Client not paying remaining 50%

Hey guys,

Wondering your advice on this.

I have a client who has paid 50% of the amount I quoted him for his website design and coding. I have completed the project, and I have zipped the files ready to be sent to him.

However, he told me to invoice him for it and send him a request via PayPal. That was the beginning of last week. He has ignored my e-mails, and Private Messages on WebHostingTalk.com (He has been online; his profile says so).

What should I do?

Should I try and sell the design for the remaining 50%? And keep his 50%? (Maybe e-mail him saying if I don't get a payment in the next 5 days I'll be putting the design up for auction, and you won't get your deposit back so far).

I have spent a lot of time on this project for him and to be treated like this is disgusting; late nights, the amount of revisions was unbelievable.

What would you do?

Any advice or opinions would be appreciated.

Sell it.

You should always include a non-payment clause. If full payment is not received by due date, that you rightfully are able to retain any deposit made and fully own the concept you created to resell elsewhere.

That being said tell him you're ending the project, keeping the down payment for services rendered but retaining all rights to the project as full payment was not received. Then sell it off

Originally Posted by Jordan You should always include a non-payment clause. If full payment is not received by due date, that you rightfully are able to retain any deposit made and fully own the concept you created to resell elsewhere. That being said tell him you're ending the project, keeping the down payment for services rendered but retaining all rights to the project as full payment was not received. Then sell it off

Extremely smart option. That's always a must in every freelance project I handle. With big companies and rooms full of marketing agents, there is less of the risk factor there, so I tend to avoid freelancing whenever possible.

Was there a contract involved? If so, these kinds of things should always be included in the contract, and if not, well I guess it's easy to see when contracts can come in handy. :P

I think giving a notice of some sort is a very smart way to handle it, just give the client enough time to see your message and handle it, in case they are just running short on money. In the future, be sure to run out any opportunity of a client doing this to you by specifying payment due dates for one, and even fees/penalties for late payments.

Has he since used the design?

Blambu, tho a week may seem like a long time to wait, many businesses only pay out on certain days of the month. I think it's a good sign that the client asked you to invoice him, and I'd start by contacting the client directly to ask what's going on. Do this before you take any action that might a) result in your not getting paid the full amount b) be seen as vengeful.

You're in a good position -- even if you didn't have a contract, or had one that didn't cover non-payment -- because you still have the work.

Originally Posted by Lowengard Blambu, tho a week may seem like a long time to wait, many businesses only pay out on certain days of the month. I think it's a good sign that the client asked you to invoice him, and I'd start by contacting the client directly to ask what's going on. Do this before you take any action that might a) result in your not getting paid the full amount b) be seen as vengeful. You're in a good position -- even if you didn't have a contract, or had one that didn't cover non-payment -- because you still have the work.

No he ran off, sent me a bunch of lame emails about how he's having a difficult life or something and he's winding up his company. I then hear from a friend of mine he's hired someone else. Even though he had me do all the work. Luckily I've managed to sell the design he was hiring me to do for double the price he was paying me, plus I had his 50%. So it turned alright in the end, but still the time and effort that has gone onto selling the design has been a pain in the backside.