FIXED PRICE VS HOURLY

[joellel]

Why does Upwork want to have only hourly prices? Fixes prices should be an option.

[spiderwisp]

Pardon my ignorance as I'm still new here, but does Upwork not offer fixed pricing? I have yet to submit any bids here (no need to yet), so I haven't experienced this aspect of this wonderful new platform.

[fergusm1970]

Yes, Upwork now has an escrow system for fixed price jobs. Unfortunately you can't convert hourly jobs to fixed price and there's no guarantee the client will actually release the full agreed amount, but the capability is there.

[fergusm1970]

"Fixes prices should be an option."

It is, but not many clients offer them.

[mrchambers]

.... but many clients will accept a fixed price offer if you make one during the interview stage for an hourly rate job post.   (So its a shame that an hourly rate job post can't be converted to hourly, despite the reverse breing possible).

[colettelewis]

I can confirm that you can change to a fixed-rate job at interview stage. I have done it twice.

[stephenbrightman]

and it's also simple just to withdraw the offer (if it's even been made) and make a new private (fixed price) offer. I also often make a fixed price bid for an hourly job, and it's quite often taken up...

[prestonhunter]

re: "Why does Upwork want to have only hourly prices? Fixes prices should be an option."

I really don't know why you perceived things in this way.

Both contract models - fixed-price and hourly - are well-supported, and there are vast numbers of jobs for both.

I know there are CONTRACTORS who favor one or the other, for various reasons, and INDIVIDUAL clients may favor one or the other.

But clients can be persuaded to change their mind about the contract model with vaild reasons. And from what I have seen, most job categories have a healthy mix of both fixed-price and hourly contracts.

[droleary]

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@Preston H wrote:

re: "Why does Upwork want to have only hourly prices? Fixes prices should be an option."

I really don't know why you perceived things in this way.

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I think I might have figured this one out!  It could be that Joelle is seeing the same bug I reported to Upwork many months ago: if you set up some filters (e.g., no entry level jobs) it also removes all the fixed price jobs, too.

Still not fixed.

Still not expecting it to ever be fixed.

[prestonhunter]

re: "...could be that Joelle is seeing the same bug..."

Good catch, Darrin.

I'm glad I have never encountered this bug. Yes, that would really distort somebody's perceptions of what jobs are available on Upwork, if their view blocked half the jobs.

[a8342480]

Because you are wrong.

What the original post is getting is this: YOU CAN'T HIRE ON UPWORK, THE WAY YOU COULD ON ELANCE. It's a train wreck.

It's nigh impossible to a) get open ended bidding, to find out what something should cost and b) then get a fixed bid.

I've hired a lot on Elance, and have yet to give one job on Upwork.

Why? Because I'm busy vetting the competition, because I'm furious that Upwork took a great thing - Elance - and distmantled it.

Upwork = New Coke and other marketing nightmares.

[kat303]

Hi Nichola,

You stated that you've changed an hourly job to a fixed rate. Can you explane how? Is there some link as in Elance that you click on that voids the hourly job and open a new fixed rate job automatically once you click that link after being awarded the job?

[colettelewis]

Kathy,  unfortunately, it is nothing like as easy as it is on Elance, and there is no link. The only way round it is to persuade your client to change the job from hourly to fixed-rate at the first interview. I don't know how my two clients did this, but they certainly didn't mind.

I sometimes make it clear in my proposal that I only work on a fixed-rate basis. This has worked for me on Elance, when a client has asked for a proposal at an hourly rate - sometimes clients don't know what they want. Whether this stipulation would work on Upwork, is moot. I have only had two clients since oDesk became Upwork, so I am not really in a position to judge.

[jsutherland]

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@Joelle L wrote:

Why does Upwork want to have only hourly prices? Fixes prices should be an option.

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If you are searching and have selected (for instance) Expert Jobs only then you won't see fixed price jobs.

It's a bug we have been trying for months now to get fixed.

I have worked around the issue by moving the $$ green bar on Fixed Price Jobs on left hand side, to $50 or $100. That seems to then show the fixed price work for you to search.