Rant: Took a $200 deposit from a client in Phoenix who kept changing the scope every week

I landed a web design gig for a small restaurant and they paid me $200 upfront to start. Every week they added something new, like a booking system and a menu PDF that had to update daily. After 3 months and 12 revisions, they ghosted me and I was out another 400 bucks in lost time. Now I write a contract that locks the scope after one revision request. How do you guys handle clients who keep asking for more without paying extra?

3 comments

3 Comments

robin8964d agoMost Upvoted

Funny enough, I've actually had better luck with the opposite approach where I charge a flat fee but with a hard cap on hours, not revisions. The restaurant owner might have felt nickel-and-dimed if you started bumping rates each time, but a clear "you get 10 hours of work for $200 and anything extra is $50 an hour" puts the ball in their court. Then when they start adding stuff, you can say "sure, but that's going to take about 3 more hours" and they either pay up or scale back on their own. It's not about scaring them off with fees, it's about making them realize every new feature costs something real.

victorhernandez4d ago

Man, $200 for a web design gig is basically pocket change in this market. You kinda got what you paid for by not locking them down with a real retainer structure upfront. I always tell clients that scope creep is actually a good sign (it means they're engaged) and I just raise my rates per revision after the second one, not lock it down completely. You could've turned those 12 revisions into a $2k project if you had just kept billing hourly after the first change.

waderamirez4d ago

Used to think flat fees were the way to go for simplicity, but you and robin896 make a solid case. The hourly cap with clear overage rates sounds like a much better way to keep things fair without leaving money on the table.