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PSA: Just overheard a newbie freelancer say they 'don't do contracts for small jobs' and I froze
Was grabbing coffee at a shared workspace in Austin yesterday and heard a guy maybe 22 years old tell someone he doesn't bother with contracts for projects under $500. Said it 'feels too formal.' I wanted to jump in but didn't. His first gig at that price could go fine but one bad client and he's out weeks of work with no paper trail. I charged $200 for my very first freelance writing job back in 2019 and didn't use a contract. Client ghosted after I sent the draft. Never saw a dime. Took me months to start again because I felt stupid. Anyone here skip contracts on early cheap gigs and regret it later?
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drews553mo ago
Haha, "a handshake deal also means they can't sue you" - that's exactly what I used to think too. My first real screw up was a $300 logo job for a local coffee shop. We shook on it, I did the work, and then they said the colors were wrong and wanted a full redo for free. Since I had nothing in writing, I had zero backup when I tried to push back. They left me a bad review on my barely existing Facebook page and I was too scared to even respond because I had no proof of what was actually agreed on. That one stung way worse than the ghosting because I couldn't even defend myself.
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oliver_baker493mo ago
Doesn't a handshake deal also mean they can't sue you if you ghost them?
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waderamirez3mo ago
Wow, you're actually asking if an oral agreement makes it okay to just vanish? That's definitely one way to interpret contract law, but I'd bet my paycheck a judge wouldn't see it that way.
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