need help: do i pay upfront?

[J0sh]

hi,

i recently registered to this form after buying domain names. I found someone in my area online to help me develop a few of my domains. I have ZERO experience in this. And don't want to over trust someone i don't know very well...

He recommended that i set up a Hosting account with Gates, and that i give him the info on the email they sent me after registration.

He wants me to prepay him for the hours he's going to work on my site.

Is this "normal practice"?

Perhaps I'm just being paranoid, but I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing considering that I don't know him or his background.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated,

J0sh

[Banned: democrat]

I recommend a 50/50 deal until you establish trust

[M4tt]

Not too sure about payment structure. However if you don't know him, don't pay him all upfront, that's asking for trouble.

[Banned: TiffanyR]

when i do that i usually request 1/2 upfront and the balance when done, look at the trader rating also

[jdk]

You can always use some kind of escrow service where you pay and then when the work is complete you tell them you are satisfied and he receives his money.

Instead of paying for the full thing, why not do it one domain at a time? You can pay him 50% and then the other 50% after completion. If you are satisfied, use him to develop more of your sites.

Regarding your login details, you can give him cPanel access, but do not give him the details to your billing area where you are getting your Hosting.

[bairo]

Yeah i will always recommend 50/50 .