Hot take: Should you send a final invoice with a late fee or just eat the loss?

I finished a $2,300 branding project for a coffee shop in Portland six weeks ago. They loved the work (you know, the usual compliments). Then silence. I had to choose between adding a 5% late fee to my final invoice or just sending the same amount with a polite note. I went with the late fee option (seemed fair at the time). They finally paid after 10 more days but left a grumpy email about the extra charge. Has anyone else tried the late fee route and regretted it or had it work out better than just being nice?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancyramirez1mo ago

Sounds like you got paid, so maybe it's not worth losing sleep over.

viola_garcia561mo ago

Isn't it weird how we're taught to be grateful for getting what we were owed in the first place?

zaranelson1mo ago

Wait, they left a grumpy email about 5% after you waited six weeks and they loved the work? That's wild to me. You gave them a whole month and a half past the deadline, that's not being a jerk, that's just asking for what you're owed. I had a client once who took three months to pay for a $900 logo set and I just smiled and sent nice reminders the whole time. Never again.