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jardine-lisa
Community Member

How do request a payment from an Upwork client without a contract.

Hey,

 

Sorry if this is a silly question. I just interviewed for an Upwork gig and completed a few jobs as part of a trial run.

 

The client rejected the contract because it wasn't going to be affordable for him but agreed to pay me for the work completed.  Can you tell me how I can send him a request for the agreed amount?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Lisa

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g_vasilevski
Retired Team Member
Retired Team Member

Hi Lisa,

 

Your client will need to send you an offer, once an official contract is formed they can issue a bonus payment or set up the payment directly on the contract. You can share this guide with your client on how they can create an offer. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

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g_vasilevski
Retired Team Member
Retired Team Member

Hi Lisa,

 

Your client will need to send you an offer, once an official contract is formed they can issue a bonus payment or set up the payment directly on the contract. You can share this guide with your client on how they can create an offer. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork
prestonhunter
Community Member

re: "I just interviewed for an Upwork gig and completed a few jobs as part of a trial run. The client rejected the contract because it wasn't going to be affordable for him but agreed to pay me for the work completed. Can you tell me how I can send him a request for the agreed amount?"

 

You can not get paid without a contract.

You worked for free. Next time, do not work for free.

 

It IS possible for the client to create a contract in order to pay you. But whether or not the client does so is up to him. It is on the honor system. This is something that Upwork will not enforce or get involved with.

 

If you had waited until the client sent you an official contract offer, and then if you had accepted the contract offer, you would have been paid for your work automatically even if the client did absolutely nothing else.

gina-herrera
Community Member


Lisa J wrote:

 

The client rejected the contract because it wasn't going to be affordable for him


... did he not know what your rates were before you started? 
you're lucky he wants to pay you, so many people get scammed in this manner and end up with free work, just be careful.

Yes, I only did a little bit for him so we could figure out how to charge for a longer contract.  He actually offered to pay me and the amount is pretty small.  

 

Do you guys charge a test price normally if you are doing 1 or 2 small tasks in an interview process?  If so how do you go about that.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

re: "Do you guys charge a test price normally if you are doing 1 or 2 small tasks in an interview process? If so how do you go about that."

 

It is a violation of Upwork ToS for a client to ask a freelancer to work for free.

 

It is inappropriate for a client to have you work for them - including doing small tasks during the interview process - without paying you.

 

Think about it this way:

Sometimes you go to the grocery store and buy over $100 worth of groceries. You are stocking up for the next week or so.

 

But today you just stopped by and the only thing you wanted was an apple. One small item. Did you pay for the apple, even though it cost a small amount of money? Or did you simply take it without paying?

 

Moreover, did the cost of the apple change because that was the only item you were buying, versus being part of a much larger purchase?

 

Answer: The cost of the apple was the same either way. And you paid for the apple, regardless of whether or not it was the only item or part of a much larger purchase.

Hey,

 

He didn't ask me to work for free.  Can you tell me how you normally complete test runs in an interview process?

 

I had set a rate per hour which he had agreed on. I agreed to look at a package price for a large volume of work and gave him an estimate that was outside his budget.  He has actually offered to pay me for the one hour the test took but has been waiting for me to send him some form of link.  I hope this clears this up.

 

Any suggestions on how to charge in an interview process would be great.


Lisa J wrote:

 

Any suggestions on how to charge in an interview process would be great.


You would need to set up a normal contract, either a fixed rate for one hour of work or an hourly where you would track the time spent in a tracker. Even though it's part of an interview phase, it would be the same process.

If a contract is not set up officially, you have no guarantee of getting paid even for a test project - the contract is what makes it binding, because the money would be in escrow (and therefore safe for you to begin the project).

There is a risk in this; they could leave you bad feedback. Personally I would rather be paid though. I actually don't work with people that ask for test projects, but I'm in a more visual field so they can see my work in my portfolio.

Thanks Gina, this is really helpful.

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