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jonathanlevey
Community Member

Client confirmed via upwork msg she accepts my proposal and fee. What's next?

The client confirmed via Upwork msg she accepts my proposal and fee. What's next?

We agreed that for the fee listed on my Upwork profile, say $190/hour, I would provide her with a 15-minute initial consultation at no extra cost, and instead of 60 minutes, I would provide 90 minutes at the same cost. Plus, because the client is located in Canada and I am located in Canada, I agreed to charge her in Canadian funds --so a total of $190CAD fee. So since I am guessing the fee posted on my UpWork page of $190 is in US funds (correct), and $190US = $145CAD, and $145CAD = $110US, that I need to somehow change my fee structure, perhaps publicly on my Upwork profile page be $110 per hour.   And even though I am giving her a bonus 30 minute extra at no additional. I need to log my time as one hour for my Upwork records.

 

So I see, in retrospect, all of the above is complicated.  But these are the terms my client has agreed to. $190 CAD for 90 minutes in total.

 

I did revise my proposal and state that the agreed-upon terms would be $190CAD for 90 minutes coaching session, plus free 15 min. conversation.

 

But how do I proceed?

 

Please help. 

In the future, I believe I need to stick to US funds only. Otherwise, it's complicated.

 

If I would bill her outside of Upwork, I would send her a simple contract of terms, have her sign off on it, then request a 50% deposit via PayPal, and the balance requested by Paypal after my services have been rendered. 

 

Perhaps it is easier if I finalize terms outside Upwork and still send Upwork their 20 percent fee (ie. 110.US = $22.00US commission for Upwork.

 

But even if I can finalize details outside of Upwork, I would have liked to have her Upwork rating on my Upwork profile after this job is complete and she is satisfied.

 

Again, please advise.

If there are Upwork tutorials for me to watch on how to handle the charging of clients, step-by-step, please send. I watch the 6-7 basic intro tutorials, but these details were not covered.

 

Also, how do I remove her proposal to show it is no longer requesting new applicants and closed status?

With appreciation.

 

Jonathan

Jonathan Levey
ACCEPTED SOLUTION

re: "It appears that Upwork only allows for me to charge for 60 minutes at a time"

 

That is not correct. The minimum time segment is ten minutes.

View solution in original post

13 REPLIES 13
wescowley
Community Member


Jonathan L wrote:

The client confirmed via Upwork msg she accepts my proposal and fee. What's next?

We agreed that for the fee listed on my Upwork profile, say $190/hour, I would provide her with a 15-minute initial consultation at no extra cost, and instead of 60 minutes, I would provide 90 minutes at the same cost. Plus, because the client is located in Canada and I am located in Canada, I agreed to charge her in Canadian funds --so a total of $190CAD fee. So since I am guessing the fee posted on my UpWork page of $190 is in US funds (correct), and $190US = $145CAD, and $145CAD = $110US, that I need to somehow change my fee structure, perhaps publicly on my Upwork profile page be $110 per hour.   And even though I am giving her a bonus 30 minute extra at no additional. I need to log my time as one hour for my Upwork records.

My head is spinning from this math, but basically, your client needs to send you an offer on Upwork for whatever rate in USD that all of that works out to, and you have to accept that offer. All billing in Upwork is in USD. If you sent her a proposal response to a job post with an hourly rate, you can facilitate this by going to the proposal on your Proposals page and clicking the "Change Terms" button, then entering the new rate. Otherwise, your client can change the rate when she sends the offer.

 

Then, make sure you download the Upwork timer to track your time, because that's how you get paid on an hourly contract. You can enter time manually, but it's not protected by Upwork.

 

Perhaps it is easier if I finalize terms outside Upwork and still send Upwork their 20 percent fee (ie. 110.US = $22.00US commission for Upwork.


No, don't do that, ever. The contract and payment have to go through Upwork. 

 


If there are Upwork tutorials for me to watch on how to handle the charging of clients, step-by-step, please send. I watch the 6-7 basic intro tutorials, but these details were not covered.


There's a sticky thread at the top of this forum (Getting Started at Upwork). Read it and all the attached material. Read the Freelancer help pages (all of them). Read the terms of service. (Yes, they're boring, but you need to know that stuff if you're going to use the site for your business).

 


Also, how do I remove her proposal to show it is no longer requesting new applicants and closed status?


You don't. She has the option of closing it when she hires you. 

 

Best of luck

Thanks very much for taking the time to read my query and respond with helpful advice, Wes!

Very kind of you.

All makes sense.

It appears that Upwork only allows for me to charge for 60 minutes at a time. So if my client agrees to pay $145 for a 90 minute session, can they modify my proposal, as such, using the hourly fee method? If not, how might she proceed to specify the terms and mark my proposal/me as hired?

Jonathan Levey

re: "It appears that Upwork only allows for me to charge for 60 minutes at a time"

 

That is not correct. The minimum time segment is ten minutes.

Thanks for pointing this out Preston. I will simply have the client modify the time by ten-minute increments, as you suggest, for a total of 90 minutes.   I will also be going back to review the various tutorials, best procedures, etc. With appreciation and best wishes,  Jonathan

Jonathan Levey


Jonathan L wrote:

Thanks for pointing this out Preston. I will simply have the client modify the time by ten-minute increments, as you suggest, for a total of 90 minutes.   I will also be going back to review the various tutorials, best procedures, etc. With appreciation and best wishes,  Jonathan


The client can't "modify the time in ten- minute increments". On an hourly contract, you record the time you've worked. All the client can do is set a weekly maximum (in whole hours) on the time you can record. As Martina said,  it sounds like you've agreed a fixed price,  so make this a fixed price contract. However, you can't change the contract type yourself.  Your client will have to do it when she makes you a job offer. 

Thanks Richard!

Very clear and very helpful.

This will be my solution. 🙂

Jonathan
Jonathan Levey
martina_plaschka
Community Member

Jeez, just do a fixed price contract and hope to not get your profile suspended for all that suggestion of circumvention.

Thanks Martina. Very kind of you to make this suggestion. I will definitely consider it. My intent was never to circumvent. I was not sure if there were options, as long as Upwork was paid their 20 percent commission fee. I am going back to re-read the rules, watch more tutorials etc. With appreciation and best wishes,  Jonathan

Jonathan Levey


Jonathan L wrote:

Thanks Martina. Very kind of you to make this suggestion. I will definitely consider it. My intent was never to circumvent. I was not sure if there were options, as long as Upwork was paid their 20 percent commission fee. I am going back to re-read the rules, watch more tutorials etc. With appreciation and best wishes,  Jonathan


You are very welcome. There is no way to  pay upwork their fees without going through the platform with the relevant contract from beginning to end. 

Congrats on your first contract and don't overthink this! The rules and regulations might seem daunting at first, but it's real easy to use the platform safely. 

Thanks Martina!

I see now that even though she write to me via Upwork messaging that she agreed to our terms, she still needs to revise my initial proposed agreement to confirm she is hiring me, and modify the original terms hunting a fixed rate.

Hopefully this will all happen following our next communication where I believe I can simply modify and rephrase the terms to guide and print her to do the next steps (revise) the initial agreement and mark this job as hired.

Jonathan
Jonathan Levey


Jonathan L wrote:
Thanks Martina!

I see now that even though she write to me via Upwork messaging that she agreed to our terms, she still needs to revise my initial proposed agreement to confirm she is hiring me, and modify the original terms hunting a fixed rate.

Hopefully this will all happen following our next communication where I believe I can simply modify and rephrase the terms to guide and print her to do the next steps (revise) the initial agreement and mark this job as hired.

Jonathan

Not exactly right, the client needs to send you an offer, and you accept that offer. You have to do absolutely nothing to facilitate that. If the original job posting was defined as hourly, the client needs to change that in her offer to fixed. 

Is it a first-time client? If not, they know how to do that. The best would be to tell your client that she should send a fixed price offer for the agreed amount, and you will be happy to start working once you have it. 

Perfect! Thanks! Well explained. Clear and simple. In fact, this IS a
first time client, so I will share your tips with her. 🙂
Jonathan Levey

So, just as a final post on this topic...

I wanted to let others know that everything worked out fine.

All went smoothly. I did as suggested and the client (also a first time user) simply revised the contract to the terms we agreed on, under the Fixed price option. All is confirmed. I have been hired at the price agreed upon, and we are both looking forward to our upcoming Zoom call later this week via the Upwork meeting room. 🙂 

 

Thanks again, to all those fellow Upwork members, that provided thoughtful input to address my concerns and help resolve this issue, setting me on the right path, moving forward! 

 

...you know who you are! 😉

Jonathan Levey
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