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donfak
Community Member

Request Project Expenses Fees via PayPal?

Hi folks,

 

I know about Upwork policies on NOT getting paid via external services.

But this is a case scenario: For the needs of a website project I'm working on, can I request the client to send me the money for the domain name and the hosting via PayPal? The reason being that I haven't yet received the payment for the project and the client cannot technically set up the hosting by himself.

 

Will doing this violate Upwork terms?

 

Thanks for your clarifications,

Joel

10 REPLIES 10
petra_r
Community Member


Joel D wrote:

I know about Upwork policies on NOT getting paid via external services.

For the needs of a website project I'm working on, can I request the client to send me the money for the domain name and the hosting via PayPal?


Either you understand that receiving ANY money outside Upwork will get you kicked off the site, OR you are asking  if you can receive money via PayPal.... The two are mutually exclusive.

 


Joel D wrote:

Will doing this violate Upwork terms?


Of course it will.

 

If the client wants to send you money to buy whatever, they have to send it via Upwork (and you have to factor in the fee,)

 

donfak
Community Member

And how should a project suppose to be financed when the development involves expenses as long as the freelance will get paid any money only at project completion?

 

It is true that the client can do the purchases by himself in most cases, but what about situations where the client is not technically capable?

petra_r
Community Member


Joel D wrote:

And how should a project suppose to be financed when the development involves expenses as long as the freelance will get paid any money only at project completion?


You incorporate costs like that in your bid.

 


Joel D wrote:

It is true that the client can do the purchases by himself in most cases, but what about situations where the client is not technically capable?


Then the client has to pay the freelancer through Upwork (including the fees)

 

donfak
Community Member

Thank you Petra, I understand there's no exception with payments going outside of Upwork and that I can include everything in my bid.
But again, for expenses occurring as the work progresses, the problem is WHEN the money is received by the freelancer... Only at the end.

tlsanders
Community Member


Joel D wrote:


But again, for expenses occurring as the work progresses, the problem is WHEN the money is received by the freelancer... Only at the end.


There's no reason the money can be received only a the end. The client can make a miscellaneous payment to you at any time.

tlbp
Community Member


Joel D wrote:

And how should a project suppose to be financed when the development involves expenses as long as the freelance will get paid any money only at project completion?

 

It is true that the client can do the purchases by himself in most cases, but what about situations where the client is not technically capable?


Have you asked yourself what would happen if, after you front this money for the development expenses, the client vanishes? Do you really want to pay for something in advance of getting paid yourself? The client can send you money via Upwork at any time. They don't have to wait until the contract is completed. Do not spend your own money to do the client's work. 

lysis10
Community Member

oh jeez you need to tell the client to register the domain and the client is not smart letting you do it. This gives you complete control of the domain since it's registered to you.

 

oy vey this will end badly

The most important principle I can think of for clients who commission websites is that they should control their domain names.

 

If they don't do ANYTHING else... at least do that.

 

That's a tip for clients.

 

As for the original poster:

There's just no way I'm going to accept funds from PayPal or by any other means from clients. It's one of Upwork's most important rules. It's not worth me losing my Upwork account.

 

As other thread participants said, I incorporate the expenses into my costs, or I have the clients pay for the expenses directly.

 

If you put a little effort into it, you can set up a domain name registry account that a client pays for with his own credit card, and that lets you work as a designated assistant. Or you can just create a separate registry account FOR the client, and have him use his own credit card to fund it. The same can be done with site hosting.

 

So my advice is to pay for these expenses yourself and charge enough in your Upwork fees to cover the expenses, or have the client pay for the expenses himself.

It makes perfect sense actually not to 'keep' client's accesses after the project is completed.

I'll guide my client on how to do it himself, so as to avoid getting into trouble with Upwork!

 

I can imagine many freelances get kicked out because of violating this oath... 🤦‍:male_sign:

In the late 90's I used to work as a webmaster/web designer in the brick and mortar world. Unfortunately, there are many clients who are totally illiterate about registering domain names or setting hosting accounts, though nowadays those processes are extremely easy to follow. Companies even have step-by-step instructions. Back in the day I used to ask for the expenses beforehand. I used their names and information, not mine. In some cases I used my own money to pay and then I added that to the final price. But this is very different when you work remotely and you barely know the client. You can't pay from your own pocket because who knows if they will pay you later.

 

They should do the registration and hosting account by themselves because they don't know you, so it's actually dangerous if they let you do it. In case they are totally incapable and prefer to use you instead they could send you money through Upwork as a bonus I believe. Of course it will delay things because you will need to wait for the clearance but that would be the way. Anyway, have in count that if they use you for it you will be the one to blame if any problem happens with domain or hosting, so if they do it themselves you stay covered.

 

While working here don't try to receive any kind of money outside Upwork, otherwise you can get suspended. No exceptions. It's a very serious ToS violation.

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