SOS - First Project - can I give my client a discount on an hourly rate project?

[zoeadel]

Hi , can someone help me with a query -

I secured my first job on Upwork recently (3rd proposal) and I am absolutely over joyed with it.

It was an hourly rate but I said to the client I'd happily do it for $30 regardless of time.

I tracked my hours and it took longer than expected - so on Upwork I recorded 6+ hours ($95)

What I want to do is keep the hours logged, but reduce the cost - eg. give the client a discount so she only pays $30 for the hours worked.

Is this possible?

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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Zoe A wrote:

I tracked my hours and it took longer than expected - so on Upwork I recorded 6+ hours ($95)

What I want to do is keep the hours logged, but reduce the cost - eg. give the client a discount so she only pays $30 for the hours worked.

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If it was this (current) week, you can simply go to your work diary, select the hours / segments in question by clicking on the checkboxes for the hours in question, and then delete them by clicking on "delete".

If it was last week, you can not delete time because the client has already been charged, just issue a refund, but you can edit the amount you want to refund.

[zoeadel]

Hello Petra,

Thank you so much - really is simple when you now how. I've sorted that.

From your message it sounds like as long as my client is payment verfiifed I will be automatcally paid at the end of the week? Is that correct?

With this beig my first project - and her first project on Upwork I am slightly nerous about receiving payment, as I'm sure you can understand. Client is a lovelygenuine human though I can tell.

Thanks again,

Zoe

[petra_r]

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Zoe A wrote:

Hello Petra,

From your message it sounds like as long as my client is payment verfiifed I will be automatcally paid at the end of the week? Is that correct?

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Not quite: This week is "the work week" which goes on until Sunday.

On Monday next week, the client gets charged. Then next week is the "review week" and on Friday next week the review period ends and the security period of 5 days starts.

So yes, you get paid automatically for all hours logged during this current week, but no, you won't get paid at the end of this week.

You can read more about that here

[812fd75f]

The proposed solution fails to meet the stated goal of the OP (of showing the hours worked yet offering a discount on those hours). This is such a common issue in freelancing that it's hard to imagine that Upwork has no mechanism for accomplishing this. In my contracts I often offer a discount in order to maintain customer goodwill (to take responsibility for an inefficiency or to manage expectations). The proposed solution suggests that I delete the hours, with no record that they were ever worked. No, I want my client to know how much blood, sweat, toil, and tears I expended on their behalf, and I also want them to be aware of how much of a break I ended up giving them (when I didn't have to). If Upwork doesn't support this scenario, then it's clearly not the vehicle for my freelance work with my clients.

[colettelewis]

But the solution given is crystal clear. All you have to do if you want to show the client how hard you have worked is to issue a refund to match your offer. The client will still see the number of hours you have worked. It makes far more sense though to delete the number of hours worked. The client probably doesn't care that you have burned the candle both ends - just that the work gets done. 

If I were a client, and I hired someone who wanted to prove they had worked until they dropped on a project, but still didn't charge me the full number of hours, I would think there was something wrong with their time management, even if I was satisfied with their work. 

[martina_plaschka]

Second that. I don't know why I would ever want to tell a client how much work something was, that I spent much longer than I told him it would, and then give a discount. To what end? Respect from the client? Making him feel guilty? Or grateful? I don't understand. All it says to me is the freelancer is not professional in his approach.