I usually have one or two side projects running at any time.  Most are pretty small, so just pay me the few hundred when done.

Once in a while a bigger project comes along in the 5-10K range.  In these cases I ask for 1/3 upfront, 1/3 on code complete and 1/3 on acceptance.  I think this is pretty reasonable.  This avoids dreamers who have no money and a**h****s that don’t plan on paying.

Why is this a surprise to the project sponsors?  Could someone get a carpenter to come to their house for nothing?  Some people appear to get really upset and walk from the project and I don’t think they fit into the cases I was trying to exclude above.