Direct contract with 3.4% commision if client already on Upwork

[#1]

I'm trying to send a direct contract, but receiving a message: "This email address is already associated with an Upwork account. "

I met the client outside of Upwork and would like to have a lower commission (3.4%) instead of the standard one (~10%). Is it possible?

[#2 · Accepted solution]

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Mykola S wrote:

I met the client outside of Upwork and would like to have a lower commission (3.4%) instead of the standard one (~10%). Is it possible?

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That isn't possible because the client is alread on Upwork. Direct contracts are purely for clients who are NOT Upwork clients.

And the fee tier starts at 20% on the first $500

[#3]

This seems exactly against the spirit of Direct Contracts. So now the entire power of the service is dependant upon hoping that the client doesn't already have an UpWork account? Otherwise you're only getting 80% of their business? The price the client and I agreed upon was built on the assumption of a 3.4% fee. And now it's 20%?!

This makes freelancers look like either fools or grifters.