a lot of was barely making you anything. It also helps you decide quickly in a meeting whether you can accept a discount a client asks for or whether it's better to say no.
What to charge your client
Your selling price doesn't have to match ours. It depends on several things:
- Your market. You don't charge the same in a big U.S. city as in a small town.
- The scope. A plan with more posts, more ads or more hands-on service is worth more.
- Your added value. If you handle the meetings, the strategy and the personal attention, that gets charged too.
- Your positioning. Some agencies sell cheap and on volume, and others sell premium to a few clients.
For more detailed benchmarks by service, check out how much to charge for social media management and how much to charge for a website as an agency.
Monthly margin and one-time margin
Not every service makes you money the same way:
- Monthly services like social media, ads, AI for WhatsApp or Customer Support leave you a margin that repeats every month as long as the client stays with you. They're the foundation of a stable agency.
- One-time services like a website or a visual identity leave you a margin once, and they often open the door to a monthly service.
The ideal combination is usually selling a starter project and keeping a monthly service. If you want to see it with sample numbers, read an example with numbers: an agency with 10 social media clients.
Mistakes that eat your margin
I've seen agencies with a good selling price that still lose money. It's almost always because of this:
- Promising unlimited revisions without defining what a revision is.
- Selling below your cost to close quickly.
- Collecting late. If your client pays you at 45 days and you pay earlier, you're financing your client.
- Giving away extra services without charging for them.
- Not raising prices when the client asks for more.
All of this can be fixed with a clear scope from the start and organized billing. If you track your payments in CRM Blides, you can see at a glance what's paid, what's coming up and what's overdue.
Do you have an agency or work on your own? We are your production team.
You sell and bill under your brand; we handle social media, ads, websites, AI and support at agency pricing. Your client never knows we are behind it.
Ask for the agency price list
We don't publish agency pricing on the blog. We send it to you on WhatsApp along with the full list of services so you can run your numbers with real figures. No minimum number of clients and no long-term contract.
Frequently asked questions
What is the agency price for each service?
We send it on WhatsApp with the full list. It's always lower than the public price, and the difference from what you charge is your margin.
Can I charge more than the public price?
Yes. You decide your selling price based on your market, the scope and the value you add.
Is the margin the same for every service?
No. Each service has its own agency price and you set your selling price, so it's best to calculate your margin service by service.
