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StanG
Community Manager
Community Manager

Announcing new, simpler fees on Upwork

Today we introduced two key pricing changes: on May 3, 2023, we are retiring our sliding scale fee structure and introducing a 10% service fee for all freelancers, and on April 26, 2023, we are implementing a one-time contract initiation fee for clients of up to $4.95 per contract. Click here for the full announcement.

 

Please share your questions and feedback in the thread below.

2,018 REPLIES 2,018

I just saw the increase cost to clients for project initiation. This is a step forward, but really doesn't go far enough.

 

Clients should be charged every time they post a project, not just when the start paying. If clients had a more significant cost of posting, maybe (I doubt it) clients might think twice before they post jobs that they never award.

 

To me, it seems that if a freelancer has to expend a fee for submitting a proposal, even if it is never awarded, then the same should be done to the client.

 

My $.02345 worth.

Are you serious? 😀

Free job posts - more spam jobpost, more connects wasted, more cool statistic "We have many works here!"

 

 

Free job postings can sometimes lead to an influx of spammy job posts, resulting in wasted connects and an abundance of unhelpful statistics such as "Upwork has many jobs available !". It's important to be selective and do your due diligence when applying to jobs, even if they are free to post.

 

Robert, 

 

I have already brought to managements attention that the $4.95 fee could be billed when a job is posted instead of when a freelancer is hired. Fifty percent of the jobs posted don't end with a freelancer being hired and it's possible billing up front might reduce some of the less than desirable job posts. However, management would need to consider if good clients are chased off with the fee upfront. I am split. 


William T C wrote:

Robert, 

 

I have already brought to managements attention that the $4.95 fee could be billed when a job is posted instead of when a freelancer is hired. Fifty percent of the jobs posted don't end with a freelancer being hired and it's possible billing up front might reduce some of the less than desirable job posts. However, management would need to consider if good clients are chased off with the fee upfront. I am split. 


This has already been suggested hundreds times in the forum, usually by newbies who don't understand that Upwork would lose clients if they were to implement such a thing. Yes, good clients would be put off, especially new ones - how would you like it if you were charged $5 before you've had a chance to decide whether there's anyone worth hiring or not? 

whats the point of charging the client if he has already decided to hire someone and pay for the job? It would be more effective to charge the client upfront when they post a job. This way, it would discourage fake job postings and freelancers wouldn't waste their connects on such posts. Additionally, clients can always search and review freelancer profiles to find specific skills before posting a job. Another suggestion is to refund the $4.95 fee to clients if they don't find a suitable freelancer for their job after posting it. This approach would help retain clients and send a message that Upwork is focused on serious clients who genuinely want to hire freelancers.

Well the mantra here is that it is a market place.  Just like anyone or anything can be a freelancer on Upwork. Anyone can post a job without any cost.  Why scare legitimate buyers?  And remember they make money on every job.

Agreed and Amen brother! I actually don't get the point of the contract fee. It's like punishing clients for starting a contract on Upwork. Upwork, you have some splanin' to do. 

 

Needless to say, I like the idea of the job posting fee, but I think $2.95 would be too low.  I would go a step further and increase the fee, but then waive it, credit it to their account, or reapply it to the freelancer's payment if an Upwork contract is started. If no hire, then the job posting fee is paid. Kind of like a diagnostic fee if you bring in your car for service, then choose not to do the work. But it's waived when the shop does the work. 

 

Besides jobs never being awarded, I think most of us know that there are a number of clients that still hire freelancers outside of Upwork after they found them from an Upwork job posting. The job posting fee might stop some of that if the fee is high enough, and if they know they won't lose their money if they don't circumvent the system. 

 

I'm not just a Freelancer and Agency owner, I'm also a client! 

pdufour
Community Member

A fee to post a project would go a long way toward weeding out the scam postings. 

I was disappointed to learn that the fee structure will change to a flat 10% going forward.  I have a number of long-term existing clients and my earnings with them will decrease by 5% after 2023 unless I ask them for a higher rate. Is there any chance that Upwork would consider an opt-out or the ability to honor legacy rate structures going forward at the request of the freelancer?

I'm in the same boat. This is incredibly frustrating. I've worked hard to get long-term contracts so I can benefit from the lower fee. Now Upwork is taking that away. I'll suddenly lose 5% of my earnings on these contracts. The new "simpler" format seems to greatly benefit Upwork and not the freelancers they should be advocating for.

Valeria, this is very disappointing and not a good enough reason to raise our service fee to 10%. It does not simplify it please let your managers know that the community as a whole is not happy and doesn't agree with this change.

I'll trade you: I'll keep tracking the tiers (honestly, it's not that hard), keep calculating the fees across tiers when determining the price for a contract, and deal with any year-end hassles if you let me keep the 5% tier. This change will have a huge impact on my income.

Valeria, If Upwork want to less the 20% to 10% for the new contract, that's better, BUT please REMAIN the 5% level for those who already earn 10k+ up. You don't need to change it from 5% to 10% at the end of 2023. Give consideration for the LOYAL Freelancers.

Valeria, it seems fees are going up for both parties. Tell me why I should as an employer stay with Upwork. Your clearly cutting into both parties' pockets, is this really a time to do this?

8555264a
Community Member

No. It is a terrible time. I was already absorving the cost of inflation without passing it on to the clients. Now I am afraid that my options are being reduced.

I agree with the others on this topic. I've worked incredibly hard to maintain relationships and generate earnings to get to a 5% tier. Adjustment period or not, I shouldn't have to give that up because Upwork accountants ran the numbers and figured they could squeeze more in $ commissions by forcing 5% commission freelancers back into a 10% tier.

 

You should grandfather in (or grandmother in) all 5% commission earners to reward people like myself for maintaining strong client relationships on Upwork. If not, I may consider, like the others, to take my relationships elsewhere.

This is terrible news for me. 90% of my clients are long-lasting relationships and they recurrently come back to me for my services. I think you are forcing the hand of good freelancers to start to do things outside Upwork. The only way I can cope with this new policy is transfering that new 5% to the client, this is raising my prices. I was already absorving the cost of inflation without passing it on to the clients. Now I am afraid that my options are getting slimmer.

Your fee structure was already very easy to understand. I mean, we're technology professionals, right? And figuring out year-end expenses is simple too. It's insulting that you think we needed help with these things in the form of a 5% pay cut. 

mortaz
Community Member

It's corporate greed that's driving Upwork to SCREW the freelancers who made them successful in the 1st place!  But they have the nerve to use terms like SIMPLE when they screw their best source of revenue! 

 

We have taken Freelancers we like and trust  OFF the platform to avoid this kind of crap.  And there are some new competing platforms coming.

So you actually think my clients will accept an increase to cover your fees? Hardly.

If we consider simplicity, working with long-term clients directly is the simplest option. There is no additional risk, no weird fees, no tiers, etc..

 

You need to just to send an invoice once in a month. I think, that's a fair price for 12.3% bonus for a freelancer and 3% for a client. I think, many clients will happily convert contracts to work outside Upwork. Even if a contract lasts less than two years, the opt-out fee is comparable to Upwork fee (13.5% vs 12.3%).

Technically, the opt-out fee doesn't apply here because it's a breach of contract on the part of Upwork, if a contract was initiated with the sliding scale. We can leave with our current clients without the opt-out fee

While the 10% service fee for new contracts is surely helpful compared to the 20% before...can we please request that those who are already in the 5% stays on that fee? I've been with my client for more than 10 years and this is obviously really a hard work time spent. If we will go back to a 10% service fee that's a big deal for us...so please hear us who are requesting to retain this 5% and just do this new pricing maybe for those who haven't reached it yet because there's no loss yet and disappointments compared to most of us who has been into the 5% rate for years already

"Freelancers won’t have to..."

This is already done automatically by the system. Paying $5-10K every year just for that is nonsense.

I feel like Upwork is uncomfortable with 2-years-in-Upwork clause not working actively for long-term contracts, and went for the direction of taking whatever they can before those long-term contracts are moved outside. Otherwise, you could have just dropped the 20% in small contracts and still incentivize the longer contracts.

For me, it tells me that I should take clients out the very next day the 2-year condition is met.

Guney

Very disappointed in this decision and will cause me to re-think my Upwork relationship as this represents thousands in additional expenses annually and Upwork stating that honoring through end of 2023 to give me time to renegotiate my rate with clients is not beneficial.

A typical canned and ignorant response. These changes doing nothing more than make Upwork more money. 

So basically, you are reducing the fees for those who earn the least on the site and increasing it for those who earn the most. It's offending to say that you are doing this to simplify things for writers when you're actually doing it to take 5% from the earnings of your best freelancers.

Just when I thought you couldn't make it worse!

Yes, you might get more new freelancers by reducing their 20% fee but you can be sure as hell that you'll lose the ones that bring you the highest revenue. 

 

There's a point where greedy decisions turn from a bad idea into a disaster for a business. This is it for Upwork.

Valeria, Honestly you basically  just copied a pasted the same information back! At the end of the day we freelerance loose and Upwork profits! Do you honestly see this a win for freelance? The tier system worked, it motivated us and we saw the additional rewards at the end. Some persons on Upwork and only get paid $3-5 hourly rate and these are long term contracts, You know how may hours it takes to make $10000 on those contacts ????? Now to only start getting 10% taken at the end of the January?

It seems like the end of 2023 will be the end of the relationships established by the freelancers with the clients along with the 5% fee. Is no fee a better business model than at least getting 5%? 

 

I did not notice anyone commenting on the $4.95 contract charge. Freelancers in small $ cap niches on the platform  will likely lose out on potentially larger client paying jobs because of the barrier to entry for a $20 job which prevents them from building their stats on Upwork. Like everything, the clients budget is the budget. It will come out of the freelancer's pocket.

 

So, It does not seem like the new program will be good for either new or long term freelancers. I must be missing something here.

 

I have already barely applied to a new project recently since the great idea of bidding was introduced.  

 

Now, it's not fair to criticize without offering a solution, so, I have a business model thought, use some of the freelancer's skills to help grow the platform's business to reach more clients and freelancers instead of holding tight to and squeezing those already here. Just my 2 cents.

Yes, the contract fee will reverse much of the benefit to new freelancers of having the 20% fee dropped to 10%. Maybe it will thin the selection of low-quality jobs, though.

That was the only positive I could think of. It is a good point. Thanks

This makes 0 sense and totally unnecessary to affect you,r current client, and your freelancers. How is this going to work for me? I don't even use any of those "perks" so I will lose money because you believe it will be easier for us? It's not like I change the contract every month or so to get any advantage on the 20 to 10% scale, I'm losing cause you are removing me from the 5%. It looks like Upwork is flying to close to the

e sun after such success, which is typical.  Not to mention the taxes we already pay on the platform. Might not stick around anymore for this. 

I have a long-term 5% client that I've been on the fence about due to it being a lower-paying client, and I'm getting a lot more work away from the Upwork platform.

Knowing the client's budget, asking them to increase their rate won't be an option, and I know they're bringing on a lot more very-low-rate overseas freelancers now--and will fill my role with one of them. 

Upwork--you're going to lose a fair amount of your long-term 5% people in 2024 if you don't change this policy to grandfather us in.

Looks like I'll be moving on from Upwork in 2024.

I feel this is outrageous. I'm not sure what are the advantages for you to proceed this way. As soon as I have the chance I'll jump off and never come back. I don't feel either you are presenting valid reason to move this way, it's just like okay let's just grab more money from working people. Completely unfair. 

You're "giving us until the end of year" to adjust to the idea of you doubling the fee on contracts some of us have had (and helped your business grow with) for 7+ years.  This change benefits only contractors who take small, one-off projects and punishes those who earn the most money for Upwork. This one seriously needs to be reconsidered and reversed. An additional 5% of our earning gone for no reason whatsoever other than corporate greed. Rethink this one, Upwork. Some companies with long and strong relationships with their contractors will certainly find it objectionable that their contractors are going to have to pay double the fees. 

 

So how does this work for us who have been here a long time? 
Its like people at 5% will have to increase our current service fee to 5%, were already giving you guys a lot of money. This doesn't work for us. 

I am ok if you want to implement this to new contracts, but for existing ones? What makes you guys thinks its gonna work for us?? 

PS: Do better in screening the scammers in your site who wastes our time, instead of trying to implement more fees for us people. 

What about freelancers like me who are not earning that much but with a client for more than 8 years? The fee that will be deducted from my earning will be doubled and it is impossible for my client to shoulder this fee increase. This 10% increase from 5% will have a big impact on our monthly income. I have been with Upwork for more than a decade as I can remember. If you can consider keeping those in 5% stay in 5% that will be a very big reward for loyal freelancers like me...like us.

If those are the so-called "benefits," I would rather make all those calculations myself than pay an additional 5%. This seems like a tactic to earn more money from long-term clients, while hiding behind the guise of "you will no longer pay 20% on low-paying jobs." While those who do not have long-term clients may not be affected, those who do will have to compensate for the 10% reduction and give more of their money to Upwork.

 

Whoever came up with this idea needs to think twice. Freelancers will take their business elsewhere, resulting in a decrease in Upwork's income and a loss of talent. A smarter move would have been to keep the lifetime 5% fee for active contracts and apply the new structure to new contracts. Over time, the number of people paying the lifetime 5% fee would decrease, eventually leading to everyone paying a 10% fee. However, keeping the 5% fee for the remainder of 2023 means that freelancers have eight months to find a way to migrate from the platform, causing Upwork to lose money. Therefore, Upwork needs to stop being greedy and start thinking smarter. (And perhaps find new business advisors!)

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