Anybody/ everybody get the email about the new sliding fee scale? https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/39620058162963-Variable-Freelancer-Service-Fees?
https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/39620058162963-Variable-Freelancer-Service-Fees
0-15% based on a bunch of vague factors. What do you think? (As though we really matter...)
I would like to have transparency in my collaboration with Upwork. I also pay fees to my government for the Upwork fees, so that is already enough of a headache.
I'm not okay with this change. If we have complaints, we won't have the chance to talk to any human consultant.
On the other hand, I'm glad I found this community. 🤗 Two weeks ago, I got scammed by a client on Upwork who claimed to be from the Verification department, and I could find no one from Upwork to answer my questions/suspicions.
I've just registered on the forum to express my disapproval and raise the same concerns on transparency. I don't know how it will work, but they should at least provide an explanation on the factors behind the variable fee in each individual contract. It's like being charged for something we don't know anything about.
MsWiggy It's nice to be asked for an opinion by someone! IMHO, it would make more sense to
(a) ensure that posted projects are filled on the platform. There is too much off-siting and non-awarding going on; and
(b) make the platform more appealing to clients looking to bypass the middlemen. Higher commissions would follow.
With the new service fee structure, as a freelancer we do not even know why we are paying 15% for some contracts vs 5% (which I doubt).
The only way to deal with this is raise your hourly rate by 5% :)
The refusal to give us information on how 'fees' are decided on Upwork is a major issue. Just look at connects. When it started every single job was between 1 and 4 connects to submit a proposal on, what made something a 1 or 4 connect job was never clear, it wasn't the hourly rate or fixed priced amount as one job for $1 an hour might cost 1 connect while another costs 4 connects while a $100 an hour job could also costs 1 connect while another $100 could cost 4 connects. And then that allowed them to keep silently increasing how many connects things cost, to a point now that I haven't seen a job need less than 7 connects for a while and often its between 15 and 21. Just to highlight the lack of reasoning here are the hourly jobs on my job feed
There is no obvious theory about the connects and I suspect that it will be the same with these fees. There won't be any obvious Rhythm or Reason behind it and if they offer any at 5% those will become unicorns fairly quickly and I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years time the upper level is anywhere from 20-30%
Well, this is not being transparent about the factors affecting the rate.
What does "etc." imply?
I'm withholding my rage until I figure out what they will hit me with :)
Alexa C Upwork is now an ocean of scam and zero transparency
I would like to think this change will mean that some of my jobs would fall under the 10% figure for fees, however, there's the obvious likelihood that this will be used to push fees over the current 10% on average - this seems to be how Upwork thinks, whilst talking a lot about creating a 'healthy marketplace'.
It would be healthier if smaller jobs could be done on under the 10% rate; that would be give me more confidence in buying connects and bidding for those jobs, where I have created re-usable solutions that can really help out smaller companies.
But if they're going to decide that there is more supply than demand here (without knowing the first thing about the work, as is standard for middlemen), then I could expect Upwork to actually increase their fees on these types of jobs.
Better way for Upwork to introduce this would be primarily to weight smaller jobs = lower fees, bigger jobs = higher fees. And rework the platform to encourage invites for serious freelancers to work serious projects for serious clients.
I never minded paying the 20% when the above kind of work & clients just landed in my lap. I was way better off than under the current incarnation of the platform.
So we'll have to see how this plays out; will this mark something of a return to the good old days (as set out above), or will this be used to invisibly scoop up more from freelancers via the long tail of the marketplace?
I guess we'll know in a month or so.
Robin thanks for sharing your perspective. If I put in the shoes of Upwork's clients instead, I suppose that they may expect that a larger project would attract a lower fee %, and the reverse for small projects. Let's see which side Upwork sees as more convenient for the company and in terms of sales as well..... ;)
I don't think about the fees, they aren't important. 5%, 10%, 15%, whatever, who cares? If you just find good clients and keep yourself busy, then the fees will be irrelevant.
If you think about it, it would actually make the most sense for them to reward frequent buyers or high-budget clients with lower fees. In the sense of 'if you buy two, you get 10% off', 'buy three and get 15% off' that shifts stock in the retail sector. Also, there is the given fact that it makes no difference whether a significant number pays little or a small number a lot (5×100 =100×5). Or will the new system defy logic?
Have you seen the notifications today? Commission % raised to 15% for admin, writing and translation work. I was invited to a marketing project and my offer today still attracted 10% as before. Any other examples?
Debs1723 I hit the apply button on a range of relevant jobs for me today. Most have a 10% fee, some have a 15% fee. No idea what the logic is, doesn't bother me.
