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?

3 comments

3 Comments

drews551d agoMost Upvoted

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.

oliver_baker491d ago

Doesn't a handshake deal also mean they can't sue you if you ghost them?

waderamirez1d 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.