Update: I spent 3 hours negotiating a $200 contract clause that probably cost me the gig

I spent an entire afternoon arguing over a liability cap on a $2k project and the client walked after I sent my 4th revision, so who really wasted whose time?

3 comments

3 Comments

sanchez.julia5d agoTop Commenter

...and then he ended up ghosting her completely after she refused to give him a discount on a bulk order she hadn't even sent yet. My friend Maria runs a small graphic design shop, and she had a client who kept pushing for a "friends and family" discount on a logo package. She said okay to 15% off because she felt bad, but then the guy started asking for free revisions and extra files. When she finally said no to a custom animation he wanted for free, he stopped returning her calls. She lost about 40 hours of work on that one. So yeah, sometimes that gut feeling about a clause or a discount is just your brain knowing the other person is already looking for the exit.

the_sage5d ago

Honestly I bet the clause was a dealbreaker because it showed you didn't trust them, and nobody wants to start a partnership feeling like the other person's already got one foot out the door.

sandragrant5d ago

Oh you mean like my friend Jenna? She had this guy want to invest in her bakery but he wanted a clause where he could back out for any reason with no penalty. She said no way, and he was totally offended. He kept saying "it's just standard business stuff" but she felt like he was already planning to bail. The deal fell through and she was honestly relieved. A few months later she found out the same guy did that to three other small businesses and pulled out on two of them. So yeah, sometimes that "trust" thing is exactly what protects you from people who are already halfway out the door.