Hot take: Saying 'I'll pay you when the site goes live' is a scam tactic, not a standard.

Had a client in Austin last year promise me $3k for a full WordPress build. Said they'd pay upon launch. I pushed for 50% upfront. They ghosted. Later heard they did the same to three other freelancers. Who's actually had this work out? Is there ever a good reason to accept this?

3 comments

3 Comments

kimr9111d ago

My cousin runs a small design studio in Denver and took a job building a site for a local coffee roaster. They agreed to 50% upfront, 50% at launch, which seemed fair. The owner kept delaying the launch for 6 months because they kept changing the menu and adding new product pages. My cousin finally put the site up with a basic version, sent an invoice, and the guy said "I'll pay when the grand opening happens." That grand opening never came. Now the site is still sitting there with old menu items and nobody's paid a cent. I just don't see how "payment at launch" works in a world where clients can move that finish line forever.

sagejackson11d ago

Three freelancers I know in Portland all got burned by the same client who promised "payment at launch." Two of them actually finished the whole site and never saw a dime. One guy even hosted the project on his own server as a "goodwill gesture" and the client just took the files and ran. I genuinely feel for you because this happens way too often. The problem is that "launch" is a moving target that gives the client total control over when you get paid, if ever. Even with a contract it's really hard to enforce payment after the site is live and they already have everything they need. There's just no good reason to accept this deal unless you're working with someone you've known for years and trust completely.

sullivan.quinn11d ago

Did you ever figure out if that Austin client had a real business or just set up a fake LLC to look legit? I wonder how many people skip background checks on these promises because they're desperate for work. Seems like a quick court records search or even just calling their listed references could save a lot of headaches.