Release images prior to full payment?

[Hiwayman]

Guys
Help me please...I am closing in on my first commercial work (woohoo) and seek advice about payment/ image release.
Working for a company, not a private individual, do you release images prior to full payment being received,...or do you watermark your images so the client can view them before he pays?
I feel that the way to go should be on trust....many companies will have a 30 day payment structure in place.
Views/comments appreciated.

 

[shooter]

Guys
Help me please...I am closing in on my first commercial work (woohoo) and seek advice about payment/ image release.
Working for a company, not a private individual, do you release images prior to full payment being received,...or do you watermark your images so the client can view them before he pays?
I feel that the way to go should be on trust....many companies will have a 30 day payment structure in place.
Views/comments appreciated.

In your service agreement, you should specify payment terms ahead of the job and make sure that was clear.

I require payment prior to release. If they balk and say they don't pay until 30 days after invoice submission, then I tell them that's fine, but they don't get their product for 30 days either. Your service agreement could contain a "re-do" clause in case they are not satisfied with the product. Perhaps you would do a one-time abbreviated re-shoot, or something similar. If you state that your work is "guaranteed" no matter what, you could wind up spending a LOT of time getting it "just right" for them and your final profit amounts to like $2 an hour...it can get ridiculous.

I watermark everything until final payment is received and they are happy with the product.

 

[R.Perry]

Depends on the company, check their credit, if it is good, then you should be ok wait on payment. Many big companies will not pay without receiving the service first.

 

[Judge Advocate]

Guys
Help me please...I am closing in on my first commercial work (woohoo) and seek advice about payment/ image release.
Working for a company, not a private individual, do you release images prior to full payment being received,...or do you watermark your images so the client can view them before he pays?
I feel that the way to go should be on trust....many companies will have a 30 day payment structure in place.
Views/comments appreciated.

I got burned twice last year and had to go to court both times. One just got resolved in my favour this week, the other is still pending. If it's an old and respected client, then yes, 30 days is the way to go. If it's a new client, make sure you get paid up front with either cash or certified cheque, otherwise you could get burned.

 

[Stephen Mann]

My policies that have never let me down are- new clients are COD, no exceptions. Existing clients get net-30 days, but most pay within a week or two of the invoice.

My slowest paying client was a large corporation with offices all over the country. They only paid after I sent a DMCA take-down letter to their ISP.

 

[Hiwayman]

Thank you for the feedback gents...
I am seeing the client the week with the shoot required early April. Guess I will have to make a judgement when I meet them....but forearmed with your comments.

 

[aerialimagery]

I've never had a problem with sending the images first. I've never been burned.

 

[BigAl07]

Most of my clients we do "Net 30". I have some contractual work (Large Construction Co.) that fall into net 60 but we know this on the front side when doing our contracts etc.

I've had one, exactly one, Slow Pay client out of several hundred invoices. Come to find out it was due to a medical condition (she had a stroke) and once everything was resolved she had a check cut and it came in last week.

I think "having the $$ talk" up front is key and make sure EVERYONE knows your terms up front.

Side Note:
If we are asked to book 1/2, full or more day bookings we require 50% deposit up front in order to allocate those larger time slots for one specific client.

 

[Anokadrone]

Would anyone happen to have (or know of) a sample generic service agreement to use as a template? Its hard to know where to start.

 

[RNCotton]

My day job is with a large City government. We do not have credit cards to use, so everything we purchase must be invoiced, and we receive goods / services prior to invoice being paid. That's just policy. So if you wanted to do business with the City of Memphis, you would be expected to provide services and images along with your invoice.

In my photo business, I do a lot of work with corporations large and small. When they ask about invoicing, my first question is always, "Will you be paying with a credit card?" If so, that usually means they physically have a corporate card, and I can use Square to either swipe a card at time of services rendered, or send them an electronic invoice which they can pay online with their card. Every company paying with a card has always paid online in advance, or had me swipe their card on-site when doing the job.

If they are paying by check, there is a process that they must go through to obtain the check, and that takes time. I invoice them and wait for a check, but I go ahead and provide the images, no watermark. I complete the job and deliver full product. Most of the time, I'm paid within 2 weeks. I did have one company that I had to stay on for about 3 months for a $2K invoice because it had to go through so many different channels, and finally make it to the company who actually cuts the check, which was in California.

That particular company is now on a "Payment due at time of services rendered" status. Otherwise, I've got no problem working with your corporate payment policy. We are Business to Business.

 

[Tennessee Drone Services]

We deliver our projects prior to pay. Some take longer than others to pay, some have even paid late fees, but all have paid and have been appreciative of our quick turnaround and no fuss delivery.