This site follows a pattern that I've seen before in programmer-driven startups: take a task that might intimidate someone, build some forms around it, and char

This site follows a pattern that I've seen before in programmer-driven startups: take a task that might intimidate someone, build some forms around it, and charge for it. In this case the task is to ask a client to prepay. Maybe it's playing into programmers' belief that if some website asks the client for payment then it's more legit somehow and less scary. "Look at the website, client. See, prepayment is part of a normal, well-established workflow." And maybe programmers will pay for this confidence booster. I guess that's what matters.