0% fee 'Bring your own client'

[#1]

Just got that mail... that sounds like a great thing, and i will be sure to use it when i get a chance.

But what bugs me: how do you plan to deal with the people who would hire themselves to gain success score, opening fake accounts of clients? It will be so cheap to do so (just some foreign exchange commissions, or maybe not even that when using U.S. payment methods) that it will be tempting to do so. Won't we soon face a whole new brand of fakes?

What i suggest: don't include contracts with these 0% clients into JSS calculation, top rated/rising talent, and otherwise take means to make sure they don't help a profile stand out.

[#2]

Sorry, nevermind, I've found it

[#3]

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@Alexander N wrote:

What i suggest: don't include contracts with these 0% clients into JSS calculation, top rated/rising talent, and otherwise take means to make sure they don't help a profile stand out.

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 Good idea....

[#4]

In my understanding the offer is already being given to select freelancers therefore I don't think there is going to be any misuse of this great option


However I do have a question for managment [ @Valeria K @Vladimir G ] I once brought a client who had created an account at upwork long ago but never actually hired anyone, it was me who conviced her to work with me here and since then she is regularly hiring here

Now the offer states that client must not have prior account, my suggestion is to kindly change it slightly that he/she has no previous hiring record 

[#5]

Khurram, that makes a lot of sense IF Upwork can somehow insure it won't be abused by scammers and the providers who don't object to stopping to dubious and against ToS methods.

[#6]

Hi Khurram,

Unfortunately, this discount only applies to any client you bring that is entirely new to Upwork. We can't honor the 0% service fee if they already have an existing account on Upwork.

[#7]

Can you inform me how this can be done? I am new upwork member and I have company that wants to hire me, how can I make the invite so the 0% fee can be valid?

[#8]

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@Mishko G wrote:

Can you inform me how this can be done? I am new upwork member and I have company that wants to hire me, how can I make the invite so the 0% fee can be valid?

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 You can't - you need to be top rated and get an invitation with a special link for the client to use to sign up to Upwork.

In other words:

The client can NOT already have an Upwork account

AND

You need to be top rated

AND

You need the personal link.

[#9]

Thanks Petra for you input, this forum looks a bit weird I did not saw your reply (frankly I did not even a notification that someone replied to my post)

[#10]

The important question in my mind about this otherwise great opportunity will play out is whether these clients will be explicitly exempted from the anti-circumvention policy.

I know that the policy refers to clients you "connected with" here, so I'm confident these clients would not fall within the definition if it came to a legal challenge, but a clear statement would be greatly preferred and would encourage me to bring outside clients to Upwork.

[#11]

Hi Tiffany,

I can confirm that you can work both on Upwork and off with offline clients you bring to Upwork through the BYOC program, and this would not be considered a violation of our Terms of Service.

[#12]

Very important point. I also asked myself this question - 'won't this lock me into working with this client through Upwork only forever?'

[#13]

Hi Alexander,

Please see my reply to Tiffany above.

[#14]

Hi can you please let me know how can I get the specific link to invite my client on Upwork? How do I ask for a specific link? I am very much interested. Thank you!

[#15]

Hi Mariona,

You will receive a link to use to bring your own client on directly by email.

 Thanks!

[#16]

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@Alexander N wrote:

What i suggest: don't include contracts with these 0% clients into JSS calculation, top rated/rising talent, and otherwise take means to make sure they don't help a profile stand out.

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 This seems as if it would eliminate a key incentive for freelancers to bring their existing clients to Upwork.

[#17]

What I glean from the 0% fee is that U hopes clients brought in will need additional work that is not within the original provider's bailiwick. 

A number of us have relied for years on personal referrals amongst ourselves.  Upwork hopes to capture the fee %s; the trade off is the chance to bolster JSS. 

I do not include escrow security within this because most clients would either be long-term with established payment records or new clients where providers require a hefty % of fee cash in front.

[#18]

That's my take, too Wendy...and since these are clients we aren't concerned about payment protection with, I'm struggling to see what the upside to the freelancer would be (save a bit of efficiency) if those clients were excluded from JSS.

[#19]

Exactly, Tiffany.

Couple that with the fact that many - if not all of us with outside clients really are not all that concerned with JSS - gawd forbid a disaster of some sort.

There is also the real concern about instability of the platform although the last few days have been much improved.

[#20]

I would not bring my outside clients to Upwork, simply because the 0 charge does not seem to cover VAT or transfer charges.  I am quite capable of invoicing a client and following up if necessary. I have never had to do the latter.

My two main clients do not speak or write English comfortably, so Upwork would not be interesting to them in any case.

[#21]

Hoping for some answers to the questions I posted in another 0% thread. Here they are again:

- Can we use this link with only one off-platform client or send it to as many clients as we want?

- "For a limited time..." - how long is that exactly?

- You'll apply the 0% fee in 3 business days - does that mean that all money we earn on that contract in the first 2/3 days gets a 20% fee applied? And what if the work is finished and contract closed before the 3 days are up?

[#22]

Good points  ... and another shining example of why Upwork really would benefit from hiring a competent freelancer to edit and/or rewrite communications PRIOR to releasing them.

[#23]

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@Wendy C wrote:

Good points  ... and another shining example of why Upwork really would benefit from hiring a competent freelancer to edit and/or rewrite communications PRIOR to releasing them.

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Does this latest move of Upwork have anything to do with the COI issue raised by another website?  I have read on another thread how serious the editing scenario can be at this time.  I wasn't aware of the issue so my initial take on the email was that probably this is to find out how many "best" freelancers are engaged in circumvention.

[#24]

Still no answers... posting here again so that the Mods can see it. I'm a little wary of this 0% offer.

[#25]

I would imagine one benefit for Upwork is that if a client has hired one freelancer, they are open to hiring others. So if I bring a copywriting client to Upwork, they may hire other types of freelancers or another writer. I think I would only use the BYOC service if it were my client's preference to do so. 

[#26]

I would really like to find out more about this option. I have regularly problems with US-clients who don't know how to transfer money to a bank account - always wishing to pay over credit card or PP.

If this service would be free for them as well as for me it might be an option in case I get another of those cases - last year it was a big law firm and in the end the client left because he did not know how to pay me (weird, I know, but that's how it happened).