how do you go about distance contracts?

[jibble]

i'm just curious...

how does everyone go about distance contracts? Do you just pdf a contract and email it, they sign and email it back? fax it? or what?

i'd like to revamp the snail mail style into something a little more efficient.

any ideas?

[budafist]

I email a contract to them with a statement like:
If you agree to the terms of this contract, please forward the neccessary images/logos/text to begin this project.

[jibble]

and is that "legal and binding" to just say, "by forwarding the necessary materials you agree to the terms"

?

[PrintDriver]

We use fax for little stuff.
For large dollar amounts we get the real thing.
Emails are only good for under the amount you don't mind losing for non-payment.

[budafist]

and is that "legal and binding" to just say, "by forwarding the necessary materials you agree to the terms"

?

I don't know. It's good enough for when clients' bosses want proof that the contract was agreed on by their minion. Can't say about court.

[hewligan]

I don't know. It's good enough for when clients' bosses want proof that the contract was agreed on by their minion. Can't say about court.

In theory? A contract is just an agreement between two people, with a couple of provisos about "fairness." So, sure. That's a legal contract.

In court? Well, it's pretty easy to fake an email...

[thebest]

Do you require any money up front? If so, snail mail works fine--the contract comes in the mail with the down payment.

I found that it is way to easy to get burned by distant clients that haven't put any money down. The down payment/contract combo seems to work great for me.