Any other method for direct clients?

[2b2b110a]

Direct client feature is supposed to help when we want to secure payments with clients outside Upwork. Whenever I tried to use the feature, it didn't work because the client's e-mail was already registered with Upwork. Though they did or didn't use it, one of them didn't even remember if he was ever on Upwork. In the end, I wasn't able to work with them. 

So, my problem is if the feature cannot help in such situations, then at least there should be an alternative.  Is there any way I can propose a contract even if a client ON Upwork has not contacted me on the forum? Something like a proposal through their registered e-mail or similar?

[petra_r]

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Abhaya B wrote:

So, my problem is if the feature cannot help in such situations, then at least there should be an alternative. 

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Of course there is an alternative. Tell the client(s) to hire you from their Upwork account and send them the url of your profile.

[martina_plaschka]

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Abhaya B wrote:

So, my problem is if the feature cannot help in such situations, then at least there should be an alternative.  Is there any way I can propose a contract even if a client ON Upwork has not contacted me on the forum? Something like a proposal through their registered e-mail or similar?

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No, that would be terrible. Clients don't want to be contacted by random freelancers looking for work. If they need help, they have to post a job. 

[feed_my_eyes · Accepted solution]

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Abhaya B wrote:

Direct client feature is supposed to help when we want to secure payments with clients outside Upwork.

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I don't think that helping people is the reason for the direct contracts feature; it's more likely that Upwork wants to incentivise us to bring more clients here. If somebody is already on the website as a client, then what's the benefit to Upwork if they provide payment services, while being denied their usual cut?

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Abhaya B wrote:

So, my problem is if the feature cannot help in such situations, then at least there should be an alternative.  Is there any way I can propose a contract even if a client ON Upwork has not contacted me on the forum? Something like a proposal through their registered e-mail or similar?

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The problem is, how is Upwork supposed to know that these clients didn't find you here, since they were already registered? You can't prove that a client didn't see your profile on Upwork before finding another means of contacting you. If there was a way around this, it would be open to all kinds of abuse, with freelancers claiming that they met all of their clients off of Upwork, just to avoid having to pay any fees. 

[martina_plaschka]

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Christine A wrote:

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Abhaya B wrote:

Direct client feature is supposed to help when we want to secure payments with clients outside Upwork.

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I don't think that helping people is the reason for the direct contracts feature; it's more likely that Upwork wants to incentivise us to bring more clients here. If somebody is already on the website as a client, then what's the benefit to Upwork if they provide payment services, while being denied their usual cut?

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Abhaya B wrote:

So, my problem is if the feature cannot help in such situations, then at least there should be an alternative.  Is there any way I can propose a contract even if a client ON Upwork has not contacted me on the forum? Something like a proposal through their registered e-mail or similar?

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The problem is, how is Upwork supposed to know that these clients didn't find you here, since they were already registered? You can't prove that a client didn't see your profile on Upwork before finding another means of contacting you. If there was a way around this, it would be open to all kinds of abuse, with freelancers claiming that they met all of their clients off of Upwork, just to avoid having to pay any fees. 

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That poses an interesting question: A freelancer uses direct contracts with an outside client and pays only the direct contract fee. The client likes upwork so much that he decides to create a client account. Can the former direct contract arrangement remain in place or do they have to (automatically?) switch to the regular client/freelancer relation?

[feed_my_eyes]

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Martina P wrote:

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The client likes upwork so much that he decides to create a client account. Can the former direct contract arrangement remain in place or do they have to (automatically?) switch to the regular client/freelancer relation?

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I'm pretty sure that the original arrangement stays in place, otherwise nobody would use this feature. (I've never tried to use it myself, though, so maybe somebody else will weigh in.)

[2b2b110a]

Thank you for the detailed answer, Christine.