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The $300 rush fee that turned into a 3 week wait
Had a client last month who needed a full website done in 5 days. They agreed to pay a $300 rush fee on top of my normal price. I cleared my schedule, worked late for three nights, and sent them a draft right on time. Then they ghosted me for 3 weeks and came back asking if I could change the whole color scheme and add 4 more pages. The rush fee covered nothing in the end because they weren't actually in a hurry. Has anyone else had a client pay extra for speed and then take forever to respond?
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lee.cora2mo ago
Did you get any deposit down before starting the work? I always ask for at least half upfront on any job, but especially when someone wants a rush fee. That way if they go quiet you at least have something for your time and you can send them a message saying the project is paused until they reply. It also gives you some leverage if they come back wanting major changes after disappearing for weeks.
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lisab322mo ago
And that deposit also helps you figure out who's actually serious right from the start. Someone who balks at putting 50% down on a rush job probably wasn't going to pay you at all. It filters out the time-wasters before you've even touched the project, which saves you from that stressful back-and-forth for weeks. Have you ever had someone try to negotiate the deposit down to like 10% or something?
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