

Ask HN: Accepting credit cards as freelancer? - tomjakubowski

I'm considering starting a freelancing business on the side sometime in the next year, and Stripe has me interested in the possibility of accepting credit card payments. I briefly worked as a subcontractor, and the company head took issue with a client who wanted to pay with a credit card, presumably because of the risk of a chargeback. Is it best to stick to a "checks only" policy, or is the additional risk worth the convenience to clients?
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saluki
I typically send invoices via paypal and clients pay via credit/debit or their
paypal account. You can obtain a paypal debit card and have instant access to
the funds as soon as they pay. Occasionally paypal will hold the funds for 24
hours.

Some companies insist on paying by check and that typically works out as long
as it's a company check I wouldn't worry too much. I would avoid personal
checks or if you get a funny feeling about a client.

Stripe would be another option, you could even create custom invoice pages on
your website for clients with the stripe payment form embedded on the same
page as their invoice. (You'll need an SSL certificate (HTTPS://) for your
website stripe requires it. You can sign up for Hostgator's Business plan for
$15 and they include an SSL cert free upon request.)

I also recommend getting a 25% payment up front and breaking the project into
multiple milestones where you receive payments and they review the work
incrementally to make sure everyone is on the same page and you won't get left
holding the bag waiting for a large payment at the end of the project.

Good luck with Freelancing.

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Ian_Kung
It would depend on how often you are charging a customer. If you have several
customers everyday, you might want to consider that since it might be a pain
point for your customer. But since most "freelance" work takes a little time
and you are limited by the number of personal hours in a day, I don't think it
would matter too much if you only accepted checks.

On the other hand, Square is extremely convenient and free to use (other than
a per transaction percentage charge).

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_pius
During my contracting days, I typically required certified funds (wire
transfer, Paypal, money order, cashier's check) unless the client was, say, in
the Fortune 500, in which case a business check would suffice.

The one time I broke my rule and accepted a personal check, I got burnt. I'd
advise you to only accept certified funds.

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lbcadden3
If you would not take a card then I would not take Paypal, the do chargebacks.

[https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/chargeback-
gu...](https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/chargeback-guide)

comment for the OP not you _pius

~~~
_pius
I didn't realize that, good information to know.

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stevencorona
Maybe this is bad advice, but I live on the edge and I'd take the credit card.
Maybe use something like Square, though, since it seems less jankey than
typing their credit card number in the stripe console.

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jamesjguthrie
I only accept PayPal. I send invoices to registered PayPal addresses and have
them paid that way. Seems more professional than drawing up my own invoice and
posting it to the client.

