My buddy warned me about clients who ask for 'just a quick mockup' before signing

He said if they won't pay for a simple scope document, they definitely won't pay the final invoice. Sure enough, I spent 8 hours on a mockup for a guy in Phoenix, he loved it, then ghosted me when I asked for a deposit. Has anyone else lost time on the promise of 'future work'?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_hayden4d ago

Did you check if that Phoenix guy had a real business or just a fancy website?

brooke4484d ago

Your buddy's right about that 'quick mockup' thing - every time I've done one on a promise, I've ended up with nothing. Set a hard rule: no mockups without a signed scope and at least 50% upfront.

sanchez.julia4d ago

Oh man @brooke448, I've been burned so bad by the "just a quick mockup" trap that my bank account still flinches when I hear those words. Last year someone promised me a huge referral if I whipped up a simple wireframe, and three revisions later they ghosted me completely. Now my rule is even stricter than yours - I make them sign a paper contract before I even open my design software, and I've got a tattoo on my arm that says "No Mockups Without Money" as a constant reminder. It's really dumb but it works, and my wife laughs at me every time I roll up my sleeves at family dinners. Learned the hard way that promises don't pay my internet bill.