Buying a Drop-In

A Drop-In is a packaged service published at a fixed price with a fixed delivery time and a set number of revisions. You buy it rather than negotiate it, which makes it the fastest way to get a well-defined piece of work started.

Choosing a package

Most Drop-Ins offer tiers, typically a smaller and a larger version of the same service, differing in what is included, how fast it is delivered and how many revisions you get.

Read what is actually included, not just the price. The difference between tiers is usually the thing you care about — number of concepts, source files, commercial rights, page count.

Extras are optional additions: faster delivery, additional revisions, extra deliverables. Each adds to the price and some add to the delivery time. Add them at checkout; adding them afterwards means a separate order.

Check the delivery time, which is in working days from when the clock starts, not from when you pay. More on that below.

Paying

At checkout you see the package price, any extras, and the fees, itemised before you confirm. Your wallet balance is used first if you have one, with your card covering the difference.

The moment payment completes, the money goes into escrow and the order exists. The freelancer is notified. Nothing before that point commits you: an abandoned checkout charges nothing, creates no order, and is discarded automatically.

If you close the tab mid-checkout and come back, the order is waiting under Orders and you can complete the payment there.

The requirements brief

Many Drop-Ins ask you for information before work can start: your brand assets, the text you want used, access to something, a description of what you are after.

The delivery clock does not start until you submit this. If a Drop-In has a requirements brief and you have not filled it in, the freelancer is waiting on you and the deadline has not begun.

This is the single most common reason an order appears stuck. If your order says it is awaiting requirements, that is your move, not theirs.

Where a Drop-In has no requirements brief, the clock starts immediately on payment.

Fill it in properly. A one-word answer to "describe your brand" produces work built on a one-word brief, and the revisions you spend correcting it come out of your allowance.

While it is in progress

The order page is where everything lives: the status, the deadline, the conversation, and the files when they arrive. Message the freelancer there if something needs clarifying — that conversation is on the platform and forms part of the record if anything goes wrong.

Delivery and revisions

When the freelancer delivers, you are notified and can review the work.

Accept it if it is right. The money is released and the order completes.

Request a revision if it is not, within the number included in the package. Be specific and complete: list everything in one pass rather than discovering issues one at a time. Revisions are measured against what the package described, not against what you have since decided you would prefer.

If you want something outside the package, that is additional work, not a revision. Order the relevant extra, or agree a separate piece of work. Trying to press extra scope into a revision is where Drop-In orders turn sour, and freelancers are entitled to decline it.

If you do nothing, the order eventually auto-completes and releases, in the same way milestones do. This protects a freelancer who delivered from a buyer who went quiet. Say something before the clock runs out if you are unhappy.

If delivery is late

The deadline is on the order page. If it passes without delivery:

Message the freelancer first. Things happen, and most late deliveries come with a good explanation and a short delay.

If you get no response, or the delay is unreasonable, you can raise a dispute. The money is still in escrow and has not been paid out. See Disputes and mediation.

Do not simply abandon it. An order left alone does not cancel itself in your favour.

Cancelling

Before delivery, cancellation is by agreement. Message the freelancer; if you both agree, the order can be cancelled and the escrow returned. Most freelancers are reasonable about a cancellation before they have started.

If you cannot agree, it is a dispute and a mediator decides, weighing what was actually done.

After you have accepted a delivery, it is complete. Acceptance releases the money and closes the order, exactly as approving a milestone does.

Reviewing

When it completes, leave a review. Drop-In sellers depend heavily on them — a Drop-In with no reviews is a hard sell, and yours materially affects whether that person gets more work.

Review the work against what the package promised. A three-star review because you wanted something the package never included is unfair, and it is the kind of thing that makes good sellers stop offering packaged work.

Paperwork

A Drop-In order produces both an invoice and a receipt, emailed as PDFs and kept in your billing area. See Invoices and receipts.

When a Drop-In is the wrong tool

If your requirements need discussion, a Drop-In is the wrong purchase. The fixed scope that makes it fast is the same fixed scope that will not accommodate a moving target, and you will spend your revisions arguing about what was included.

For anything needing a conversation, post a job or invite someone and agree the work properly. See The four ways to hire.

Reading a Drop-In before you buy

The listing is a contract in miniature, so read it as one.

What is actually included, at the tier you are buying. Not at the top tier shown in the images.

What is excluded. Good sellers say so explicitly. If a listing does not, ask before buying rather than after.

Delivery time, and whether the clock starts on payment or on requirements.

Revisions included. This is the number you have to work with if the first delivery is not right.

Whether source files or commercial rights are included, which are frequently extras rather than standard and are the most common cause of an unhappy Drop-In purchase.

The reviews, read rather than counted. A seller with twenty reviews mentioning fast delivery and good communication is a different proposition from one with twenty reviews saying only "thanks".

Questions before buying

You can message a seller before ordering, and for anything non-trivial it is worth doing.

Ask whether your specific case is covered, and give enough detail that the answer means something. "Can you do this for a Shopify store with a custom theme?" gets a useful answer; "can you do this for my site?" does not.

A seller who answers clearly and quickly before you have paid is usually a seller who does the same afterwards. One who is vague or slow is telling you something.

Buying several, or buying repeatedly

If you have found somebody good, buying from them repeatedly is one of the most efficient things you can do. They already know your brand, your systems and your preferences, and the second order is nearly always better than the first.

For larger or ongoing work, it may be worth moving from Drop-In purchases to a proper contract, which gives you milestones and a scoped agreement rather than a fixed package. Talk to them about it — most Drop-In sellers also take contract work.

What to do while you wait

Once the requirements are in and the clock is running, there is usually nothing for you to do, which is the point of buying a package.

Two exceptions worth watching for. If the freelancer asks a question, answer it quickly — a question sitting unanswered for three days is three days of your delivery time. And if you realise you gave them the wrong asset or the wrong information, say so immediately rather than waiting for the delivery to be wrong.

Otherwise, leave them to it. Messages asking for progress updates on a three-day package are not useful to either of you.

After delivery

Review the work against the package description, not against what you have since decided you want.

If it matches, accept it. Accepting is what releases the money, and sitting on a correct delivery is the thing sellers find most frustrating.

If it does not match, request a revision with a specific list. One complete list, not three partial ones over a week.

Then leave a review. Drop-In sellers live on reviews far more than contract freelancers do, and yours materially affects whether that person keeps getting work.

Common questions

Can I buy the same Drop-In twice? Yes, each is a separate order.

Can I add an extra after ordering? Not to an existing order. Place a small separate order or agree it with the seller.

What if I do not need the revisions? They are included whether or not you use them.

Can I get a refund if I change my mind before work starts? By agreement with the seller, and most are reasonable about it. If you cannot agree, a mediator decides.

Related

• The four ways to hire
• Disputes and mediation
• Invoices and receipts