Fees for freelancer?

[gordon-graber]

Hi All,  I'm just getting started with Upwork, and I want to know if there are any fees charged up front or everything is extracted as I get payed for work I do.  I prefer the latter.  Thanks for your clarifications on this issue!

[prestonhunter]

There are no up front fees associated with getting hired and working on Upwork. If you get paid nothing, you pay nothing.

After you are actually paid, Upwork extracts its percentage.

[gordon-graber]

Hey Preston, thank you for your reply.   That sounds great - because other platforms charge fees just to bid on jobs and I want to understand what I am getting into before committing.  

I was doing some research about Upwork and came across this thread from 2017 where the discussion is about, "[...] we now have to pay $0.15 to apply for jobs and still give a percentage of our earnings to Upwork"  -- https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Upfront-Fees-For-Freelancers/td-p/629060

Is that not in place anymore, or did I misunderstand the discussion?

Thank you for any further input!

[mwiggenhorn · Accepted solution]

You will in fact, have to purchase connects to bid.  Connects are $.15 each and each bid takes between 2 and 6 connects.  That is the only out of pocket money upfront.

[gordon-graber]

Thank you Mary - well that seals that quesiton!  I suppose $0.15 for a connection is not too bad depending on how many connections it takes for a bid and how many bids to get a job...

[prestonhunter]

Many established Upwork freelancers do not spend money on connects. Because they have steady work from repeat clients and invites.

But if you are a new Upwork freelancer it is not realistic to expect that to happen.

Purchasing connects is a cost associated with finding jobs. There is no fee associated with getting hired for a job, which makes Upwork different from some major competing freelance work platforms which do take an up front fee.