Upwork's Bid Calculator and 20% Fee

[billg56]

I want to earn $300 and charge for Upwork’s 20% fee.
Today I bid $360 because $60 is 20% of $300. However, your calculator has the net at $288. To net $300, I have to charge $375. That’s 25%. Please explain the math. Am I missing something?

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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William Scott G wrote:

I want to earn $300 and charge for Upwork’s 20% fee.
Today I bid $360 because $60 is 20% of $300. However, your calculator has the net at $288. To net $300, I have to charge $375. That’s 25%. Please explain the math. Am I missing something?

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The fee is 20% of the sum the client pays. It's not "what I want to earn plus 20%"

So if the client pays $100, $20 or 20% of that is fees and you're left with 80% or $80.

The fee is not an addition to the price, it's a percentage of the price.

[billg56]

I see that now. Thanks for your reply. 

[AleksandarD]

Hi William,

The calculation is correct. If you bid $360, 20% is $72 because 36+36 = 72. The easiest way to do this is by adding the desired amount in the 'You'll Recieve' field and it will populate the other fields automatically. You can check this screenshot for reference.

Thank you.