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Quote vs. flat fee - which one bit you harder when a project went sideways?
Last fall I took a $2,000 flat fee for a contract review gig in Austin. Thought I had the scope nailed down. Then the client dumped 40 extra pages of subcontractor addendums on me two days before the deadline. I ate 12 extra hours of work. My buddy swears by hourly quotes only for this exact reason, says you always get burned on flat fees. But another freelancer I know says clients hate hourly because they feel nickel and dimed. Has anybody else had a fixed price job blow up in their face like that?
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lisab328d ago
Wait, 40 extra pages two days before the deadline? That's insane, I'd have told them to kick rocks or pay up.
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danielowens7d ago
Right, just a casual 40 page overnight sprint with no extra pay
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patricia_hill607d ago
Right, paying up is the only move that makes sense. If they want 40 extra pages at the last minute, that's a whole new job, not a revision. A fresh contract with a rush fee attached would be the only way I'd even look at it.
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