They want you exclusive. Here’s the surcharge.

They are buying the empty calendar, not a percent

In 2026 the ask still shows up as “don’t take anyone in our space,” “we need you exclusive through launch,” or “pause other clients for a month.” That is not extra hours on their quote. That is hours you will not sell to anyone else. Those hours have the same hourly floor you already set on the hub — income, billable weeks, a tax buffer you typed there. This card does not clone that buffer and does not run a 50-state tax engine. Labels here are USD so the arithmetic stays readable. Switch currency on the hub if you invoice in something else.

Exclusivity surcharge = hours you typically bill per week × weeks of exclusivity × hourly floor × the share of that week they actually block. Hours locked = typical weekly hours × weeks × that share. Hours you would have sold (before the share) = typical weekly hours × weeks. The share starts at 1.0 so you can see a full turn of the math. That 1.0 is a worked example. It is not a law, not a non-compete statute, and not “what serious freelancers charge.” Type 0.5 if they only freeze competing work and the other half of the week still bills. Type 0.25 if the lockout is thinner than that. The card will not invent a 20% exclusivity add-on, a 10% non-compete, or any other blog percent.

Worked example: 20 hours/week × 4 weeks × $90 × 1.0

Preset: 4 weeks, whole typical week. You typically bill 20 hours/week. They want 4 weeks exclusive. Floor $90. Share 1.0. Hours you would have sold: 20 × 4 = 80. Hours locked: 80 × 1.0 = 80. Surcharge: 80 × $90 = $7,200.

That $7,200 is the lockout. It is not the invoice for work they actually buy. If they also hire you, that work is a separate number — a project quote, a monthly retainer, hourly on the live job. The surcharge is what you do not sell to the rest of the market while their clause is on. If they fill some of those 80 hours themselves, you can lower the share so the surcharge only covers the slice they are not buying. You type that slice. This page does not guess it, and it does not call 20% “standard.”

Second preset: they only block half the week. Same 20 hours, same 4 weeks, same $90, share 0.5. Hours you would have sold still 80. Hours locked: 40. Surcharge: $3,600. You typed 0.5 because competing clients are frozen and the other half of the week still bills. The 0.5 is yours. It is not a default this page treats as official.

Third preset: 8 weeks exclusive, share still 1.0. Hours you would have sold: 20 × 8 = 160. Hours locked: 160. Surcharge: $14,400. Twice the weeks, twice the empty calendar. Name it before you turn down the other inbound.

This card is not the other money cards

A retainer is monthly keep for hours they can use — included hours × floor, unused buffer you set, overage at the floor unless you type another rate. That is reserved capacity they get to spend. Exclusivity is the opposite direction: hours you will not sell to anyone else, including hours they never book. Do not hide a competitor lock inside a retainer and call it “20% more keep.” If they want both, price the monthly hours on the retainer card and the lockout here. Two products. Two numbers.

Nothing cancelled. Hours already worked vs a deposit after they walk is the kill-fee keep / unpaid gap. Different week. If an exclusive engagement dies mid-lockout, hours already worked still go to kill-fee; weeks already locked still belong on this card. Do not paste a cancel sentence onto a “don’t take our competitor” clause.

There is no original quote gaining extra screens. Extra hours on a live job are the change-order add-on. A lockout does not add hours for them. It removes hours from everyone else.

They did not ask to run the same files in more places. Same hours, broader rights — web-only vs paid ads vs perpetual worldwide as a planning label — is the usage-license extra: hours already in the quote × floor × a multiplier they type. Default extra 0.5 is a half-again example, not 2× for nationwide ads, not copyright law. A lockout empties the calendar. A usage extra leaves the calendar alone and widens the grant. Two products.

They did not ask for the working files of a delivery they already bought. Hours to pack the Figma, PSD, or AE project × this floor is the source-files extra — not 50% of the job, and not a lockout. Native files leaving the disk is not empty weeks.

The calendar is not being squeezed into Friday. Same hours in fewer days is the rush-job card. Exclusivity can have a normal deadline and still cost money because other clients are frozen. Compression and lockout are not the same theft.

This is not a $40 inbound tweak. A tiny offer vs N hours × floor is the minimum-fee max(). A multi-week lockout is not a max() against a small ask. If they also sent a tiny job, price that floor there; price the empty weeks here.

The file is not being opened for another pass. Same deliverable, included rounds already used, is the revision-round fee — hours this extra pass × floor. A non-compete is not rework.

They already named a lockout, not a free look. A kickoff or unpaid audit before anyone signs is unpaid discovery. If they want you off the market before a contract exists, that look is still discovery; the exclusivity surcharge starts when the lockout starts. Do not give the lockout away as a “quick chemistry” week.

Send the sentence before you turn the other work down

Name typical weekly hours. Name the weeks. Name the share. Name hours locked. Name the surcharge. Copy from the card so the dollars match. Set the floor first on how to set a freelance rate if that $90 is still a guess.

• Whole week, 4 weeks. Exclusivity for 4 weeks at my $90.00/hr floor. I typically bill 20 hours/week. You are blocking 1 of that week, so 80 hours I would have sold elsewhere. Exclusivity surcharge is $7,200.00. That is on top of whatever we bill for the work itself. Please confirm that surcharge before I turn down other work.
• Half the week. Exclusivity for 4 weeks at my $90.00/hr floor. I typically bill 20 hours/week. You are blocking 0.5 of that week, so 40 hours I would have sold elsewhere. Exclusivity surcharge is $3,600.00. That is on top of whatever we bill for the work itself. Please confirm that surcharge before I turn down other work.
• 8 weeks. Exclusivity for 8 weeks at my $90.00/hr floor. I typically bill 20 hours/week. You are blocking 1 of that week, so 160 hours I would have sold elsewhere. Exclusivity surcharge is $14,400.00. That is on top of whatever we bill for the work itself. Please confirm that surcharge before I turn down other work.

Skip guilt, fake scarcity, and “20% exclusivity is industry standard.” Those lines turn a lockout into a lecture. There is no official exclusivity percent on this page. If they will not name the surcharge, do not clear the other calendar. The other inbound still pays the floor. If they actually want reserved monthly hours they can spend, stop using this card and price a retainer. If they already walked, use the kill-fee keep / gap.

Planning numbers, not a signed lockout

This card is educational. It is not legal, tax, or collections advice, and it is not a 50-state tax engine. No required exclusivity percent, no statutory non-compete fee, no marketplace exclusivity table. Use whatever agreement you already have. An enforceable exclusivity or non-compete clause is something a lawyer in your jurisdiction writes before you clear other clients. Typing here does not create that clause and does not turn a handshake into a lockout.

The math is: hours/week you typically bill, weeks of exclusivity, hourly floor, share of that week they actually block (1.0 is a worked example you can change), hours you would have sold, hours locked, exclusivity surcharge = hours locked × floor, one email-sized sentence. USD labels on this page; currency and tax buffer live on the hub.

Rate calculator Monthly retainer (hours they can use) If they cancelled a live job Tiny inbound job, not a lockout Broader rights on the same hours Set the hourly floor

Rebuild the floor on the hub if billable weeks moved. A lockout gets a name on this card. Broader rights on the same hours live on usage-license. Reserved hours they can spend live on the retainer. A cancel keeps hours vs deposit on kill-fee. A $40 tweak is still a minimum fee, not eight empty weeks.

FAQ