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9fc99a3a
Community Member

Monthly retainers

Hey all, I have an important question.

 

Would it be possible for Upwork to offer Freelancers the ability to create their own monthly retainers? For example, as a social media manager, it's not in my best interest to be paid hourly. It would be best if I charged monthly for my services. Ideally, Upwork would supply the freelancer with the ability to set multiple retainers. I'll share an example.

 

If I'm a social media manager who provides their clients with:

 

Content creation

Scheduling

Copywriting

Branding

Analytics

Organic Growth

 

Posting 5x a week on 3 social media accounts, it would be best to set a monthly service for $450~

 

If a client has a tight budget, they would settle for a different monthly retainer offering all of the above services, but only for 3x a week for $300~

 

Is this possible? Or, my fellow freelancers, would this be possible for Upwork to work on in the future? Would I be able to contact anyone about it? I thought it was an interesting idea that might make things easier for the client & freelancer. What are your thoughts?

 

- Sarah 🙂

 

8 REPLIES 8
petra_r
Community Member


Sarah H wrote:

Would it be possible for Upwork to offer Freelancers the ability to create their own monthly retainers

 


A WEEKLY retainer is already possible, as is a weekly salary (the difference is that the salary is in addition to any hours logged, whereas the retainer is standalone.

 

 

9fc99a3a
Community Member

I've seen that! It's definitely a step in the right direction. I think I left out that ideally I could have my monthly/weekly retainer rate advertised on my profile, rather than my hourly rate.
bd8313e6
Community Member

That page is broken. Where could I set that up on freelancer profile? Also, nowhere on the project options can I see a "monthly" or "weekly" option. Everything is fixed price. Do I just put Monthly in the Project title then?

 

Hi Ben, 

 

What Petra is referring to here is the weekly payment that clients can pay freelancers on top of their hourly rate for an Hourly contract, this will not be available on a Fixed-Price contract as you already have Milestones.

 

You and the client can decide on when the due date is on each Milestone, so should you wish to be paid monthly, they can set the Milestones one month apart.


~ AJ
Upwork
LuiggiR
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Sarah,

 

We do not have a monthly retainer set up on Upwork, but you may want to try using the pre-packaged projects option on your profile, and/or the Fixed-Priced contract. This will help showcase the services you can offer your clients based on their budget.

 

~ Luiggi
Upwork
9fc99a3a
Community Member

I see! That's a wonderful idea. Thank you for the input.
ayeshaiub09
Community Member

Hi Sarah,

As far as I know, Upwork currently doesn't offer a feature to allow freelancers to set up monthly retainers. However, freelancers can discuss the payment terms with their clients and come to an agreement outside of Upwork's payment system.

In addition, Upwork does allow freelancers to set project-based fees and milestones, which could be used to structure monthly retainers. For example, you could create a project with a monthly fee of $450 and milestones for each of the services you provide. The client would release payment for each milestone as it's completed, and the project could be set to renew each month.

Alternatively, you could include your retainer options and pricing in your proposals and contracts with clients, and set up recurring payments through Upwork's payment system.

I hope this helps!

fa153f0d
Community Member

The problem I find with the recurring submission of a new milestone request for each month as a method of effecting a monthly retainer model is that this also requires the client to confirm the milestone and then fund it. This is an unnecessary and burdomsome friction to a freelancer being paid for the work they have carried out during the month. The lack of a monthly retainer functionality in Upwork which automatically debits the client and pays the freelancer is a problem which needs to be solved.

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