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That flat fee contract I signed cost me $800 in extra work
Took on a freelance contract review in Phoenix with a flat $500 fee. Turned out the client kept adding documents, and I had no clause for revisions. Has anyone else gotten burned by flat fees on complex cases?
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the_sage6d ago
Flat fee contracts will absolutely wreck you if you don't put limits on scope. I learned this the hard way after taking a "quick" bankruptcy review that turned into three weeks of back and forth with opposing counsel. What finally worked for me was switching to a hybrid model where I charge a lower flat rate for the initial review, then bill hourly for anything beyond that first batch of documents. I also put a hard cap on how many revisions or additional pages are included before the meter starts running. Saved my sanity and my bank account once I started being super specific about what the flat fee actually covers. Clients actually respect it more when you're clear about those boundaries upfront.
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ben_fisher6d ago
Gotta push back on that one. Flat fees work great if you actually know how to scope a project from the jump. I've done dozens of these and never had a blow up because I spend time upfront mapping out every possible thing that could go wrong before I even give a quote. That "quick" bankruptcy review sounds like a case where someone just guessed at the price instead of doing the math. If you structure your fee around the worst case scenario instead of the best case, you either come out ahead or break even. Clients get nervous with hourly billing because they feel like every email costs them money. A flat fee makes them feel safe which means they stop fighting you on small stuff. Maybe the real issue is just knowing what you're getting into before you name a number.
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the_john5d agoTop Commenter
Worst case" pricing just means you'll keep losing bids.
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