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Direct Contracts now live for all freelancers

lenaellis
Community Member

To help grow and support your freelance business on and off Upwork, we are releasing Direct Contracts to all Upwork freelancers today. With this new release, we have also expanded the functionality to now include multiple milestones. 

 

Direct Contracts allows you to enter into fixed-price contracts with non-Upwork clients, offering access to Upwork's safety and security features with greater flexibility for your business. Freelancers can access their Direct Contracts by clicking on the new paper airplane icon next to notifications or directly here.

 

Direct Contract Icon.png

 

Here’s how it works: 

 

On the Direct Contracts page, freelancers will see the option to start a new Direct Contract and a list of all existing Direct Contracts along with the status of that contract.

 

The steps to start a new Direct Contract are very simple:

 

1. Enter your client’s details

1. Create.png

 

2. Add either a single amount or create milestones with each amount

MM - Collapsed.png

 

3. Review and send the contract

3. Review.png

 

4. An email is sent to your client to begin

4. Confirmation.png

 

 

Your client will receive an email notifying them of your detailed proposal, along with some guidance on how the product works. 

 

Just like your other fixed-price contracts on Upwork, your client deposits project funds in escrow before the contract starts. You will see the status of the milestone listed below each one, so you will know when to begin working. When you’ve completed the contract or each milestone, you’ll request payment from your client. And with Direct Contracts, once they’ve accepted your request, the funds are released to you immediately, with no security period.

 

5. - Active - m1.png

 

As a freelancer, you’ll pay a processing fee of 3.4% of the total contract amount, but you won’t pay any freelancer service fees to Upwork. It’s easy for your clients because they won’t have to create an Upwork account.  And with payment protection and dispute assistance, you can work confidently with your clients who are not on Upwork. 

 

Let us know if you have any questions.

 

405 Comments
sergio-soria
Community Member

Hello, I hope someone from Upwork can reply. I've been off the forum for some time though I have read this whole thread (29 pages) and also the article about Direct Contracts. I have a client outside Upwork so I need to know if this would really work for me or not. These are my questions:

 

1) Read in this thread the Direct Contracts are not really available in certain locations. The article reads it is available in 180+ countries. Maybe the article is more up to date but I don't know. It would be nice to see a list of countries if some are banned. Please confirm.

 

2) Towards the end of the thread it reads some clients are being charged a 6% fee while originally there was no fee for the client at all! It doesn't sound professional to talk to the client and say it will be free of charge just to let them get that surprise afterwards. Is there a fee for the client or not? If the fee is for "selected" clients then I would take it as it is for all of them since I don't like a random algorithm to decide.

 

3) If previous point is true and that will be the norm then it looks like having your client make a full account in Upwork is much better than Direct Contracts. By the way, is the "Bring Your Own Client" program still running? Because I don't see it anywhere now. I know it was only for TR freelancers but I am.

 

4) Is there any step-by-step article with images or video by Upwork where we can see the process from the client side, either for Direct Contracts or for creating an account, setting contract, etc.? I've been searching, because my client is not really computer savvy so I want to do it as smooth as possible for them.

 

Thank you!

PradeepH
Moderator

Hello Sergio,

 

Thank you for your message.

 

1. US Federal Law restricts Upwork from conducting business with individuals and entities based in certain countries. You can learn more here. Direct Contracts are available for all users from other locations where Upwork offers services and have payment partners to complete the transactions. 

2. We will be asking clients who start new Direct Contracts to begin paying a small processing fee on the payments they make to their freelancer(s). We are currently building this option into our site, and testing it out with select Direct Contracts to start. In the future, a payment processing fee for clients will be added to all new Direct Contracts. When that occurs, we will be sure to update all communications, Help articles, etc., to share the fee amount that we decide upon. In the meantime, we welcome your feedback about all things Direct Contracts, so please feel free to share it!

3. BYOC is still available for Rising Talent and Top Rated Freelancers. If you have been issued a personal link before, you can still use the same link for your clients outside Upwork. As for the benefit of Direct Contracts, Direct contracts will only charge you 3.4% on service fees.

4. You can refer to Direct Contract Help page for more information.

 

Feel free to message us if you need further assistance.

 

Thank you.

Pradeep H.

ivanol
Community Member

Hello I start direct contract with client. And client tell me that upwork charged from him 6% for services. But upwork manual talk about 3.4% for freelancer, no fee for client. Can you please explain me what does it mean?

g_vasilevski
Retired Team Member

Hi Ivan,

 

We will be asking clients who start new Direct Contracts to begin paying a small processing fee on the payments they make to their freelancer(s). We are currently building this option into our site, and testing it out with select Direct Contracts to start. In the future, a payment processing fee for clients will be added to all new Direct Contracts. When that occurs, we will be sure to update all communications, Help articles, etc., to share the fee amount that we decide upon. In the meantime, we welcome your feedback about all things Direct Contracts, so please feel free to share it! Thank you.

ivanol
Community Member

That is, it turns out that this article https://www.upwork.com/direct-contracts  is misleading all, both clients and freelancers.
In addition, the commission for the client at the moment is 6%. For freelancer 3.4%.


As a result, the total commission for the contract is 9.4%. This does not correspond to the stated conditions at all

VladimirG
Community Manager

Hi Ivan,

 

Thanks for reporting and apologies for this oversight and frustrating it has caused you.

We've updated the client fee information on the landing page you shared and now it's accurate and consistent with our other resources on this topic. 

sumonshaha
Community Member

Help Post!!!

Recently I have got a Project order, the buyer gave me fund with bonus also give me 5 stars rating and a good review. after 2 days the Project suspended and canceled. also refunded all money. But buyer till says, He didn't do anything. 

Is the cancelation, affect on my Upwork profile and job success rate?

**Edited for Community Guidelines** 

g_vasilevski
Retired Team Member

Hi Suman,

 

While I can't share details for another user with you, I can confirm that freelancers and clients are able to cancel a contract within 24 hours of the client submitting requirements to you without any penalty or impact on your Job Success Score. Thank you.

wlyonsatl
Community Member

Hi, Goran V.,

 

That is the first I have seen that what you describe is possible.

 

Exactly when is the client considered to have provide the freelancer with requirements of the project?

 

Can that be after a contract is in place on Upwork?

 

Thanks in advance.

g_vasilevski
Retired Team Member

Hi Will,

 

Just to confirm, did you meant that you were not aware of the option to cancel a contract without a penalty to your JSS?

I would like to confirm that we've already mentioned this multiple times here on our announcement post. You can also find more details about this on the home page of Project Catalogs under the section "what happens when a client purchases my project?".
If something is still confusing feel free to follow up here with more details. Thank you.