When are you collecting payment from clients? Payment schedule?

Would you share with me when you are collecting payments for photography gigs? Down payments to final payments?

Will you request full upfront payment?

I spent a lot of time looking into this, and trying to decide what was standard practice, and what I was willing to put up with. I would strongly encourage:

1) Use a contract that lays out Ts & Cs of the photos and/or images, what constitutes breach of contract, what reasons are acceptable for cancellation. For example, I provide smaller images with my watermark on them, and require the customer to only use those for FB, email, etc. Large, high-res images are only for printing.

2) Use a services agreement that specifies when and where the shoot will be, what they are getting from you, who's responsible for the payment (signatory) when the customer can expect to see proofs (if applicable), the down payment amount, and when final payment is due.

3) I charge a session fee that is non-refundable, and payable when the appointment is booked. That puts your customer into a position where they're almost guaranteed to follow through. I charge an additional hourly fee for any overage (partial or full hour).

4) Full payment is due at the time of delivery, whether images or prints. Until you have your money in hand, the customer doesn't get the product. I strongly encourage a polite but firm stance on this point. Make sure its spelled out in the service agreement.

As I'm just starting out I've not had to deal with a particularly large bill, so no payment schedule, but I would be hard pressed to even consider it. Let the customer worry about financing; you're not a bank.

Gary

www.grhookphoto.com
facebook.com/grhookphoto

It depends on the job. For weddings I require $350 down, and the remaining balance 2 weeks before the wedding date. For portraits I collect the entire session fee at the session. I've never had a problem with cancellations so I don't worry about a portrait session deposit. If the client is a small or local business I usually get paid when the job/project is complete. If the client is a larger business I usually get paid on whatever their payment cycle is (weeks to months) after the job has been completed.