The week I took a $50 logo job and lost $400

I thought I was being nice taking a rush logo job for $50 from a friend of a friend. Three days turned into two weeks of them asking for 15 different versions. I ended up spending like $60 on font licenses and $40 on stock images they wanted me to "mess around with." Plus I had to turn down a real $800 website update because I was buried in this logo mess. The kicker was when they finally said "this isn't the vibe" and ghosted me on payment. Has anyone else taken a tiny job that cost them way more than they made?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_cameron9d ago

Wait, did you actually buy $60 worth of font licenses for a $50 logo job? That math is already broken from the jump, my friend. You should never spend more on tools than the job pays, that's like buying a $300 hammer to hang a $20 picture frame. I get that you wanted to be nice and make it work, but next time let the client buy their own fonts or use free alternatives like Google Fonts until they pay you in full. The real lesson here isn't just about the money lost, it's about learning to say NO to jobs that don't make sense from the start.

ross.kim8d ago

Dude, same thing happened to me last year. Took a $75 business card gig and dropped $40 on a script font the client absolutely had to have. Felt like a genius until they ghosted me after the first draft. Lesson learned hard way - now I just tell them to pick from free options or pay upfront if they want something custom. You're dead right about the math, tools shouldn't cost more than the job. I'm still using that font for other projects though, so not a total loss.

the_felix8d ago

$40 for a font you can use again on other jobs doesn't sound like a catastrophe to me. Isn't this just the cost of doing business sometimes?