Pay your freelancers...
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- moldero1
I have a firm in SF who owes me $$, and wont return my e-mails because he has to balls. hes lucky its under $1k and I don't really need it.
no names just a hint.
R.G. at MJVE
- ideaist0
freelance or die trying...
- PonyBoy-1
C'MONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN...
PAY UP.
- section_0140
The comment on clients not paying because they don't like the work, wife doesn't get it, etc. is why I'm moving more and more towards development. For one, I can charge more. Second, there isn't any team of account managers or client's idiot spouse's or whatever critiquing the application I just wrote. No one is saying "Can you add a couple more methods to that class" or "Why'd you use that variable?". Does it do what it's supposed to do? Yes. Done.
I love design, but dealing with idiot clients is awful. Luckily, I haven't had any serious payment issues like people here. Plus, since I handle all the ftp admin, I could just shut their site down if I didn't get paid. Or, I could build a secret backdoor login if people get sly and try to change the ftp. I think I will do that from here on out actually.
- You obviously haven't done any work for Disney. But yes, otherwise I completely agree. :)mathinc
- mathinc0
I'm currently in a situation where a client has owed me 4k for project that didn't turn out very successful, which definitely puts my client in a tough situation too. However, I was hired to simply assist a main developer. The project was unorganized from the beginning and when the project started to tank I worked around the clock, literally, to save the project. My invoice is now 3 months past due.
I haven't had a single problem with a client in over 3 years until this one. The trick I've found is that you NEED to get a large deposit upfront, unless you have history with the client and know that they're solid. I didn't in this case and it's bit me in the ass. This was a new client for me and initially I thought, because of what the client said, that I'd be working about 20 hours tops. This turned into a 70 hour invoice from one week of work.. so like I said, I literally worked around the clock with 3 consecutive nights of 2 hours of sleep.
So in essence, get a deposit so that the client is already committed to the project. If they refuse to give you a deposit, walk away.
- whereRI0
im still waiting for 4000 euro from a months ago
- raf0
Setting project milestones with partial delivery/payments is a good idea, ie.:
Design comps → payment
HTML cut-up → payment
Deployment → payment
- moth0
'but that takes backbone'
Not really. As long as you communicate your terms from the outset then everybody is clear where they stand and your client can budget accordingly.
- ukit0
Best policy is to secure collateral of some kind, like some of their children
- FallowDeer0
Again like a few of you have posted im in the same boat.
They are all in a rush when they need that project because the client is coming in tomorrow, but when its time to pay up, never to be seen.
- moth0
Maybe you guys should consider 50% upfront - or upon delivery.
On delivery is good - no money - no stuff.
- but that takes backbone!
=.(monNom - Try doing that with a big client. They'll turn around and find someone else within the hour.fyoucher1
- i do that with some clients. yeah, big agencies. nope.akrokdesign
- Doesn't work most of the time with smaller jobs. Big jobs, yes.arthur
- but that takes backbone!
- monNom0
I don't know all the ins and outs of it, but 'factoring' of invoices might make a lot of sense for freelancers. Essentialy you sell the debt(your invoice) at a discount to a factoring company, who then collects. You get maybe 80-90% of the invoice but you get it right away, and the factoring co. eats the bad debts. -- Sorts out your cash-flow, though reduces your ultimate profit.
Not sure if you maybe need lots of billings to do it though.
- sofakingbanned0
Yup I'm waiting on a check myself... but like you guys said unfortunately for us that always seems to be the case.
- ernexbcn0
I'm on the same fucking boat as you right now, some people owe me 800€ that I needed two months ago so imagine my overall situation. They promised to pay me by oct 30th and I haven't seen the money yet.
I wrote yesterday to that motherfucker asking politely for a real estimate of when he'll finally be able to pay me and all I got was this:
"do you live in Mars, because here in planet Earth there's a worldwide economic crisis and you are not the only one with problems..."
And I won't keep quoting the whole thing because it's maddening, this fucker won't even give me now an estimate on when and how much I'm getting, and I need that money since the end of summer
- as a side note I'm currently jobless with bills piling up like crazyernexbcn
- Man that sucks - If I got that reply from that guy I would march straight down to that office and forcibly take the cashvuc
- 800 euros? surely that qualifies for a simplified civil suit process. If he doesn't want to honor the contract, file and serve.mkuplens
- heavyt0
I find it interesting that the people I subcontract for complain about their clients not paying them fast enough, and then they make me wait 90 days to get a check from them. You'd think they'd be more sensitive to that issue.
I make it a point to pay my sub-contractors right after they deliver files to me. Even if I know I wont see the payment from my client for weeks or months.
I like to think they respect me more for that, and are more likely to work for me in the future because of it.
- vitamins0
Not paying freelancers or delay of payment happens way too often. There should be a law on this.
- arthur0
Three of my clients have gone under this year after I've completed the work but before they paid. Two of them eventually paid.
The third strung me along for months, making excuses. The AD called me after he was laid off and apologized for lying to me all those months, he said he was told what to say to me and they hadn't paid anybody. Contacted collections, but the next day got a letter from the client saying they will make good on all invoices. I'm holding tight for the time being. Would rather get the 100%, but I can only wait so long.
- monNom0
You gotta read up on how lawyers bill. Those are some ruthless mofos. Large retainer up-front, stop work on invoice, payable in 5days, etc.
I bet they don't have near the problems collecting that us 'net 90' suckers do.
- Cptn_Uncanny0
I've been fighting for payment well over a month now for one of my last projects. There is a contract but they don't want to pay because they're disappointed in my work, although what I did is generating a considerable amount of press for them... I am now thinking about a career change to something more respected. Like mud massaging seniors with toothbrushes made out of backhair. I hear the pay is really good.