My lawyer friend said no contract is better than a bad contract - proved him wrong last month

My buddy Mark is a corporate lawyer downtown. He told me to always use a written agreement even for small $200 jobs. I thought he was being dramatic. Last month I took a $300 editing gig for a local author. No contract, just a few texts. She kept adding chapters and asking for rewrites. Took me 4 weeks instead of 1. She finally paid but only $150. Mark was right. But here's the thing - some people say a simple email exchange is enough for tiny jobs. What's your take? Do you write contracts for every job under $500 or just trust the handshake?

3 comments

3 Comments

max_schmidt777d ago

Wait have you tried just sending a really detailed text message that spells out the scope? I did that once for a $250 logo design job and it actually worked okay. The client tried to add extra revisions but I just screenshot our original texts and said hey we agreed on two rounds max. They backed down. But the problem is texts get deleted or people lose them. I had another gig where we agreed on payment terms over text and then the guy claimed he never said that. So now I do a quick email summary after any text agreement. Just a few lines like "per our texts earlier, job is X for Y price, includes Z, due by Friday." That way I have a paper trail but dont need a formal contract. Its not perfect but for small jobs under $500 it has saved me a few times. Still, your story makes me think even that might not be enough with some clients.

noraroberts6d ago

Oh man, thats exactly it. Ive noticed the same pattern with verbal or text agreements in general, not even just for client work. Like when my neighbor said hed help me move that bookshelf weeks ago, I nodded along and now he claims he said something totally different. Its not even about being dishonest sometimes people just remember things differently. That little email summary trick works because it forces both sides to actually look at what was said before it fades into memory or gets buried under new texts.

parker_hall57d ago

Take it from someone who learned the hard way like you did - @max_schmidt77 has the right idea with that email summary trick. I do the same thing now after getting burned twice on small jobs. A quick "hey just to confirm what we talked about" email works way better than any text. Way harder for them to delete it or claim they forgot. Plus it takes like 30 seconds to write up. For anything over $200 though I still write up a real contract. That's where I draw my line now.