Paying up front for a person's time

A writer, an editor or a designer may offer their time as a block. The buyer pays for the block before the work starts. Each piece of work then uses up part of it.

In AI pricing, "token" means something else. There, OpenAI says its models "process text in chunks called tokens". A block of a person's time counts the hours, or the pieces of work, that one person agrees to give you.

Questions to ask before you pay

1. What does one unit buy?

Ask whether a unit is a length of time, such as an hour, or a finished piece, such as one page of copy. Ask for the answer in writing.

2. Who will do the work?

Ask for the name of the person who will do it. If a studio may pass work to someone else, ask how it will tell you.

3. How will you see what each unit was spent on?

Ask for a log that shows the date, the task and the units used. Ask that it also says when an AI tool was used for a task. Ask how often you will receive it.

The law also covers what a provider says in its advertising about how the work is done. The Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 prohibit advertising that misleads the traders it is aimed at. In judging that, the Regulations look at what the advertising says about a product's characteristics. Those include the "method and date of provision of the product".

If you are buying as a consumer, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 treats giving "false or misleading information relating to a product" as a misleading action.

4. What happens to units you have not used?

Ask whether unused units have an end date. Ask whether they can be refunded, and on what terms.

For a consumer, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 lists terms that may be regarded as unfair. One of them lets a trader keep money the consumer paid when the consumer decides not to go ahead. That term is on the list when the consumer would get no equal sum back if the trader were the one to cancel. An unfair term is not binding on the consumer.

5. Can you cancel, and what would you pay?

Ask what happens if you stop part way through the block.

For a consumer who agrees a service contract online, by phone or away from the trader's premises, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 usually give 14 days to cancel. Where the trader did not tell the consumer about this right, the Regulations add up to 12 months to the 14 days.

6. Is the block for one project, or for any work?

Ask whether the units can be used on any piece of work, or only on the project you agreed at the start. Ask what happens if that project ends early.

How a block gets used up

Both examples are made up.

A block of 10 units, where one unit is one hour. In the first month, the writer spends 4 hours on a set of product pages. In the second, they spend 3 hours editing a brochure. The log shows 7 units used and 3 left. What happens to those 3 depends on the terms you agreed.

A block of 10 units, where one unit is one finished piece. The writer delivers 6 blog posts, so 6 units are used. Then the brief for one post changes, and the writer starts it again. Whether that second draft uses another unit is something to agree at the start.

Which rules cover you

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 covers services that a trader supplies to a consumer. It treats every such contract as including a term that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill.

The Act defines a consumer as an individual acting for purposes that are wholly or mainly outside their trade, business, craft or profession. So a business buying a block for its own trade falls outside that definition. The same applies to the cancellation rights in the 2013 Regulations, which also protect consumers only.

The 2008 Regulations in question 3 work the other way round. They are about advertising aimed at traders.

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