 Nancy C. Cassell |
Cash, credit or check to collect payment Hello to all of the professional photographers. How are you set up to collect payment from clients? I'm considering pay-pal or Costco's credit card plan, cash, and check. I want clients to pay at the time of reservation for their session - so, that would mean credit card or check. If they pay for prints, it could be any option. If you accept checks, what do you do if one bounces? Do you charge additional fees? What do you do to collect? I'm trying to think through all of the pros and cons of each method. I know there won't be one perfect way to handle the payment process. I just hope to avoid any major problems. Please share your experience. Thanks for your help.
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Mark Feldstein |
Hey Nancy. Most of my clients are corporations that pay everything by check including any advance expenses or fees. My government clients use their agency credit cards and for that I've got the Costco Executive membership set-up. It's quite affordable including the terminal rental and percentage of sales fees and once it's set up, a breeze to use. AND it makes you feel like a real business at home with all those "American Express Card Welcome Here" signs hanging on my front porch. LOL !!! I also don't usually don't require clients to pay anything up front unless they're brand new to me and seemingly very small, and then only ask for expenses like to cover film, processing, hotels, travel and related costs. I think you do need to be somewhat flexible in handling this stuff, depending on who your client base is. For example, I'm not going to ask an airline client to front me travel expenses. They just know to send me vouchers in advance of travel. Take it light ;>)
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Alan N. Marcus |
Hi Nancy, Most people are good not evil. Most photographers can count on one hand the instances whereby they were given a bad check. My advice is to take cash or check. Take their check without reservation. Your city and state laws protect you. Now consider your costs if you did get taken. Not much I’ll bet. Don’t make this a big deal. Alan Marcus
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Nancy C. Cassell |
Thank you both. I have been an apprentice to another photographer for two years and have watched her handle a number of issues with payments. I did portaits in January and required payment to book each session. All checks cleared and it seemed like a good and easy way to accept payment. Then, the clients placed orders for prints and CDs. Great! I accepted payment for those when I delivered them. Unfortunately, two of five checks bounced. Alan, like you, I think people are good not evil. So, I have contacted them and requested payment... not here yet, but I'm keeping the faith. While this is not a lot of money, I know I need to do something better. I'm interested in hearing from everyone what has worked well.
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CeLena |
If you choose to accept payment through paypal, be careful I like many other people have had my identity stolen from all of my personal info being on it. Actually, I'm not going to be doing paypal anymore because of the identity theft, it's a real nightmare. I only accept cash or check. I always require payment when the order is placed, that way I know I won't get screwed. I've only had one instance in 5 yrs of getting a bad check. I just sent the customer a letter stating that it bounced, and I couldn't believe she actually sent me another check, a good one. That's one thing I also had to learn, make sure the check clears before giving them their prints!
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Nancy C. Cassell |
Thanks, CeLena. I had no idea of the ID theft problems with PayPal. Good to know.
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