Digital Point and upfront payments

I've recently started using Digital Point because I've usually had big local clients but the local economy is struggling a bit so the clients are drying up. I'm on here to try to get some new clients to replace the local ones who aren't spending as much money which leads me to a question: how much do you guys charge upfront? Do you charge anything?

I haven't been having any trouble attracting new clients on here but I've had a few get upset at being asked for 25-50% upfront. Some are happy enough to pay something upfront after I deliver the first article (to prove I'm genuine) but some outright refuse and walk away. I'm inclined to think that those ones were planning to rip me off but I'm wondering whether maybe I'm the only one on DP who asks for anything upfront.

How do the rest of you go with this? If you don't charge upfront do you get ripped off often?

 

Those who churn out junk will take orders from new clients without up-front payment.

The professional writers around here always require something up-front and the buyers looking for quality are happy to pay it.

 

A lot of it has to do with what kind of reputation you have. Many people come on here make dozens of accts and try to run off with money from each one, so when you have 0 feedback and 18posts you will probably not get money upfront, because to most you look like you have an average throw away acct.

 

Good point. I've been thinking the same thing since I posted this and I'd say you're right on the money. That's why I've been supplying the first article prior to payment to people who have positive reputation and then they're mostly happy to pay a small deposit upfront. Although I guess it doesn't matter since you'd expect those with positive reputations to be the least likely to run off without paying.

I've been forgetting all about reputation so I think it's time to start asking people to tick the boxes for me!

Cheers for the hint

Oh and thanks YMC. It's good to know I'm not alone in asking for deposits.

 

I personally haven't dealt with DP in particular but I have gotten many clients off of the Warrior Forum. With any new client I always ask for some type of payment up front. When I just started and didn't have much social proof I gave a hefty discount to get some reviews in but I still made them pay before I started writing anything. If they are completely unwilling to meet me half way and provide a little cooperation then they aren't someone I want to be working with anyway.

 

I've always had rules of getting payment upfront no matter what otherwise I dont deal with the other individuals unless they have high itrader rating. However when I am buying something I never pay upfront unless they have some serious reviews.

 

It's those type of double standards that make things difficult to do any real business here.

 

Not really its simple if you have the reputation then of course I can pay first but if your some no body off the street of course I'm not gonna hand you my money and hope for the best!

 

I have to say that I have probably picked up around five regular clients from digital point, and perhaps another fifteen who are not so regular. Each client as received the work first from me - I have never asked for money upfront, and I am yet to be ripped off. I always produce quality work and break my back to make sure the standard is what the client is after. It's quite refreshing really to think that no one has tried to take advantage of me!

 

Most your clients probably were reputable to some extent I am guessing as well but its good to see everything has went well for you so far. I only had one bad case where a member sold me a stolen script license which was a headache but not a big loss.

 

Any work I do is paid for in advance 95% of the time. If it's a new client who is leery of me bailing on them with their money, I'll go 50% up front - once. They have no guarantees (except my word, which I've never had to back out on yet) that I'm going to do their work if they pay me up front - I understand. But then again, I have no guarantees they are going to pay me for the work I did after it's been delivered.

They always have the option of not paying, for whatever reason. I never have the option of undoing work that has been done. That said, I'm going to err on the side of caution to protect myself. I know my word is good, even if they don't.

And yes - I've lost a lot of potential clients because of this. On the other hand, I might have also saved myself lots of time, energy and wasted keystrokes in the process of losing said potential clients.

 

At the end of the day everyone has to do whatever they can to protect themselves!

 

Whats the point of working on something so hard with our full efforts and after that the person go missing?? So it's better to work with people whom are capable of paying upfront.. If not better not to work!!

 

Hi there!
Well i think 50% advance is alright if u build a good sense of your buyer or seller.
BTW, do you write articles? And how much do you charge per 200/500 words?
Thanks!