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danielgabrieles
Community Member

20% fee still charged after $500.00 billed

I already earned more than $500 billed to my client and I always still get charged with 20% fee. 

Isn't it supposed to be just 10% starting from $500.01?

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Daniel Paolo, 


I would like to confirm what Tiffany has shared. As an example, on a $600 project with a new client, a freelancer’s service fee would be 20% on the first $500 and 10% on the remaining $100. 

I have also checked and can see that you have crossed the 20% threshold, and your future earnings on this contract will be charged the 10% fee. 

 

You may read more about the freelancer service fees in this help article


~ Avery
Upwork

View solution in original post

20 REPLIES 20
tlsanders
Community Member

Yes, it is 10% as soon as you cross the $500 mark, but your profile only shows that you have earned $441 on that job. Is it possible that you crossed $500 this week, but you're looking at the payment/fees for last week?

 

If you reach $500 in the middle of a payment cycle, you'll pay 20% on the part below $500 and 10% on the rest, then it will be all 10% from there on out.

Hi, I am facing this issue and can't find anywhere else to open a ticket. Upwork has made it extremely difficult to get help. I clicked help and ended up chatting with a bot so I just came here.

Hi Tariro,

 

I checked and it seems that the fees were charged accordingly. You passed the $500 threshold last week and a part of service fees were 20% (until you reached $500) and rest 10%. 

 

You can go to Reports > Transaction History, click on the Ref ID of the latest Service fee charge, download the invoice and you should see detailed overview of the fees there.

 

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar
Upwork

 I have earned $1013 on Upwork and I recently completed a project but still charged 20%, why?

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

 

Hi Zain,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. Please know that as a freelancer, you’re charged a sliding fee based on your lifetime billings with each non-Enterprise client. This includes all contracts you’ve ever had with that client. Service fees are the same whether the contracts are hourly, fixed-price, or projects on Project Catalog

 

  • $0-$500: 20%
  • $500.01-$10,000: 10%
  • $10,000.01 or more: 5%

 

For example, if you begin an hourly or fixed-price contract with a new client for $600, you’ll be billed 20% on the first $500 and 10% on the remaining $100. The same is true of a $15,000 contract – you’ll be billed 20% on the first $500, 10% on the next $9,500, and 5% on the last $5,000.

 

We will automatically apply the lower service fee if our system detects that your total billings with a client have exceeded a fee threshold. You can verify this by checking the service fee invoice breakdown in your Transaction History.

 

 

You can find more information in this help article

 

~ Nikola
Upwork
AveryO
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Daniel Paolo, 


I would like to confirm what Tiffany has shared. As an example, on a $600 project with a new client, a freelancer’s service fee would be 20% on the first $500 and 10% on the remaining $100. 

I have also checked and can see that you have crossed the 20% threshold, and your future earnings on this contract will be charged the 10% fee. 

 

You may read more about the freelancer service fees in this help article


~ Avery
Upwork
boris_s77
Community Member

Hi Avery,

 

I have a similar problem. On my profile, it says that I have 600+ earnings but service fee is still 20%. Maybe I`m not looking at a right place to see total or relevant earnings from which upwork derives the percentage.  Could you please help me with this?

 

Thank you

Boris

Hi Boris,

Freelancers are charged a sliding fee based on your lifetime billings with each client (across all contracts you’ve ever had with that client company) and not on your total earnings. Service fees are the same whether the contracts are hourly or fixed-price.

  • 20% for the first $500 you bill a client across all contracts with them
  • 10% for total billings with a client between $500.01 and $10,000
  • 5% for total billings with a client that exceed $10,000

If you would like to read more details about this check out this Help Article.

~ Goran
Upwork

So, no matter the overall earnings, each contract with a different client with billing lower than $500 will have 20% fee?  Am I getting it right?

Hi Boris,

Yes that is correct, once you have reached $500 the fee will be lowered to 10%.

~ Goran
Upwork

Thanks, Boris, you just solved my question. So whenever have a "small" project, make sure it's over $500 budget work!! Otherwise, it's Upwork take most of the earning. 


@Ying C wrote:

Thanks, Boris, you just solved my question. So whenever have a "small" project, make sure it's over $500 budget work!! Otherwise, it's Upwork take most of the earning. 


Well, yeah, if 20% constitutes "most."

 

But also note that the fees are per client, not per contract. So if John Smith pays you $100 on one contract, and $250 on another, then $200, then $150, then $600, then $100, etc., etc., it's just the first, second, and part of the third contract where Upwork's fee is 20%. After that you have earned more than $500 total with John Smith, so the fee gets reduced to 10%.

rab_1250
Community Member

Hi,
I have also crossed $500 but still it deducts 20%. Why so? Is there anything to be done from my side for deduction of 10% only.

Hi Ruchika,

 

I checked and it seems that you crossed the $500 threshold on two contracts so far and the fees were updated accordingly. Could you please send me more information about your concern so that I can check?

 

Please remember that as a freelancer, you’re charged a sliding fee based on your lifetime billings with each non-Enterprise client. This includes all contracts you’ve ever had with that individual client. For more information, you can check out this help article.

 

Thank you.

~ Aleksandar
Upwork
ddb6f610
Community Member

Hi there, I am facing the same issue. Can you please help me? 

Hi Amna,

 

Can you please share with us the Contract ID for the job you're referring to so that we can take a closer look and assist you accordingly? You get the Contract ID by going to All Contracts> Select the Contract in question> It should be under the Details Page here.

 

For the time being, feel free to check the help article Avery shared above for more details about Upwork Service Fees.

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
prestonhunter
Community Member

This question keeps getting asked. Maybe Upwork's messaging/information about this needs to be improved.

amenabe
Community Member

Upwork's payment policies are just horrible I had 2 payments pending after passing 500+ one higher amount and the other $4 yet the system decides to take 20% chunk out of the the larger amount. 

Hi Amen,

 

Thank you for your message. I am sorry to hear how you feel. I checked and I do not see any contract with a client that exceeds the $500 lifetime earnings criteria. You can check your lifetime billing with each active client here. The lifetime billed amount includes all your paid and pending funds. You can refer to your Transaction History page for more information.

 

Thank you

Pradeep

Upwork


Amen A wrote:

Upwork's payment policies are just horrible I had 2 payments pending after passing 500+ one higher amount and the other $4 yet the system decides to take 20% chunk out of the the larger amount. 


It's not about payment amounts, it is billing per client. 

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