Meaning & use
rate card
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A list of the standard prices a media company or service provider charges, especially for advertising space or time.
Grammar: Countable: the magazine's rate card; two rate cards.
Patterns
- a rate card for something
- on the rate card
The magazine sent us its latest rate card for full-page ads.
According to the rate card, a thirty-second slot costs five thousand dollars.
Few advertisers pay the full rate card price.
Word forms
| plural | rate cards |
|---|
Common combinations
- publish a rate card
- The radio station publishes a rate card each year.
- request a rate card
- Request a rate card before planning your campaign.
- advertising rate card
- The advertising rate card lists prices by page size.
- above the rate card
- The cost was above the rate card.
- discount off rate card
- They won a thirty percent discount off rate card.
Synonyms and how they differ
- price list
- Price list is a general term for any set of prices, while rate card is typical of advertising and services.
- tariff
- Tariff is more formal and is used for fixed charges such as utilities or shipping, not just advertising.
- fee schedule
- Fee schedule applies to professional services such as doctors and lawyers, whereas rate card is advertising and media.
Word family
Commonly confused: rate card or rate of exchange?
rate card vs rate of exchange
An exchange rate is the value of one currency in another; a rate card lists a company's prices for its services.
Practice
Before buying advertising space, the marketing manager asked the newspaper to send its ______.
Choose one answer.
A rate card lists advertising prices. A report card shows grades, a credit card is for payment, and a postcard is a mailed message.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “rate card”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.