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73daf36d
Community Member

Escrow and Withdrawing Funds

Hey Guys, 

 

At what point in time am I insured by the escrow thing ? Is it the moment you click the accept button on the contract ? During the 'active proposal' phase ?

 

In addition, I have a question about what exactly escrow is. Does it mean if the client doesn't pay, that Upwork would cover you in full for what they were going to pay you?

 

On a separate topic, I'd like to pay the $2 funds withdraw fee as little as possible so I was hoping I could withdraw my funds later this year; however, the only options I see are quarterly, monthly, bi weekly and weekly. Am I missing something or are those the only options ? 

 

Also, is there a way to withdraw your money if you have less than $100 in your account ?

 

Thanks,

Kyle Marler

6 REPLIES 6
wlyonsatl
Community Member

Kyle,

 

You and the client agree to the milestones that will cover the project before the contract begins.

 

Once the project begins, you and the client know what you will do for each milestone and what you will be paid for completing each milestone.

 

Don't start work on any milestone until it is fully funded by the client and the client has funded and released to you payments due for all previous milestones you have completed and submitted to the client.

 

Always submit your work for a milestone using the green "submit" button for the milestone.

 

Only submit work for each milestone once. The client may approve payment quickly, but the amount of the milestone will automatically be released to you after 14 days. If you re-submit the work, that restarts the 14-day clock for automatic payment.

 

If you submit work on a milestone that hasn't been funded, the client can take that work, close the project and Upwork can do nothing to help you get paid, so be careful that escrow is always in place before submitting work.

 

 

prestonhunter
Community Member

re: "Also, is there a way to withdraw your money if you have less than $100 in your account"

 

You may withdraw funds at any time. It is a myth that you can not withdraw funds if you have less than $100.

 

The myth stems from a setting that can be set to have funds withdrawn AUTOMATICALLY on a weekly basis if you have a balance of at least $100.

 

But you ALWAYS are able to withdraw your funds by clicking a button MANUALLY, as long as your balance exceeds the withdrawal fee.

 

(And you live in the U.S., so you can withdraw to your bank account for free.)

re: "On a separate topic, I'd like to pay the $2 funds withdraw fee as little as possible so I was hoping I could withdraw my funds later this year; however, the only options I see are quarterly, monthly, bi weekly and weekly. Am I missing something or are those the only options ?"

 

Just do what I do.

 

Pay the $2 funds withdraw fee never.

 

I can withdraw money as often as I want, and pay zero fees. If I do many fixed-piece contracts, I could potentially have money become available every day of the week, and I could withdraw money seven days a week and never pay a withdrawal fee.

 

You can do the same.

How do you avoid paying the fee? I don’t understand

re: "How do you avoid paying the fee? I don’t understand"

 

The standard way that U.S.-based freelancers withdraw funds is ACH withdrawal to their bank account. There is no fee for that.

 

When I withdraw defunds, the money takes one and a half days (or about 36 hours) to arrive in my bank account.

 

I do not feel compelled to pay $2.00 for expedited withdrawal to try to make it go faster.

How do you turn off auto withdrawal?
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