Client ghosted me after I finished their 40 page brochure

I spent 3 weeks on a full website redesign for a local coffee shop in Austin, only to have them stop replying to my emails after I sent the final mockups. They owed me $1,200 and I never got paid a cent, plus they used the designs on their menus anyway. How do you guys handle clients who ghost after delivery?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane1704d ago

Yeah I'm gonna push back on this a little. You said they owed you $1,200 but you sent final mockups before getting any payment? That's a rookie move honestly. I always take a 50% deposit upfront and have a watermark on any deliverables until the final invoice is settled. For a 40 page brochure you could have done milestone payments - like 25% at approval, 25% at draft, 50% on delivery. If they ghost after that at least you got something and they can't use your work for free.

angelamurphy4d ago

There was a freelance designer on a podcast I caught recently who said the same thing as @val974, basically that giving away high-res files without protection is like handing over the keys. It stuck with me because they mentioned losing a $3,000 project the exact same way, no deposit, no watermark. That kind of story is a hard lesson but it really drives home why having a clear payment schedule upfront saves so much headache.

val9744d ago

@shane170 it's like leaving your front door unlocked and wondering why stuff gets taken, you know?