A zipped archive is only helpful if it is encrypted with a password, and the password is not sent via email. As well, the customer would need to ensure they're following the instructions exactly to ...

Part of what makes it an advance is that you're delivering a product/service. Part of making a deposit is that you may have to give it back. Whether it's 50%, 10%, or 100%, it doesn't matter - the fee ...

Stop communicating with your client, because they will either ghost you (net positive), or make up excuses and keep abusing your trust (net negative). If you think they knew ahead of time they wouldn'...

No money, no final design. Full stop. You can meet with them to discuss what they're looking for, or refer them to your portfolio. You NEVER release a final product until you get paid or money is in ...

(DISCLAIMER: I do not use sites for finding Freelance jobs) If you can contact them before accepting, I would start a discussion about what is required, and what's in the budget. If the Freelancer ...

How do you define the website is done in the contract as-is? Does it need to have feature X, Y and Z to be considered done? Or does it need the client to say "OK, you're done"? What you're ...

First off, our condolances for your loss. In normal situations, as a Freelancer, I give the client clear details up front - It will cost between $XXX and $YYY. If it is projecting to go over $YYY, ...

Welcome to Freelancing.SE! Unfortunately, if you need someone to handle these tasks, you'll need to hire someone or an organization to handle it for you. If you are hiring someone for all these ...

Assuming it's only a small slump, I would look for more clients. You need food on your table, and that's your first priority. It's good you want to work with your client, as opposed to only for ...

The moment a client says you will hear from their lawyers, tell them you will wait for their call. Shut up, and don't talk to that client anymore - they are over you. If it is worth fighting for, get ...

Sadly, you have nothing - no information of the true scammer, no money, and no phone. Unfortunately, all the information above can be created on a whim, or passed through multiple gullible victims to ...

You can use libraries such as this Github project that lists email domains for higher-education institutes. You can also look up some older SWOT repos (there are about 10 or so that are highly used).

I would bill for the time you spent managing them - that is still time where you had to use your expertise, and could not bill other clients. I would then do what I can to pursue legal action. What's ...

With invoices, the important part is that they are unique across your company - in this case, you. Invoice 0001 belongs to Client A; Invoice 0002 belongs to Client B; Invoice 0003 to Client A (repeat ...

Since you specify: No contract was signed Everything was verbal You received an advance You haven't completed work I would suggest giving the money back, and attempt to save your college friendship. ...

Welcome to Freelancing! My suggestion is, especially when there is no known end date involved or end product, is to bill hourly. There are many questions on the site about how to determine what to ...

It may be time to "pivot" and offer a catlog of the extra PCBs. There is a market for recycled electrical components. Give your client first crack at it (since they were ordered for him originally), ...

Is it safe to assume that the other members all bring different experience to the table? Could they help you provide more services and value to the client, even if you don't get all the money? This ...

Welcome to the wonderful world of Freelancing! First, you need to get a portfolio of your successful projects and problem-solving skills available. This is why most tutorials start with Wordpress - ...

Is this a complex problem that you would normally charge $50 or less for? Are there going to be potential gotchas half-way through? Do you have a formal agreement in place? How do you verify this ...

As the freelancer, you are expected to be the expert. Let's make sure you convey that. If you know you need X, Y and Z to make it work, then make those prerequisites before you do ANY work. In this ...

This is going to depend on your contract. Is there an exit clause for you? If not, inform the client right away so they can make their decision. You understand, thankfully, that you can't accept the ...

My advice is as follows: Ensure you have backups of your server as well Ensure the customer does NOT have access to PUSH the backups to your server Invoice monthly for total storage used Ensure there ...

This should be part of your initial contract, an exit clause. What happens if you get hit by a bus? The client would not have access to transfer the site to their own systems or host, right? Any ...

If you are already in the middle of the project, you need to decide if it's worthwhile bringing up a "formal" agreement then, or at the end. The agreement does not need to necessarily contain all the ...

The approach is simple: until you get paid, work stops. Period. Let them know you'll start doing work once their payment clears, as they have used their one free late payment (or something similar). ...

Based solely on your account of what happened, you are in the right. Drop him quickly, and move on. A simple email of "I am unable to continue working under the current arrangements" should suffice (...

Absolutely not! If you have agreed on terms, and delivered, then you should expect him to deliver on his part of the arrangement. Having said that... Did you give him status updates with the ...

It's a scam, walk away. Even if it isn't, he's avoiding talking to you like you're a human (sort of like how a Spam Bot would talk?). If you can't get the client to answer basic questions, then I ...

It's going to come down to your cost-benefit analysis. If you're only doing a few clients, it likely won't be worth your time to get general liability insurance (or similar), which should cover you in ...