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Overheard a guy at the cafe say he never pays deposits

He was bragging about how he gets work started by saying 'I'll pay you when it's done, that's how I build trust.' My takeaway is if someone refuses a standard deposit, they're probably planning to refuse the final payment too. Anyone else run into this 'trust' line before?

4 comments

4 Comments

uma6592mo ago

That "trust" line is a huge red flag. I had a client use it on me once for a small design job, and then they ghosted after I sent the files. It just feels like a trick to get free work.

casey3422mo ago

Happened to me too, total scam.

rowan_ross1d ago

The other thing nobody's mentioning is how this "trust" line works perfectly as a future excuse too. Even if you do deliver and they pay, they've set it up so if you follow up about payment or have a disagreement, they can say "well you said you trusted me" to shut you down. I had a guy pull that on me for a website update. He was late on payment, I asked about it, and he literally said "I thought we had trust" like I was the bad guy for wanting to get paid. It's a way to make you feel guilty for basic business stuff.

taylor.jessica2mo ago

Classic move. He's basically asking for an interest-free loan of your time and skill. Next he'll probably say paying taxes is just a suggestion to build community spirit. That "trust" line is the same energy as "exposure bucks" for artists.