Direct contract

[badorl]

I tried to login into my account today to send someone who wanted to give me a job outside upwork a direct contract proposal, but to my disappointment I notice Direct contract is not functioning on my account again? What could be the cause?

Could it be that the upgrade/maintenance that upwork team want to carry out is the reason it's not functional, or the feature has been axed from my account.


Please I need a quick response.


Thanks
Regards

[shadywatson]

So I meet a client outside of upwork, We've been working for some time now, it's time to wrap up the project and get paid, I asked to give me a contract throught upwork, I want to get paid there. Is that legal? if it is legal do I also get the public review from him or should just take payment directly through our banks?

[2bf196ab]

Hi Hamza,

I think it's very legal and would work in your favor for any future upwork job prospects if the client leaves a good public review for you. However the upwork service fees will reduce the amout you would have received directly through the bank.

[shadywatson]

Yeah, I'm fine with reduced amount. I'm hoping this step will lead into a stronger and a better upwork profile, I just had a little chat with upwork's support and they said this is legal.

[rahana0204]

Hi,

Hope you are doing well. I'm not clear about withdrawal process for direct client funds. Do I need to give $3 charge if I want to withdraw funds (Earned from direct client contract) in my payoneer account?

Thanks

[JoanneP]

Hi Rahana,

Freelancers are charged a 3.4% payment processing fee. For example, if your earnings are $100 you'll be charged a payment processing fee of $3.40 USD. We won't charge you an additional freelancer service fee, only the 3.4%. Please note that all transactions are in USD.

Upon withdrawing your earnings, you will be charged for the withdrawal fee associated with the payment method you choose. For more information on Payoneer fees and timings, please check this help article. 

[1e4317dc]

Pls can anyone assist me on how to Unarchive a completed Direct contract on my Upwork profile. 

Thank you for your prompt reply. 

[3e793f5c]

Hello Upwork Community,

I have a client whom I have worked with in the past and now wants to work with me via Upwork. They want me to send them an hourly rate-based contract. However, they have a start date that's 2 weeks from today.

The Upwork Direct Client contract page doesn't appear to have a Start Date column (only an End Date). The client wants to sign the contract within the next 2 days but wants me to start after 2 weeks. How do I make this work?

Thanks!

[hammitt-richard]

I have faced this recently, although much more in the past.  Do not accept an offer until the client is ready for you to add time to the contract immediately.  In the past, Upwork penalized freelancers for zero-earnings contracts, which is a big risk with this contract.  Perhaps a bigger risk today, this client can also give you bad private feedback if you accept an offer and the client never moves forward.  

Think of this situation as a red flag, regardless of your past working relationship.  Unlike in a direct relationship situation (a contract with no payments or work just ceases to exist), there are real downsides for you to do this on Upwork.

[3e793f5c]

Thanks Richard. I appreciate your reply and the word of caution.

Actually this client is a direct client of mine and I have a good working relationship with them. They have asked me to initiate a Direct Contract so the ball is in my court. 

Since I'm sort of restarting with them after a bit of a gap they need 2 weeks to get my credentials set up on their system and ship me a laptop. I can understand their situation.

I guess I'll send them the contract today but start billing them in 2 weeks. That should do, I guess.

[8ce0d543]

Will the payments for direct contracts also be reflected in my Upwork profile earnings?

I look forward for the kind response of experts

[e045630f]

I am currently working with a client and it had 3 milestones. Till now I was able to see contratc on my profile, but once the first milestone was completed and I asked payment from client the payment was added to my account but now I am not able to view that contract in my profile can anyone please help me with this? 

[LuiggiR]

Hi Pravesh,

I see that the contract you're referring to is a Direct Contract. It can be found by clicking this icon on the top right corner of your screen. 

Since you and your client are only using Upwork for payments, this contract will not impact your Upwork reputation metrics (for example, your Job Success Score or Top Rated status). It also will not be included in your other Upwork profile stats, such as total earnings, number of jobs, etc. Feel free to check this article for more information. 

[e045630f]

Thanks LuiggiR for the help!

[ef04b096]

Hi AndreaG, I was trying to create upwork direct contract for my client but it keep showing some error "We are sorry! We are experiencing a technical problem and cannot process your request right now. Please try again in a minute."

[AndreaG]

Hi Francis,

Could you please try using a different browser or the incognito mode of your current browser? You may also try clearing your browser’s cache and cookies. Also note that we only officially support the latest two versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.

[ef04b096]

Yes, I use another google chrome browser and it's still the same

[JoanneP]

Hi Francis,

We saw your post in the community and converted it into a support ticket to give it the attention it deserves. Rest assured that one of our agents will be reaching out to you.

[pujanov69]

Hi I am facing this issue while settinp up direct contract.

When I use the email address that has an upwork account it gives me the following error:

 

[PradeepH]

Hi Pujan,

Thank you for reaching out to us. I shared your report with our team and one of our agents will reach out to you using a support ticket to assist you further. You can access your support tickets here.

- Pradeep 

[1d617dfb]

I engaged a client was already working with to Upwork. Before I was able to send him a direct contract he made an account and send out a proposal. Is it still possible to set up a direct contract? The proposal has not been accepted yet. I am mainly concerned with the terms of service for Upwork regarding working offline with this client again on future projects. I can ask him to pull back the contract and sign up through a new account but wanted to check here before I break any ToS regulations

[JoanneP]

Hi Jasper,

I want to confirm: Does your client already have an Upwork account? I wanted to verify, as you've mentioned that he has made an account. Direct Contracts lets you invite clients who don't have an Upwork account to work with you on Upwork and pay lower freelancer service fees on contracts with those clients. You can find more information here. 
 

[1d617dfb]

Hi Joanne,

He did not have an Upwork account, but made one specifically for this job. He did so before I offered him a Direct Contract but moved forward after I asked him whether it would be okay to continue our relationship through Upwork. So he's completely new to Upwork. Should I ask him/send him a new direct contract on a new email address?

Best,

[1d617dfb]

To be clear, I am not so much worried about the lowered fee through the direct contract. I might however, as it is a returning and existing client, be doing work again with him outside of Upwork and want to make sure I adhere to the ToS correctly.

[1d617dfb]

After logging in today I saw that my direct contract with a client is no longer visible. When I click on the notification I get an error with the following id: 879e3d1efafa60c3-MAD

Some context, this is a client I brought onto the platform. Unfortunatley he already made a proposal on the website before I could send him the direect contract. I flagged this on the forum toget support on how to handle this situation. A Upwork staff member told me to go ahead and offer the direct contract.

As I am requesting a favor from a direct offline client to go through the upwork platform instead of the bussiness we would do normally would greatly appreciate if we can resolve with minimal effort for the client.

[LuiggiR]

Hi Jasper,

Thank you for reaching out. We’ve escalated your community post to a support ticket. One of our agents will be in touch with you soon to assist.

[JoanneP]

Hi Jasper,

I checked with our team and confirmed that it is allowed to continue with your client through Direct Contract if your client signed up on Upwork to work with you through this feature. The client can use the same email to continue working with you using Direct Contracts. 

[1d617dfb]

Hi All,
I am new to upwork, and aiming to build out my profile and ease some of the payment/contracting with my current clients. As part of that I have asked one of my current clients to move to Upwork for the work I do. Unfortunately he already made a profile and posted a proposal before I was able to send out a direct contract proposal. What would you recommend here? Should I ask him to cancel the proposal and I invite him on a new email address? Want to make sure I adhere to the Upwork ToS.

Thanks,
Jasper

Unfortunately my previous post was somehow deleted, clicking on it now takes me to a different users post on a similar topic (that does not answer my question). Is this common for moderators to do?

[PradeepH]

Hi Jasper,

Direct Contracts offers you the opportunity to invite clients who do not currently have an Upwork account to collaborate with you on the platform. By using Direct Contracts, you and your clients can take advantage of reduced freelancer service fees. It's important to note that Direct Contracts cannot be initiated with clients if they have already registered on Upwork. Your client can post a job and send an invite to you. 

Also, I would like to confirm that it is a standard practice for moderators to consolidate new posts with relevant topics. You can still respond to your posts on the same thread if you have any additional questions.

- Pradeep

[1d617dfb]

Hi Pradeep,

Thank you for the quick response! I now see the rest of the thread indeed, thank you for clarifying. Have added my response to my initial post.

Best,

Jasper

[22250b13]

Hey Upwork communty!

I am facing an issue when I try to send a direct contract to my clirnt, then Upwork say.. 

"We are sorry! We are experiencing a technical problem and cannot process your request right now. Please try again in a minute."

I am trying from last three days, but the same message every time.

I'm looking for your assistance in this matter.

Thanks!

[PradeepH]

Hi Shahzaib,

I am sorry to hear about the challenges while sending a Direct Contract. Clearing cookies and cache can often resolve issues with browser performance or technical glitches. It removes stored data that may be causing problems. Using a different browser can also help identify if the issue is browser-specific. If these steps do not resolve the problem, feel free to reach out to us for further assistance. 

- Pradeep

[guianamarie]

Hi! 

I saw that direct contracts will be ending in April 22, 2024. Does this include the upwork contracts too?

[LuiggiR]

Hi Guiana,

No, this change only applies to how Direct Contracts work. Your current contracts with existing Upwork clients will not be impacted. You can learn more about it here. 

[82539a54]

Hi, One of client and me decided to go through upwork platform and I he created an account on Upwork last night. Now I am trying to send him a direct contract but every time I am getting this message.

This email address is already associated with an Upwork account. 

Is there any way so that I can send him direct contract and avail the benefit of bringing own client?

[LuiggiR]

Hi Obaid,

If the client created an Upwork account, you won't be able to start a new Direct Contract with them. They can hire you on Upwork as any other client would. Note that there will be changes in how Direct Contracts work soon; you can learn more about how they work here. 

[6fb9adc1]

Hi, I am to start a contract with a non-Upwork client and i want to use Upwork direct contract but the thing is that i am not clear that if that project is of $200 and when i complete this project and after getting this amount will this be showed in my upwork project history, total amount earned, job success rate and will there be any option for my client to provide reviews to me?

[nahidhasan771]

It will not showing on your project history. But you can see them direct contract room.

It will not showing on your profile total earning.

It will not impact on your JSS.

Client can’t give any feedback.

[ArjayM]

Hi Omer,

Thank you for reaching out to us here in the Community to raise this helpful query. Yes! A Direct Contracts contract will have the same impact on your metrics as other contracts. You and your client can leave each other feedback, which can impact your JSS score and Rising Talent or Top-Rated status, and the number of contracts and dollar earnings will be counted in your totals.

You may visit this help article to learn more about Direct Contracts with clients.

[nahidhasan771]

Wow It's new update! I have previously worked with some clients on direct contracts, will they be counted now? Can they give me feedback?

[haider3071]

Hi, I created an upwork direct contract on the client's email. which he can't accept or reject because he can't receive emails on his mail address and the contract is hanging there.

Is there any way to remove this contract from my profile?