Do you require upfront payment?

If you are a freelancer, do you require upfront payment? Or do you ask for an advance of half?

It'll be a different answer for different folks depending on how they operate.
I, being a small digital marketing company, require an upfront fee. I require an upfront fee not because I love holding the money before starting the project but because I have a system in place to protect the business and my clients. I give my clients some reasons to hold on to so they are not worried for paying upfront.

LoftPower said:

If you are a freelancer, do you require upfront payment? Or do you ask for an advance of half?

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That is something that is worked out between the Freelancer and the Client.
Also, a lot depends on how well you know the client. If he has a good "track
record", you can feel more comfortable about being flexible as far as payment
is concerned. It also depends on whether or not you have a good "track
record". Ultimately, you have to work it out between the two parties.

I have always required full or half payment upfront, and let the buyer choose which. I point out that basically all other types of online sellers take full payment upfront (BTS sellers being an obvious example), and that it is usually the buyers who are the less established factor in the transactions (low post count or itrader). This requirement filters out the less serious or trustworthy buyers, while giving the seller some immediate revenue in exchange for his labor.

Asking for upfront payment saves a lot of resources on accounting. Chasing money is one of the most annoying courses of action one can imagine. On the other hand it is expected to extend some credit and trust to regular clients. At the end it comes down to what you feel comfortable with. If chasing money costs too much negative energy, it may just be best to let go of customers who don't want to pay first. If it doesn't bother you to wait for money while needing to make your own payments ... you have an edge, maybe.

As a freelancer I always required 50% upfront always for any fix price task. But if you are on an hourly contract then you dont required a upfront because its secure.

If it's very small project then as a freelancer am going to take entire amount once the work is done ( I know am taking risk here). If it's a medium to large project there will be 50% of upfront payment should be made. It all depends on the developer whom you hire

Go create a payment term and explain to them the rationale behind it.
As we develop a project, we would need to have the funds to fund it.

Never ever take a project without deposit, its literally killing the business with cash flow problem.

However if the client sign a contract with you, then it should be fine. Law & Legality is important, but still remember take 20% at least for the upfront unless
the client have been working with you more than once and good credit records.

It really depends upon how well you know your client and your client knows you. I can recollect I started working as a content writer and have worked for some big SEO agencies from bhw, as they were having large setup I haven't asked for upfront from them. But, for others I haven't ever worked without full upfront at least for first five seven deals. If I find them prompt with the payment, then I do work without upfront.

I guess, a couple of days back a guy searched my skype id from BHW and he reached me. He asked for the White hat SEO of the website and told me that I must not ask him for any upfront as if that website will rank for a keyword, he will sell it at $30k and then he is going to share 33% profit with me. He told for a long tail his website was ranking at 30 and he want it to be ranked it at #1 and believe me that keyword was damn easy to rank.
I told him that I am not interested in share you can pay me $275 as upfront or $100 as the cost of tools involved or tell me your bhw name.
He said- I won't pay you a dollar it's a JV. He also told me that I am not able to disclose my bhw user name. So, in case if you get any idiotic dumb like him please ask for the full upfront payment coz I am damn sure he was not having a single penny to pay me. I was asking payment just to get his paypal email and his details to ensure that he is reliable.
You can work for JR.VIPs without upfront or with 50% upfront in case of permanent work and for temporary you can ask for full upfront.

If project amount is 100$ or less then 100% advance , above 100$ 50% upfront and 50% after completion of the job. Otherwise I usually ask my client to award me the project through Elance and make Escrow payment there so that both of us are secure in terms of payment.

I don't trust anyone who is not a reputable member on BHW. I have been burnt to many times so I require the work done before I pay.

IMO, if the person is clean and have a good record, I would pay full upfront even. But usually the people who approach us are all scammers. As someone new, I been scammed 100USD as a 50% upfront payment to one person here. Once the payment was sent, he went missing. Therefore as buyers, some of us are very cautious of this upfront payment issue as we have had pretty bad experiences from the past.

for me its ok nothing as long they are good records here but if from other site oh my damn its really needed because i cant trust here we have THE SHIT LIST you can check the client background too.. but if new hey man wake up even $10 its ok as long you feel you are comfortable dealing with....

It really depends on who you're dealing with.

If I take a job that isn't a JV/profit sharing arrangement; half up front, half upon completion. Unless a long term project, then, increments at milestones.

Of course if I work with someone, there isn't any hiding behind online usernames. Real identities such as LinkedIn (shows credentials), or legitimate business entities required.

Sometimes half and sometimes upfront depending on the client and my assessment.

It depends on the individual's vibe. I have been known to do the work before hand but most often I get the payment up front. Saves hassle and gives me accountability.

New clients = only full payment