saying is available and to send payment and images. You send full payment upfront and images and then get back a reply to you saying they don't have time right now that they received payment and that they will start on it sometime next week. Umm why would they answer a call saying they are available ask for payment upfront and then say they are not available afterwards. Should I ask for my money back and use someone else who answered. Is this normal procedure? I usually do my own retouching but have no time right now.
A-M-P wrote: saying is available and to send payment and images. You send full payment upfront and images and then get back a reply to you saying they don't have time right now that they received payment and that they will start on it sometime next week. Umm why would they answer a call saying they are available ask for payment upfront and then say they are not available afterwards. Should I ask for my money back and use someone else who answered. Is this normal procedure? I usually do my own retouching but have no time right now.
Not a normal procedure at all...
Did you gave him/her any information on when the job was meant to start?? You can ask for your money back of course, at the end of the day you are the client!!
No I did not set a date for the time to start just set a date on my casting call as the date I posted it. I'm in no rush but felt a little odd as in what if I did needed them asap. I don't think is a good way to start a relationship with a new client, specially since I wasn't the one who messaged him and he was the one who answered my casting call. Not a big deal but just wondering if this is perfectly fine and I shouldn't worry
As a retoucher myself, I do the work first, then charge. I do not send the finished products until I get payment. I suggest you find someone that doesn't charge up front.
Depending upon the value of the work it would be normal for a retoucher to charge a 1/3 or 1/2 retainer fee. This would be with the understanding of a start date and an end date.
hopefully is not the same lady I had a bad experience with. she asked me for payment first, them 4 days later she came back saying she couldn't open Raw files> she asked me to convert it to tiff of PNG. I send her the link to download the PS raw converted from adobe, and she refused to do it, anyways after all the drama the picture came back not as close to what I see in her portfolio, now I learned no to pay first unless I see the final result, if you wish t know who the digital artist is I can let you know in private.
be aware lot of people doing Ps work doesn't even have a legit PS software
As a retoucher what i've learned that for me what works best is finishing the image and putting a watermark across the whole image and showing the client. This way they can decide if they like the work. If they do they can pay, if not we can get it fixed!
iRetouch wrote: As a retoucher what i've learned that for me what works best is finishing the image and putting a watermark across the whole image and showing the client. This way they can decide if they like the work. If they do they can pay, if not we can get it fixed!
So sorry that happened to you!
Sorry but for me watermarks... unprofessional!! You either have to trust or not your clients... never/ever charged in advanced to my clients and never had a problem & obviously no watermarks!! :-)
365 Digitals Exposed wrote: hopefully is not the same lady I had a bad experience with. she asked me for payment first, them 4 days later she came back saying she couldn't open Raw files> she asked me to convert it to tiff of PNG. I send her the link to download the PS raw converted from adobe, and she refused to do it, anyways after all the drama the picture came back not as close to what I see in her portfolio, now I learned no to pay first unless I see the final result, if you wish t know who the digital artist is I can let you know in private.
be aware lot of people doing Ps work doesn't even have a legit PS software
good luck in the future.
Wow, as a retouch artist she should know how to convert files.
Joe Diamond
Posts: 218
Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
When i first started here, i made many works and send the high resolution file and guess what i havent heard of them. I have old clients for who i make dozens of works and they pay me when they can but this connection was built over years. None trust none. This is internet.
Best is to take an advance payment and in the end the rest of the payment, if you are new in business or in Photoshop best learn from others then judge their system
That strikes me as kind of odd and a bit unprofessional but it is acceptable only if you decide it is. It just depends on what the terms of agreement you two established (if any). Typically when I'm retouching for someone else, they give me a deadline to turn in all images. So long as I get all the images in when required, I'm free to start when I like. That being said, I make it a priority to get the images done as soon as reasonably achievable; especially when they're paying me. But that's just good business practice. And for that reason, I probably wouldn't want to work with your retoucher and would ask for my money back.
I first read this and got ready for my reply, then read others comments and now I'm a little shaken by some of them...
If you provide your clients with a watermarked photo, I would think they would be insulted. I would never in a million years place a watermark on a clients photo unless I didn't want them contacting me again, even as an example.
I mean, a perfect alternative for people really worried about sketchy clients who might not pay up would be to send low resolution examples for approval, asking if any changes were needed or if the client was satisfied, and upon agreement of the end product, request payment and then send along the larger files upon receiving it. At the very least it will give the client the idea that it isn't a trust issue but more of an asking if the end result is satisfactory in a fast efficient way...
But I have to ask, why the lack of trust in your clients? Does anybody who watermarks or gets payment up front research their client upon contact? If they seem sketchy, why work with them?
I've never asked for payment in advance and I've only been stiffed once. I mean, you take that loss but I think you gain much more by building a good trusting relationship with your clients.
They are far more likely to come back to you if you're easy, professional, down to business and aren't treating them like potential crooks from the get go.
But that's just my two cents on the matter. I never sneeze at long term, solid business relationships with clients and will even do some free things here and there if the job is very small and quick. Good relationship with a client means they come back to you every time and that's not only a connection to other clients by word of mouth but more money in your pocket.
Everybody wants their clients gushing about their amazing work, but it's also such a satisfying and worthwhile perk for them to compliment you as a person and consider you a part of their team.
BorderlineBunny wrote: I first read this and got ready for my reply, then read others comments and now I'm a little shaken by some of them...
If you provide your clients with a watermarked photo, I would think they would be insulted. I would never in a million years place a watermark on a clients photo unless I didn't want them contacting me again, even as an example.
I mean, a perfect alternative for people really worried about sketchy clients who might not pay up would be to send low resolution examples for approval, asking if any changes were needed or if the client was satisfied, and upon agreement of the end product, request payment and then send along the larger files upon receiving it. At the very least it will give the client the idea that it isn't a trust issue but more of an asking if the end result is satisfactory in a fast efficient way...
But I have to ask, why the lack of trust in your clients? Does anybody who watermarks or gets payment up front research their client upon contact? If they seem sketchy, why work with them?
I've never asked for payment in advance and I've only been stiffed once. I mean, you take that loss but I think you gain much more by building a good trusting relationship with your clients.
They are far more likely to come back to you if you're easy, professional, down to business and aren't treating them like potential crooks from the get go.
But that's just my two cents on the matter. I never sneeze at long term, solid business relationships with clients and will even do some free things here and there if the job is very small and quick. Good relationship with a client means they come back to you every time and that's not only a connection to other clients by word of mouth but more money in your pocket.
Everybody wants their clients gushing about their amazing work, but it's also such a satisfying and worthwhile perk for them to compliment you as a person and consider you a part of their team.
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