You Take The Good, You Take The Bad And There You Have...
So, a guy commissioned me to build a costume for him, for a Star Wars-themed corporate event (Max Rebo). He'd been looking to hire someone else, because she does some really awesome work, but she told him she just didn't have time...and a friend of mine that was doing some other work for him threw my name out there...
Seeing as this was unlike anything else I've done before, I really had no idea how much to charge...so I poked around some of the local fabric stores (wanted to make sure I could find materials do even attempt it, before I said yes), figured out how much materials would be, roughly (at full retail...one place was going out of business and had everything marked down, and I had a 50% coupon for the other), and then doubled that...told him I'd need half, up front, for materials, and the other half when he got the costume...
He gave me the half, I built the costume, I dropped it off to him...since I was already working the same event (hired as a costumed character by someone he'd subcontracted for roaming characters), I just told him he could pay me after the event was over. When we got done, I was ready to leave while he was still just starting to get all of his stuff loaded out, so I told him I'd give him my address and he could just mail me a check. He said he wanted to pay me more than what we'd agreed on...I told him I wasn't expecting more, but if he wanted to, I wasn't going to argue...
And, so, when I got the final check for the project...
I basically got a 75% tip for doing the job and getting it done in a timely manner. When the initial price tag is a few hundred dollars, and you're getting 75% ON TOP of that?
If he calls again, you better believe I'm gonna say, "Sure! What do you need?"