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I know about bidding websites where companies and freelancers place their bids to get work from domestic or international clients.

Suppose my client says to complete a set of features, like A, B, C, D and then later once all this has done, the client says to complete some other sub tasks of A, B etc, but for the same price.

Do I eat the cost for this?

Suppose the client at that time also tries to threaten the developer for a project dispute. How would I handle this situation? Should I only accept complete payment, or just settle for whatever I can get?

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    A lot more information would be needed that what you've provided. For example, when quoting, was it reasonable to assume the subsets of A and B would be needed? Should you have detailed the scope better?
    – Scott
    Sep 8, 2014 at 3:45

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I've been freelancing for quite a few years and I'd say this is an expected problem. Not that I wish it to happen but I won't be surprised if it does. That's why it is very important to define the scope as clear as possible in the agreement.

But by the time this problem arises it's usually too late. So I ask myself: are subtasks A, B, and C expected from a reasonable person's view?

Without getting into how a reasonable man is constructed in court cases, think of this example: if I order a burger with soda, is it reasonable for the restaurant to charge me $1 for the paper cup, $0.5 for the wrappers of the burger? Are customers expected to bring their own cups? If the answer is yes (everybody in this town brings their own cup), then the charge is reasonable and you cannot argue with it.

A more realistic example: if a client asks for a login page, then it make sense that there should be some mechanism for users to signup. If the developer's answer is "you only asked for a login page, you have to manually write SQLs to signup users" then I'd say this is unacceptable. But if the client says "users should be verified by sending SMS to their phones", then I'd say "no, this is an extra feature and the cost is $x".

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Do you have project specifications? If yes, then your bid is valid only for the things inside the specs. All that is not in the docs is considered an extra.

If you however don't project specs, then client can ask many subtasks which are close to your oral Scope of Work. You will have hard time getting more money for such tasks. you can only get money for features which are clearly different from the initial oral agreement. So, do ask clients to send you project specs to avoid such situation.

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