Friends, As this email points out, there really are two sides to this question of paying in advance.  The person who does the research wants to make sure that he/she does not get stuck having done the research but then not getting paid.  However an equally legitimate concern is that of the person who commissioned  the research and who does not want to pay for work that he/she never receives, or is of such poor quality (i.e., providing back no more information than the person who commissioned the work sent the researcher in the first place; or sending back information that anybody who knows anything at all about genealogical research knows is incorrect).   As a person who will being hiring professional researchers in the future, I would not expect the individual I contract to do the work to do it all and send it to me before I sent them a dime's worth of payment.   However, I also will not hire any professional who demands all payment up front - before I have had a chance to look it over and verify that I have received what we agreed beforehand the researcher would provide for the fee that was negotiated. A fair compromise for both parties seems to me as follows:  (1) a WRITTEN contract agreed to in advance specifying what will be obtained and at what cost; (2) 1/3 of the amount paid to the research to begin the work; (3) 1/6 of the payment when the research is done, preliminary sketch of the results is provided over the net (enough to reassure the person paying for the research that something worthwhile is coming only)  and is ready to be mailed; (4) 1/2 sent within 10 days of receipt of the results, provided there is not a specific problem with the research results.  All of this specified in writing, in the original contract, before the resarch is commissioned.  If there IS a specific and legitimate problem with the research, then that would have to be ironed out before the last payment was made. This way, the researcher is never stiffed for the entire cost of the research (the most they can be stuck for is 50%), and the person paying for the research is never stiffed for the entire cost of the research (the most they can be stuck for is 50%). Honest, sincere professional researchers should not feel threatened by this arrangement, nor should honest, sincere family historians seeking a professional to do research for them. These are my thoughts, Colleen At 12:23 PM 6/11/98 EDT, you wrote: >For what it's worth, there are two sides to the story.  I have a friend who >does census & other lookups for people for a modest fee.  He got stiffed close >to $80 by a person that requested the lookups, then refused to pay him.  Now, >especially if it is a sizeable order, he insists on payment in advance.  So, >use one's own discretion.  I've got copies myself waiting to go to people, >soon as I get their check in the mail.  (Even then, who knows, the check might >bounce.) > >Karen  > > >==== GenTips Mailing List ==== >If you need to unsubscribe to GenTips email the command: >unsubscribe >To: >GenTips-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com >DON'T send it to GenTips-L that won't work! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >