Announcing new, simpler fees on Upwork

[50768745]

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.

[sofia2008]

So, for a freelancer who already brought a $10,000 contract (for which Upwork got $1050 in service fees) you remove the 5% fee and will raise it to 10% at the end of 2023? Quite an incentive to keep «serious paying clients» on the platform.

[kochubei_valeria]

Sophie, Denis and others,

We will be continuing the 5% service fee through the end of 2023 on contracts that are already eligible, in order to give freelancers like you time to adjust to this new fee structure and to adjust their own rates, work strategies, and contract selections accordingly.

In many cases, freelancers on Upwork will see simplified and reduced fees as a result of this change. 

The new fee structure will also simplify freelancer processes:

• Freelancers won’t have to track tiers on contracts to determine how much they will earn each week. 
• Freelancers won’t have to calculate fees for multiple tiers when determining pricing for a contract.
• Calculating year-end revenue and expenses may be easier to do once all contracts have the same freelancer service fee percentage

[a_lipsey]

None of that is helpful, but thanks for the corporate spiel. I will be figuring out how to move my 2+ year clients off platform before I lose my 5% fees with them as well. Doesn't make any sense to give up that much money after 2 years. And yes, for some of us it will be thousands of dollars in loss. Do not preach to me about adjusting my rates or my business model. We can all see Upwork is becoming a glorified temp agency. This move simply validates that. 

[sofiaabrantes]

I'm with you here, it's thousands in loss for me too! I've been on this platform for 7 years, and this is how they reward loyalty. 

[3952a343]

Agreed. I'm out too.  Congrats Upwork.  Already being hit with too many fees, now this change. You'll lose both my freelance and client business.

[moonraker]

---

Valeria K wrote:

The new fee structure will also simplify some freelancer processes:

• You won’t have to track tiers on contracts to determine how much you’ll earn each week
• You won’t have to calculate fees for multiple tiers when determining pricing for a contract
• Calculating year-end revenue and expenses may be easier to do once all your contracts have the same freelancer service fee percentage throughout the contract

---

You think that's worth losing 5% over? Because I certainly don't and I think many others will agree with me.

[sofiaabrantes]

Agreed! It's outrageous.

[467ebec0]

There's nothing to "adjust to". I approve the lowering of the service fee for newbies but the removal of the 5% tier is just stupid.

[kfarnell]

So the rationale for this is that you think freelancers are incapable of basic arithmetic? Or that they object to it? 

This isn't even trying to sell it as a good idea.

[paigesullivan]

So the solution to this absolutely atrocious fee raise is for us to charge clients more - during an economic downturn - when 95% of the clients on Upwork do not want to pay our rates in the first place? All while filling Upwork's pockets because they saw their numbers during tax season and got scared? 

All of the legitimate freelancers on this site will be taking their clients elsewhere, most likely. This is not okay. 

[sofiaabrantes]

Truly, this is how they reward loyalty. The amount of times I have turned down going off the platform, to stay loyal... you best believe the tables have just turned. 

[wes_khalid]

Oh believe me, I'm out before this year ends. There's no way I will go back to 10% fees when 5% is already a huge chunk of my earnings. Upwork doesn't know what loyalty means.

[dijiwolf]

"We will be continuing the 5% service fee through the end of 2023 on contracts that are already eligible, in order to give freelancers like you time to adjust to this new fee structure and to adjust their own rates, work strategies, and contract selections accordingly."

So it gives us time to take these clients off the platform after the two-year duration ends and we pay our dollar. Got it.

[sofiaabrantes]

100%. Nothing else to add.

[yitwail]

Valeria, if the fee structure was changed to simplify bookkeeping, why not allow freelancers a choice between the new structure versus the old, at minimum for existing contracts? After all, if they've managed to this point with a complicated structure, they might actually prefer it? They could always close the contract and ask the client to rehire them if they change their mind. 

[marc_compte]

Because the new fee structure is not done to simplify bookkeeping. It is done to increase Upwork's revenue and they are trying to figure out a way to sell it to freelancers, without much success as per usual.

[sofiaabrantes]

Me and my 2+ year contracts on a 5% rate are about to leave the platform. 

[25005175]

• Freelancers won’t have to track tiers on contracts to determine how much they will earn each week. 

---

This was not an issue.

• Freelancers won’t have to calculate fees for multiple tiers when determining pricing for a contract.

---

Only high-paying contracts were worth that level of granular quoting, and at that point it was simple enough to assume something like (10% + $100).

• Calculating year-end revenue and expenses may be easier to do once all contracts have the same freelancer service fee percentage

---

......Why would anybody focus on the service fee tier for that? You already supply a Billings & Earnings by Client report, filter-able by year, which breaks down billing, service fee expense, and sales tax.

[joechiu]

Is there any way to opt out of the simplified fee structure?  I really don't want to pay $5K a year just so I don't have to think about how to do the maths, and would be happy to forego that simplicity.

[sofiaabrantes]

This is pure greed on their part, nothing else. 

[marc_compte]

---

Valeria K wrote:

The new fee structure will also simplify freelancer processes:

• Freelancers won’t have to track tiers on contracts to determine how much they will earn each week. 
• Freelancers won’t have to calculate fees for multiple tiers when determining pricing for a contract.
• Calculating year-end revenue and expenses may be easier to do once all contracts have the same freelancer service fee percentage

---

Valeria, I built my own app to calculate all those. If you are having troubles, let me know and I can teach you.

[sofiaabrantes]

Truly.

[marc_compte]

---

Valeria K wrote:

• Calculating year-end revenue and expenses may be easier to do once all contracts have the same freelancer service fee percentage

---

I was just trying to figure out how to adapt my bookkeeping to these changes and I noticed that if that sentence were true, you'd have made this change on 1st January. Lying is a very difficult art you don't master.

[researchediting]

---

Marc C wrote:

---

Valeria K wrote:

• Calculating year-end revenue and expenses may be easier to do once all contracts have the same freelancer service fee percentage

---

I was just trying to figure out how to adapt my bookkeeping to these changes and I noticed that if that sentence were true, you'd have made this change on 1st January. Lying is a very difficult art you don't master.

---

Note: "Calculating...may be easier". That's why they're implementing this in May.

[masharichart]

I can do math, so it's not a hardship for me to determine how much I will make each week.

I can do math, so I know exactly how much I'll be losing on my 5% contracts when this change takes effect.

I can do math (and so can my clients), so we will be taking those 5% contracts off-platform as soon as they hit the two-year mark, and will know exactly how much we both will be saving when we do. 

[sofiaabrantes]

100%. And I've been on the platform for almost 7 years, so imagine what I'm taking with me now. I can't believe I was actually loyal for this long, keeping everything on here despite having the option not to, only to be "rewarded" to this. They might have just dug their own (online) grave for a few more bucks this year. 

[vpieza]

in order to give freelancers like you time to adjust to this new fee structure and to adjust their own rates, work strategies, and contract selections accordingly.

Thanks for the ample time to figure out how we can get off of Upwork. Nobody is willing to pay 5% more and it's not easy to ask for a raise! You could've just applied that change to new contracts and retain the 5% service fee for freelancers like us who have worked hard to retain a client on Upwork for years. 

[zo0m]

10% fee means that 1 month per year I should work only for Upwork fees? It's to much!

[sofiaabrantes]

Way too much!

[omar_vector]

This is underrated comment

[ssamayoa]

Holly cow!

We already suffered the initial 20%, then 10% for firat $10K to finally get only 5% and now "to simplify"?

IMHO you should honor those long running projects 5% as long as they live.

I feel betrayed!

[sofiaabrantes]

Stabbed in the back, literally. 

[transf0rmer]

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?

[mreall]

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.

[grimesr]

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.

[spectralua]

Are you serious? 😀

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

[abu_ansarul-mush]

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.

[williamtcooper]

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. 

[bobafett999]

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.