percentage on $500 project?

[django_expert]

I have a project which has an amount of total $500 in a single milestone. will I be charged 10% or 20%?

[prestonhunter]

20%

[django_expert]

okay. the 10% is  after earning $500?

[feed_my_eyes]

After you've made $500, the service charge goes down to 10%.

[django_expert]

thank you so much.

[bobafett999]

Single miestone?  Hope the buyer is a gentleman.  Be ready for unlimited revisions and not getting paid.

[django_expert]

He seems to be a gentleman. btw why are you assuming,  the client will ask for unlimited revisions? I am just asking for clarification.

[django_expert]

do you have any suggestions for me? btw I try to deliver the project when, I am 100% satisfied with my work.

[yofazza]

It's just feel safer if you can do a task, making sure it work, approved, payment released, before going to the next task.

It doesn't feel good when you're *supposedly* done the $500 tasks (you're 100% satisfied) but the client ask to change something that should be done in the first task. There's a chance that this kind of request could force you to do workarounds / cut corners / reducing quality.

If you separate payments, client should be "prevented" to request such changes. If they do, you can ask for a new milestone and a price to "cover/prevent" the workaround / corner cutting.

And that's by assuming the client is a "gentleman".

But if you already made a deal, maybe you should go with the single milestone. Not sure.

[django_expert]

is it means, have I made a mistake? how can I overcome it now?

[yofazza]

Not necessarily. It depends on the client.

My suggestion would be as the above, if you already made the deal then I think you should go with it.

Maybe you can "stress-out" to the client that you'll update him/her after some specific tasks and will need approval before going to the next. Change request after approvals will need "recalculation".

[django_expert]

ah, it seems I have got some great pieces of advice from you. anything else you would like to add?

[yofazza]

> why are you assuming,  the client will ask for unlimited revisions?

If the client isn't a "gentleman", there could be a lot of change requests which is naturally free on a fixed price project.

But asking approval everytime/before going a step further should make it easier to deny those requests (or to ask for additional payment).

[kfarnell]

If the client isn't a "gentleman", there could be a lot of change requests which is naturally free on a fixed price project.

No. If you've made a mistake, then obviously you need to correct it. But revisions aren't 'naturally free'. What revisions are reasonable depends on precisely what you agreed and your own good judgement. Sometimes it's quicker and easier to make a smallish tweak instead of getting into a battle about it even if it is a bit more work than you'd planned. Otherwise, you can simply agree an additional fee for changes. $500 isn't a huge amount for a milestone.

And not being a 'gentleman' doesn't mean they'll be unreasonable. After all, they could be a rather nice lady.

[yofazza]

Client see a free-to-click button called "request change" . That's where I got the "naturally free" from.

Bugs are of course needs to be fixed.

Revisions, I often tell client that it's like building a house. If they want to change the entrance door when the house is built, that's not a problem (and getting into battle over this, is silly). But if the request is to enlarge the door, might not be so simple if somehow it was decided - for efficiency - to use wall around the door as foundation for the floors above. Arguing over things "not understandable" by the client is sometimes hard, so developer might prefer to just do the request but by cutting corners. Ignoring efficiency. This could lead to a bad outcome for both. 

These kind of things can be put into a detailed scope, but in my exprience the longest time for creating this kind of scope is over a year. It involves preliminary work such as sets of wireframes, rough design, etc.

$500 is a fair amount for a 3 hours task for an experienced developer, but might be different for the inexperienced ones. Location is also involved. And it's not related to everthing about "change requests" above which should be applicable to all developers on "more than a simple edit" projects.

And I believe the word "gentleman" brought here to describe a client who will accept whatever the developer provide, who will not request changes without at least asking if additional cost is required. There are indeed clients like this and you should stick to them when you find them.

[kfarnell]

---

Radia L wrote:

Client see a free-to-click button called "request change" . That's where I got the "naturally free" from.

Yes, I know how it works. I've done a few projects here. It's a request, not a command. You are entitled to reject any unreasonable request or to negotiate addditional payment.

It takes a moment to agree how many revisions are on offer before beginning the contract.

The word 'gentleman' describes a man who acts with courtesy and consideration.  A client isn't necessarily male.

[yofazza]

Yes, I know how it works. I've done a few projects here. It's a request, not a command. You are entitled to reject any unreasonable request or to negotiate addditional payment.

---

Might be a language problem but am I wrong when I say requesting changes are free?

After that request, of course it's up to the freelancer. We often see people ranting here about it. I was pointing out a way to prevent that.

It takes a moment to agree how many revisions

Thread starter's niche is different with yours. What count as revision? I don't charge to replace the door (or revising text color for example).

> Gentleman

If you read carefully, I'm not even the one who brought that word here. But okay please read all gentleman as gentleman or lady.

[kfarnell]

It is not inevitable that a request for changes means working for free. Whatever field you're in, clarifying expectations before working makes life easier. And whatever field you're in, diffrentiating between minor revisions and extra tasks is essential.

If you read carefully, I'm not even the one who brought that word here. But okay please read all gentleman as gentleman or lady.

---

No. That's a false generic. Please rein your misogyny in.

[yofazza]

I'm thinking hard if it's a language problem or not. 😂

---

It is not inevitable that a request for changes means working for free.

I simply said that requesting change is free. The client is free to request changes.  No stopping them from requesting multiple revisions. Even disputes won't help, arbitraton might.

I am not talking about the freelancer doing free work (or not doing free work).

---

clarifying expectations before working makes life easier. And whatever field you're in, diffrentiating between minor revisions and extra tasks is essential

Thank you for the information. 

---

mysogynist

Now I really have no thoughts about that until you wrote about gender, and at the second time. After that, I replied about lady.

How could talking about gentleman (in the above context) be related with gender?  I think the problem is not on me.

[kfarnell]

"If you read carefully, I'm not even the one who brought that word here. But okay please read all gentleman as gentleman or lady."

is about as misogynistic as it gets.  But you're clearly trolling now as no-one could genuinely be that obtuse. So yes, it's me - I should have realised that sooner.

[tomzilla1]

$500 is a tiny project. Just protect yourself with a fixed price contract and have all the requirements written out clearly from the client and just deliver what he/she needs. Nothing more, nothing less. 20% for first $500 and then I believe it goes down to 13% and then eventually 5%. There are some unsavory clients that will keep asking for more and more and more, with no extra payment, so it's vitally important you have all the requirements in writing in the offer in simple terms if possible.

[yofazza]

$500 is nearly twice the minimum wage in my capital city. We currently also don't have a recession. So, lots of people here, even with kids, can live with that amount for more than a month. 😁

[django_expert]

yeah, I liked it. should I ask my client to have multiple milestones instead of 1 only?