Minimal project cost size

51d5d8d3 · ‎06-18-2021

Hi!
I'm a video editor and in my Job History, I have good contracts with $100+ per project. But sometimes I have a client with an hourly contract that says: I have more video coming soon, let's start with this one I later I'll send you more. But after I send them a video, they won't reply. So I have a closed contract with $40 for example. If I spent 2 hours.

But how can I prevent this?

prestonhunter · ‎06-18-2021

I don't understand what you are talking about.

An hourly contract means that you get paid for the hours you work.

If you work for two hours, then you get paid for two hours.

A fixed-price contract means you get paid a specific amount for a specific deliverable.

These are two different contract models. You can't combine them.

re: "So I have a closed contract with $40 for example. If I spent 2 hours. But how can I prevent this?"

There is nothing that you need to prevent.

Jobs in your work history are clearly identified as to whether they are fixed-price or hourly. There is nothing wrong with having both. There is nothing wrong with having a mix of small, medium, and large jobs.

If you still have any questions, then ask your questions right here in this thread.

51d5d8d3 · ‎06-24-2021

Sorry for the bad explanation...
I mean that I want to set the minimum project size from $100.
For fixed contracts, it's not a problem.
But for hourly contracts, I need to count at least 5 hours to have a $100 contract (my rate is $20/hour)
What should I say to clients who wanna work with hourly contracts?
If the project took me to do 2 hours but I need 5 hours at least, can I put 3 hours manually? Is it allowed?

tlbp · ‎06-18-2021

Yurii Z wrote:
Hi!
I'm a video editor and in my Job History, I have good contracts with $100+ per project. But sometimes I have a client with an hourly contract that says: I have more video coming soon, let's start with this one I later I'll send you more. But after I send them a video, they won't reply. So I have a closed contract with $40 for example. If I spent 2 hours.

But how can I prevent this?

Don't decide who to work for based on promises. If you don't want to work on projects with a value of less than $100, you'll either have to ask the hourly client to agree to a minimum number of hours or use a fixed price contract. (Note that Upwork will not provide payment protection for hours not actually worked. So you can add manual hours to your weekly bill to cover the minimum, but the client can refuse to pay any manual hours with no consequences other than your ire.)

51d5d8d3 · ‎06-24-2021

Thank you!
So, if in the Upwork messages client said that he's ok with adding manual time if the project took less than 5 hours to do. Can I add it manually? Or even if he said that it's ok, he can not pay for it and Upwork will be on his side?

petra_r · ‎06-24-2021

On hourly contracts, you bill ONLY the time it took you to work. No more. If it took you 2 hours, you bill 2 hours. That is all there is to it.

Anything else would be unacceptable. I think you may need to stick to fixed rate contracts or up your hourly rate. This whole "If it takes less time I charge you more money" is a most peculiar way to operate. As a client I'd feel incredibly ripped off if someone worked 2 hours and charged 5.

You'd lose any dispute over such a thing as well.

Yurii Z wrote:
So I have a closed contract with $40 for example. If I spent 2 hours.

Why would that be a problem and why would you want to "prevent" it?

51d5d8d3 · ‎06-24-2021

Ok, then why some Agency Profiles have "The minimum project size", for example, $1000.
How do they work? Because somebody can hire that agency for 2 hours work and after that end the contract.
So, they will have $40 project in their history, but not $1000.

prestonhunter · ‎06-24-2021

Yurii:

Why do some clients hate hiring agencies and refuse to hire them?

You're not an agency.

You have been given accurate, high-quality information in this thread.

If you understand

- how the Upwork user interface phyiscally works

- what the Upwork ToS rules are

- what clients are likely to expect of you

...Then after that, you can make your own decisions.

None of the Upwork Community Forum regulars I know of are going to tell you that it is a problem if you have small projects on your profile page. I SEE NOTHING wrong with being hired for only an hour of my time and seeing such a project on my profile page. I don't know anyone here who will tell you that's bad.

Based on my experience in the Forum, I can't think of any Upwork user or employee who is going to support you in any plan to use hourly contracts with a minimum dollar amount propped up by manually-logged time that doesn't reflect actual time worked. Feel free to pitch your ideas, but I don't think anything along those lines is going to receive any support here.

petra_r · ‎06-24-2021

Yurii Z wrote:
Ok, then why some Agency Profiles have "The minimum project size", for example, $1000.

And do they have minimum project sizes of $1000?

If freelancers or agencies want to earn money they don't set such plain stupid minimums.

And as Preston said: You are not an agency.

Are you literally drowning in work and have far more offers than you can handle? If that is the case, simply up your hourly rate.

If not, don't create reasons for clients not to hire you and to dispute your hours and give you bad feedback.

tlbp · ‎07-08-2021

Yurii Z wrote:
Ok, then why some Agency Profiles have "The minimum project size", for example, $1000.
How do they work? Because somebody can hire that agency for 2 hours work and after that end the contract.
So, they will have $40 project in their history, but not $1000.

They either give the $40 back or live with the stain of a less than $1000 contract on their history.

petra_r · ‎06-24-2021

Yurii Z wrote:
Thank you!
So, if in the Upwork messages client said that he's ok with adding manual time if the project took less than 5 hours to do.

Most clients would never agree to something like that.

Yurii Z wrote:
Thank you!
Or even if he said that it's ok, he can not pay for it and Upwork will be on his side?

Absolutely!

51d5d8d3 · ‎07-08-2021

Thank you!
Ok, then I know if I have Top Rated I can hide some feedbacks.
So, how can I hide projects with a low budget?

tlbp · ‎07-08-2021

Yurii Z wrote:
Thank you!
Ok, then I know if I have Top Rated I can hide some feedbacks.
So, how can I hide projects with a low budget?

You cannot hide the project, only the feedback. One contract's feedback can be removed once every three months and 10 contracts using your Top Rated perk.
To fully remove a low-paying gig, you would need to refund the money earned to the client. (This will remove it from your work history only--not from the feedback history used to calculate JSS.)

51d5d8d3 · ‎07-12-2021

Oh, that's also not a solution for me...
I thought I can hide low-budget contracts.

Ok, another way:
If a client wants to work by hourly contract and I'm not sure he/she can provide enough work to reach $100. I can propose him to create a fixed-price contract for $100 and after I'll do a job for this price he can change it to an hourly contract and we'll work that way.

Can this work?

turbocro · ‎07-12-2021

I'am having a hard time understanding why are you ashamed of having 2 hours work on your profile if you alone have set your own hourly rate. And why do you think $100 i some magical number that will make everything right..

You can set your hourly to $50, log two hours only and work up to 5 hours for free, but if you suggest this to me as a client I would tell you that you that this is super weird and would went with freelancer that simply log time that he work for me without any "special" requirements

wescowley · ‎07-12-2021

Yurii Z wrote:
Oh, that's also not a solution for me...
I thought I can hide low-budget contracts.

Ok, another way:
If a client wants to work by hourly contract and I'm not sure he/she can provide enough work to reach $100. I can propose him to create a fixed-price contract for $100 and after I'll do a job for this price he can change it to an hourly contract and we'll work that way.

Can this work?

You can't change a fixed-rate contract to an hourly one (or vice versa). You'd have to close the fixed-rate one and then open a new hourly one.

wlyonsatl · ‎07-12-2021

Yurii,

If you and the client can agree that your total charge on a project will be based on an hourly rate plus a bonus to equal a specific total dollar amount...

And you agree your total charges to the client will not exceed that total dollar amount...

You should probably set your hourly rate so the bonus is not a significant portion of the client's total cost for a project, so the client doesn't think that they're paying you for far more hours of work than you are actually doing. (This also has the advantage that hourly pay is well-protected by Upwork's payment rules.)

This would likely work best with repeat clients who a) already know that they get good value from you at the total price they pay for your services and b) you will have some confidence that the bonus will actually be paid to you and not eventually clawed back by the client (as there is no payment protection on bonus payments, so that amount will always be at risk).

Good luck!

wlyonsatl · ‎07-12-2021

Oh, and never base your pay rate for any project on promises of future work.

That's one of the biggest red flags I see from potential new clients, including variations such as, "There is plenty of future work for the right freelancer" and "Just do a free small test before we hire you." (The second variation is a violation of Upwork's rules.

That tomorrow may well never come.