Do you pay a Web Designer up front for a Web Site?

November 2, 2009 - 11:35 am

Do you pay a Web Designer up front for a Web Site or after?

The designer should, if they want to be fair, ask for half or a third, or whatever percentage that makes sense for the project. What makes sense to me is that if a designer sets up milestones during the project timeline (say 3 of them), logically they should bill three times, once for each milestone completion. Or there may not be milestones set up, just a midway point instead. It depends on the person. But no, it’s not good business for them to ask for all up front.

Just to further this, the reason why a designer/developer should ask for some payment at first is so that they don’t get burned by a flaky client. I’ve been burned before where I do a lot of upfront work (without getting paid), then the client backs out.

6 Responses to “Do you pay a Web Designer up front for a Web Site?”

  1. dominp Says:

    usually you will pay a deposit….which can be anywhere from 20% to 50%……the rest is due when completed.

    this is just what most web developers do, not all. some require full payment up front.
    References :

  2. Michele C Says:

    some take a retainer. when done, they get the rest
    References :
    been there, done that

  3. shadow3dcaster Says:

    It should be the case that you both agree on an estimate and allow leeway in case it takes more resources, time and money.

    At least in this case s/he knows what he’s working for. Always keep your web developer informed on what you want and require. There’s no point in him/her creating a whole design and then you turning round to them and saying you don’t like it.
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  4. dt192 Says:

    why would you pay a web designer when there are 100s of web designers trying to break into the game that would do it for free
    References :

  5. Opal Says:

    The designer should, if they want to be fair, ask for half or a third, or whatever percentage that makes sense for the project. What makes sense to me is that if a designer sets up milestones during the project timeline (say 3 of them), logically they should bill three times, once for each milestone completion. Or there may not be milestones set up, just a midway point instead. It depends on the person. But no, it’s not good business for them to ask for all up front.

    Just to further this, the reason why a designer/developer should ask for some payment at first is so that they don’t get burned by a flaky client. I’ve been burned before where I do a lot of upfront work (without getting paid), then the client backs out.
    References :

  6. samwilson3d Says:

    my website was designed by samwilson3d.com

    They asked for half upfront but I just sent a check for the whole amount. They also did my parents website and I knew they would do an excellent job.

    go to http://www.samwilson3d.com
    there is a list of recommended hosts there for under $6 per month; domain name is included and they all offer a file manager for easy upload cPanel and statistics software already integrated. These are probably some of the best offers on the web

    also, they only charged me $375 to design my website:
    http://www.simplycharmin.com and that seems very reasonable compaired to other quotes I received
    References :

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