river_thompson•3d agoProlific Poster

The $50 late fee that made me switch invoicing software on the spot

I used to swear by PayPal invoices until a client's payment bounced and they hit me with a $50 fee for a $200 gig. That one charge made me realize I'd been losing money on transaction costs for 2 years straight.

3 comments

3 Comments

caseywalker3d ago

Hitting you with $50 on a $200 job is harsh, but is it really worth ditching the whole platform over? PayPal's fees are pretty standard and you probably knew what you were signing up for when you started using them. Switching software just because of one bad fee makes it sound like a bigger deal than it probably is.

kevinw943d ago

Ngl dude, did you ever actually sit down and add up what those fees were costing you over a whole year? I was in the same boat using PayPal for invoices, and after one particularly bad month I ran the numbers. I was losing like 3 to 4 percent per transaction on small gigs, plus those stupid flat fees. What finally helped me was switching to something with a simple monthly subscription instead of per-invoice costs. I ended up using FreshBooks since it has flat rates and no surprise fees, but honestly just ditching percentage-based platforms saved me a bunch on smaller jobs. That one $50 hit might be the wake up call you needed to see the bigger picture.

shane_morgan2d ago

Honestly I was team "it's fine" til I ran my own numbers. That changed my mind quick lol.