reviewing the upwork platform for freelancing

[#1]

Hi Upwork Support,

I'm reviewing the upwork platform for freelancing project and I'm interested to learn how it works. How do you get paid? What percentage of the cut goes to upwork? What kind of upwork support is available to freelancers?

Thanks in advance,

Chris

[#2]

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Chris W wrote:

I'm reviewing the upwork platform for freelancing project and I'm interested to learn how it works.

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read all that 

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Chris W wrote:

How do you get paid?

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read this 

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Chris W wrote:

What percentage of the cut goes to upwork?

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read this 

[#3]

Thank you for the kb links. They are a bit vague in some areas which need clarifying:

• How do you enforce that your client actually pays you for the project? Is there an agreement or contract they sign?
• How long can the client hold your pay? What are the payment stipulations or deadlines for clients?
• What is the turn-around time for getting paid from when the client pays to the freelancer ACTUALLY receiving their money?
• What are the support avenues provided to freelancers? Is everything through the community? How do we escalate support issues and in what time frame?
• Other than the upwork income fees, what other upwork fees do I need to be aware of?

Thanks

[#4]

Any chance I can get a response to my questions? The faq pages are not that helpful and some definitive answers would be appreciated.

[#5]

Hi Chris,

1. As a freelancer, you either apply to jobs you're interested in. If the client decides to hire you and sends an offer, once you accept it, that becomes an active contract.

2. Getting paid will also depend on the type of contract you have. Clients can set up either an Hourly or a Fixed-price contract. Always make sure to check the offer the client sends you and ensure that this is what you agreed on when you discussed the job. 

3. You are welcome to request for assistance here in the Community. Please check this for more information on how you can contact Upwork support. 

4. 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 or fixed-price.

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

Also, new freelancers are given 20 Connects to help them get started. Once all of the free Connects are used, you'll need to purchase Connects to submit proposals. Connects are not sold individually, but bundles begin at $1.50 for 10 Connects. Regardless of which bundle you choose, all Connects are priced at $0.15 apiece. Here are your bundle options:

10 for $1.50

20 for $3

40 for $6

60 for $9

80 for $12

This can vary based on your location, but all Upwork users will be able to purchase Connects with a credit card or prepaid card. If you aren’t able to use a credit card or prepaid card or you don’t have an Upwork balance, in many cases you’ll be able to use PayPal. To see the options available to you, click here.

I highly encourage you to review the links that Petra shared. The freelancer resources she shared are very useful information to help new freelancers get started on Upwork. Thank you. 

[#6]

Thanks you for the info on the connects. How much is submitting a proposal per connect for a new freelancer?

Sorry to say but you did not address some of my previous questions. Simply put:

• How long can the client hold your pay? What are the payment stipulations or deadlines for clients?
• How long does it take getting paid from when the client pays to the freelancer ACTUALLY receiving their money? 
• The faq link you shared provides 3 options for support: help center, community, and the chat bot. If I have a billing dispute, how do I get an actual person in the billing department. Is there an actual phone number or is that ONLY for top rated freelancers?

I'm new with this platform and it seems my questions are not being read with consideration. If you need me to clarify my questions, I'm happy to.

This is also something I'm happy to talk with an upwork customer support rep over the phone as well, if you can provide me with the contact info.

[#7]

Chris, the answers to your first two questions about pay are in the links Petra provided, it's just that the answer is usually "It depends on a number of factors including both your client's and your preferences". But the links describe the different waiting times/holds and how they're applied depending on your contract set up. Other than that, you'll have to be much more specific about the situation if you want a specific answer. 

Edited to add: The number of connects required to submit a particular proposal is the same for each freelancer. The number required for each proposal may differ between 2 through 6 connects.