Prior to teaching myself to program I hired off of Elance and what I remember most is how helpless I felt. I had no way to verify that the code the client wrote was any good. I worried that I'd pay the first 3 of 4 milestones and then the developer would flake out on me because the last milestone would take 10x as long as the first 3 combined. Or I'd pay all 4 milestones but have no way of noticing huge bugs that would surface later on. I had no idea what was technically challenging and what was simple. All I really wanted was assurance that the money I was spending wasn't being wasted.
A lot of people are getting upset with the client for making the "unreasonable demand" of not paying for the app until 10 days after acceptance into the app store. But that's what the client wanted and more importantly that's what they both agreed to. That's what matters most to me. If you agree to a condition you later regret agreeing to, suck it up and consider it a lesson learned. Don't hold hostage the client's deliverables. That's just wrong.
In any case, as a freelancer, if a client presented me with that particular milestone requirement, I'd see it as an opportunity and price it in. I'm in a much better position than most clients to determine the likelihood that their app gets approved. I'd research the idea, calculate the risk of it being rejected, add a premium, and adjust my quote accordingly. I'd probably present the client with 2 bids, one where I shoulder the risk and the other where he does.
I wonder if there's a business to be had there - providing a sort of insurance against apps being rejected from the apple store.
For those wondering, I paid 8k for my web app (over 10 years ago) only to later realize that the core functionality was faked.
A lot of people are getting upset with the client for making the "unreasonable demand" of not paying for the app until 10 days after acceptance into the app store. But that's what the client wanted and more importantly that's what they both agreed to. That's what matters most to me. If you agree to a condition you later regret agreeing to, suck it up and consider it a lesson learned. Don't hold hostage the client's deliverables. That's just wrong.
In any case, as a freelancer, if a client presented me with that particular milestone requirement, I'd see it as an opportunity and price it in. I'm in a much better position than most clients to determine the likelihood that their app gets approved. I'd research the idea, calculate the risk of it being rejected, add a premium, and adjust my quote accordingly. I'd probably present the client with 2 bids, one where I shoulder the risk and the other where he does.
I wonder if there's a business to be had there - providing a sort of insurance against apps being rejected from the apple store.
For those wondering, I paid 8k for my web app (over 10 years ago) only to later realize that the core functionality was faked.