Client Red Flag BingoAgency Edition
How many have you heard? Tap each one that sounds familiar.
Today’s board · 25 Oct
What is Client Red Flag Bingo?
Client Red Flag Bingo is a free BrieflyGo game for freelancers: a 5×5 board of the things difficult clients say — “it’ll be great for your portfolio”, “just one more small change”, “we’ll sign the contract later”. Tap the ones you’ve heard, get your score and a shareable card, and see a practical way to protect yourself from each flag. There’s a new board every day, drawn from over 50 client lines. No sign-up, nothing you tap is linked to you.
Glossary: what a “client red flag” is →Client red flags for freelancers working with agencies, and what to do
General practices freelancers use — put them in your quote or contract before the project starts.
| Red flag | Practice | How to protect yourself |
|---|---|---|
| We pay when we get paid | Payment terms | Your payment doesn’t depend on their customers paying them. |
| Net-90 payment terms | Payment terms | Negotiate net-15 or net-30, or build the wait into the price. |
| The end client will give feedback | One approver, set hours | Ask who actually approves, and get their feedback in writing. |
| White-label it. No credit. | Credit and portfolio rights | Agree credit and whether you can show the work. Price ghostwriting accordingly. |
| Can you join our pitch for free? | Paid trial only | Point to your portfolio or offer a short paid test. No unpaid spec work. |
| Rates are fixed by procurement | Fixed fee | Your fee stands on its own — no discounts for promised future work, no exposure instead of pay. |
| Sign our 40-page vendor agreement | Signed before you start | Read it first — payment, IP and liability clauses before you sign. |
| Can you work in our time zone? | One approver, set hours | Name one person who approves, and state your working hours and response time. |
| Invoice through our vendor portal | Payment terms | Put a due date, a late fee and “work pauses if overdue” in writing. |
| Payment terms: 60 days end of month | Payment terms | Put a due date, a late fee and “work pauses if overdue” in writing. |
| Their client changed the brief again | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| Rush job, the client is waiting | Rush fee | Anything faster than your standard timeline carries a rush fee, agreed in writing. |
| Don’t contact the client directly | One approver, set hours | Name one person who approves, and state your working hours and response time. |
| Non-compete for all our clients | Signed before you start | Read the non-compete closely — it can block your other work. |
| We own everything, including tools | IP transfer on payment | Transfer the deliverables, not your own tools and templates. |
| Can you do it for the agency rate? | Tiered packages | Cut scope, not your rate. Offer good, better and best options. |
| Just one more round for the client | Revision limit | Set a number of revision rounds. Extra rounds are billed at a stated rate. |
| Budget’s gone, but finish it anyway | Fixed fee | Your fee stands on its own — no discounts for promised future work, no exposure instead of pay. |
| Can you present it to their CEO? | Change order | Every new request gets a short written quote before any work starts. |
| Weekend deadline, Monday review | Rush fee | Anything faster than your standard timeline carries a rush fee, agreed in writing. |
| We lost the client. Pay? Maybe. | Kill fee | If the client cancels, they pay for work done plus an agreed share of the rest. |
| Vanishes when the invoice arrives | Milestone billing | Milestones. Final files go out on payment. |
| Feedback from five different bosses | One approver, set hours | One named approver. Feedback arrives consolidated. |
| Changes the brief after approval | Change order | The approved brief is locked; changes go on a change order. |
| Ghosts for weeks, then “URGENT” | Client-delay clause | A client-delay clause moves the deadline; keeping the old one costs a rush fee. |
| Need it ASAP. Like, yesterday. | Rush fee | Rush fee, in writing, before you start. |
| NDA before you can even quote | Written scope | A short mutual NDA is fine. No work until there’s a quote. |
| “Quick call?” — every day | One approver, set hours | Your package includes a set number of calls; extra calls are billed. |
| Wants hourly status updates | One approver, set hours | A fixed check-in schedule and fixed-fee deliverables. |
| Can you match this cheaper quote? | Tiered packages | Hold your rate. Offer a smaller package. |
| I’ll know it when I see it | Written scope | Get the brief signed off, with approval checkpoints. |
| Unlimited revisions included, right? | Revision limit | Strike “unlimited” and set a number of rounds. |
| Can you start before the PO is ready? | Deposit | Work starts when the deposit clears — around half up front is common. |
| The PO is stuck in finance | Payment terms | Put a due date, a late fee and “work pauses if overdue” in writing. |
Already signed with a red-flag client?
Check what your contract says about payment, revisions and rights — free, in about a minute.
Questions
What is a client red flag?
A sign early in a project that a client may cause trouble later: refusing a contract, pushing for free samples, haggling before you’ve quoted, vague briefs, or “we pay when we get paid”. One flag isn’t a verdict, but several together usually mean scope creep or late payment ahead.
How do I protect myself from difficult clients?
Most red flags are handled by a few habits put in writing: a clear scope, a set number of revision rounds, a deposit before you start, payment terms with a late fee, change orders for new requests, and rights that transfer only on full payment. Each square on the board links its own tip.
Is Client Red Flag Bingo free? Do I need an account?
Yes, it’s free and there’s no sign-up. Your board is kept in the link itself — there’s no account to tie it to. We only keep anonymous usage stats, like how often each square is tapped.
Which boards are there?
A general board for every freelancer, plus boards for designers, developers, writers and copywriters, and photographers and videographers. Each one has 24 squares and a free centre square.
Does the board change?
Yes. Every board draws its 24 squares from a larger pool of client lines, and there’s a new board every day — the same for everyone, so you can compare scores with friends. “New board” deals fresh lines from the same edition, and each edition (Agency, Cheap Client, Payment Nightmare, Worst of 2026 and the profession boards) has its own set. The classics show up on most boards.
How do I challenge a friend?
Finish a board and press “Challenge a freelancer”. Your friend gets the exact same board, sees your score, and when they finish, both scores appear side by side.
Is this legal advice?
No. The tips are general business practices freelancers use. For a contract with real money at stake, have it checked — you can run a free risk check on BrieflyGo or talk to a lawyer.
Just for fun. Tips are general business practices, not legal advice — for a contract with real money at stake, get it reviewed. Last updated .