Need advise as client wants to pay me for hardware component

[muhammadmoizkhan]

Hello everyone,

I am currently working on a project which is related to the hardware and the client wants to pay me for the hardware so that I can do his task, need to know that is he allowed to pay me for the hardware-parts with-in the Upwork without fee deduction, as electronics hardware is not the part of my hourly work? He is saying the hardware parts will cost him more if Upwork takes service fees on hardware parts as well. He is agreed to pay me on my hourly time but not for parts.

Is there any option in the platform for the clients so that they can pay me within the platform without a service fee for hardware parts. 

Kindly I am new in this situation and would like to take advice from experts to deal with this situation.
Thanks!

Regards,
Moiz khan

[yitwail]

Muhammad, Upwork deducts its fee from every payment from a client, even if it's for the purpose of purchasing equipment or supplies. What a client can do is to purchase the equipment himself and have it delivered to you, by using Amazon for example.

[wescowley]

All of the money that flows from the client to you is subject to the fee. I suggest you ask the client to buy it and have it shipped to you. Which probably will not happen.

Be very careful, because this is sounding like one of the common scams on here.

[lysis10]

Is it something that could be used for other work? I'll buy product if I can use it for something else or I could maybe learn something from it. In the US it's a tax writeoff anyway.

[prestonhunter]

There are lots of Upwork clients who legitimately need freelancers to work with specific hardware or parts. Most of them probably just purchase the parts themselves and have them shipped to the freelancer.

There is certainly no scam inherent in this.

When a client talks about having a freelancer purchase items directly... that is when one must be cautious.

[resultsassoc]

In Upworkworld there is no cost for equipment or travel or report production or expert witness interviews or travel, because everything is done over the internet which is free. Upworkworld is not reality. Imagine that.

Either get the client to pay for the purchases and have them delivered to you, or eat the cost of the Upwork fee, there is no solution to this in Upworkworld. Preston is spot on.