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My client went from 'just tweak the homepage' to 'redesign the whole site' in 2 weeks
Started with asking me to move a button 3 pixels left, ended with them wanting a full e-commerce checkout flow added for free. Has anyone else had a client try to sneak a total project change into a 'quick fix' request?
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mitchell.thomas2mo ago
Man I heard this exact same story from my buddy Dave who does freelance graphic design. He had a client who asked him to "just change the font color" on a landing page and by the end of the week they wanted a whole booking system with payment processing and inventory tracking. Dave spent three hours on the phone trying to explain that font colors and building a back-end database are kinda different things. He finally just sent them a quote for 12 grand and never heard back.
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miaprice2mo ago
Haha classic. Font color to full stack real quick.
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park.aaron2mo ago
Twelve grand is actually reasonable for that kind of scope creep. I always tell new freelancers to put a cap on free consultation time like 30 minutes max, then send a formal proposal with a line item for every single feature they ask for. It either filters out the tire kickers or gets you paid fairly.
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wesley6392mo ago
I gotta push back a little on the 12 grand being reasonable thing, @mitchell.thomas. In my experience that kind of quote can just kill any chance of a real conversation about what the project actually needs now. I had a client pull almost the same thing a few years back and instead of throwing out a big number I sat them down and walked through how each new piece meant more time, more testing, and a separate contract. Turned out they just didn't get how different moving a button is from building a checkout flow. A friendly but firm talk about scope can save everyone the headache without making it about money first.
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