How to deal with non-paying reporters

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, they say.

Do this: First set yourself up a PayPal account, wait for your bank information to confirm, which may take anywhere from 3 to 5 business days. Once that is in place, then explain to your reporters that you will be accepting payment through PayPal only. They might not like this, but this way they can't stiff you on the payment. This means that they will have to set themselfs up with a PayPal account as well, if they don't already have one. Make sure they do not pay you via a credit card through PayPal as that will cost you up to I think it's 3.9 percent or so fee. Moreover, with a credit card they can reverse the payment. Also, unless you set yourself up with a business or premier account, you can only have 5 credit card transactions per year.

When they e-mail you work, once you scope it, invoice them through PayPal, which has an invoicing feature. Do not send them their job until you see they have paid you and the money's in your PayPal account. Once you see you have been paid, then and only then send them their work.

Once you start doing it this way, you will find out how truly easy it is. Just do your scoping, send your invoice, and watch the money roll in. If they don't pay you, they don't get their work, simple as that.

This is the way I do it (after I had to wait for 6 months to get paid once) and now I can't believe how absolutely smooth and problem-free the whole process is.

Nick:	DC Scopist
Date/Time:	Sunday, January 28, 2007 at 5:59:59 PM CST
Browser/OS:	Mozilla Browser V5.0-rv:1.8.0.9 (12/06/2006 build) using Windows dows NT 5.1
Subject:	How to deal with non-paying reporters
Message:
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, they say. Do this: First set yourself up a PayPal account, wait for your bank information to confirm, which may take anywhere from 3 to 5 business days. Once that is in place, then explain to your reporters that you will be accepting payment through PayPal only. They might not like this, but this way they can't stiff you on the payment. This means that they will have to set themselfs up with a PayPal account as well, if they don't already have one. Make sure they do not pay you via a credit card through PayPal as that will cost you up to I think it's 3.9 percent or so fee. Moreover, with a credit card they can reverse the payment. Also, unless you set yourself up with a business or premier account, you can only have 5 credit card transactions per year. When they e-mail you work, once you scope it, invoice them through PayPal, which has an invoicing feature. Do not send them their job until you see they have paid you and the money's in your PayPal account. Once you see you have been paid, then and only then send them their work. Once you start doing it this way, you will find out how truly easy it is. Just do your scoping, send your invoice, and watch the money roll in. If they don't pay you, they don't get their work, simple as that. This is the way I do it (after I had to wait for 6 months to get paid once) and now I can't believe how absolutely smooth and problem-free the whole process is.