How do you handle this?

[player]

You must be talking about 3M vinyl? where every roll off the same pallet is a different shade of white.

I use Orafol. No major shifts.

 

[Techman]

The one time in a long while I did not get a deposit. Working on the referal of a good client i took a job without a deposit.
I now have the 4x8 panel beautiful panel hanging as a scalp in the materials rack.

I found that no deposit leaves one in the mercy of the buyer. if for some reason.. any reason at all he doesn't like the work he walks away without paying. We have to take equal risk in our dealings. 100% risk on our part is never fair. I feel if they refuse a deposit it means they do not have faith or trust and should not be using my services for any reason..

 

[Colin]

Unless I have a purchase order in hand, or a customer with a well established account that I am not worried about paying me, it's 50% down, 50% due at completion.

I just received a Purchase Order from a customer I've never dealt with before for a reasonably large decal job. Are Purchase Orders solid enough to proceed with the work, or could I get hung out to dry with that too?

Would it be offensive to also ask for a Credit Card number?

 

[CanuckSigns]

I just received a Purchase Order from a customer I've never dealt with before for a reasonably large decal job. Are Purchase Orders solid enough to proceed with the work, or could I get hung out to dry with that too?

Would it be offensive to also ask for a Credit Card number?

We just got burned on a po from a new client, turns out they have no money and can't pay the bill.

 

[neil_se]

Yeah a PO is for their own tracking purposes, it really means nothing to you as it's not a guarantee of payment.


You've done the right thing in not proceeding, if they've got such a problem with paying a deposit then the red flags would already be flying in my mind.

Our policy is:
100% for orders under $500
50/50% for orders over $500
Payment on completion for smaller long-term customers with good payment history
30 days accounts for established larger customers

 

[player]

A PO is just them saying they are buying it from you. No cash there.

 

[Colin]

Thanks. They're not exactly local, so I've also requested a CC number as a security deposit. If they refuse, then perhaps that's a sign (no pun intended), and I've weeded out a bad customer.