Freelance - Payment After Approval

kabir.talib

Hi All,

I came across with some of the clients, who don't want to make any upfront payment for their projects. Is it safe to invest your time in such scenario where your payments are not guaranteed after delivering the final asset.

Do you guys have any good or bad experiences? Any suggestions?

almighty_gir

For new clients i generally ask for a percentage up front. I like to research a client while we're still in the early steps (ie: when they first email me for availability etc.) and see if other people have worked with them. If they're generally a good client to work for i'll ask for 25% up front, if i can't find anybody to vouch for them i'll ask for 50% up front.

I generally explain that this is only for the couple of jobs and that once we've established a good working relationship i'm happy to receive full payment after delivery.

If a client insists that they only pay in full after delivery, then i have an altered contract that stipulates that the rights for the content remain mine until payment is received.

passerby

I would not consider that safe unless you getting milestone payments.

Deathstick

If they're 18 years old with "the best game idea ever," avoid at all costs unless at least half paid up front. If they're actually an established, real/physical business with multiple people working = less likely chance they will screw you over.

Half-paid upfront seems common. So is payment across milestones for larger projects (IE videos/environments/etc.)

You can also write in a kill fee in your contract when working on a larger project. For example, say you agreed on one project fee for a video project for an agency that'll probably take a monthish for you to do. Say half-way through the agency's (who you work for) client who orginally wanted the said-video all of a sudden had a change in upper management and wanted to pursue a different path in marketing or a completely different type of project and decided to scrap the project you're working on because it didn't fit with their new vision. If the client is nice, they'll pay you for your time spent on the project. But it's always good to have something like a kill fee in a contract so there's less likely a chance of you working for a long period of time on something that ends up being canceled in the end.

Obviously if you built a sense of trust with a client over a period of time, such as having done projects before for them and they paid you on-time, then you feel a little bit more lenient in your contracts about up-front payments/less weary about being screwed over.

beefaroni

almighty_gir wrote: »

If a client insists that they only pay in full after delivery, then i have an altered contract that stipulates that the rights for the content remain mine until payment is received.

Also if you are worried about the payment at the end. Have a clause in the contract that states that upon final payment, the asset will be delivers.

For the final approval renders, send over as many images as they like with watermarks on them so they can't use them. Send over the final model with all deliverables when you receive the final payment.

Shrike

you can add in your contract that the rights are only transferred after the final payment so you have legal upper hand but can give away the asset if you have non shady clients
always make a contract

beefaroni

Shrike wrote: »

you can add in your contract that the rights are only transferred after the final payment so you have legal upper hand but can give away the asset if you have non shady clients
always make a contract

That can be a bit of a headache if you're working for a client in another country, or even another state. I feel like law costs could be too high for maybe like $1000 asset.

almighty_gir

It's more a case of:

they want something exclusive/bespoke. them not owning the rights to the asset cripples them in terms of usage, by making the asset unusable by them without consent.

beefaroni

Hmm, how tough is that to enforce if there are two different countries involved though? Like a freelancer from lets say South Africa working for a client in Europe somewhere.

slipsius

I could be way off base here, but I would think the whole "rights are mine till you pay" thing isn't necessarily to make sure they absolutely pay you at the end. I mean, yes, that's why you do it, so they dont screw you over. they wont want to lose their IP. But most of the time the legal fees arent worth it. I would think it's more for if they dont pay you, you have every right to sell it somewhere else, or to someone else. throw it on turbosquid (or something of the sort) and just let it make you at least some money, since they screwed you over. I mean, at least, that's what I would do. I would definitely get a lawyer to send a letter first, if it's a substantial amount of money owed.

I guess it really depends on how much is owed, and how much work you did. If the legal fees out weigh the money owed or not.

Ruz

I have never asked for any money up front and have only 'not' been paid twice in 8 years of freelancing. I suppose you just have to choose your clients carefully