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Upwork removing 5% commission bracket and moving everyone to 10% bracket

support.upwork.com

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Re: Upwork removing 5% commission bracket and moving everyone to 10% bracket

#81

Post by msadowski »

8organicbits wrote: post #74
msadowski wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t check the ToC in a while but last time I did if you got a client through Upwork you cannot work with them outside of their platform for two years otherwise you and the client risk a fine.

Not even contract to hire? What kind of fine are we talking about?

“ The Conversion Fee is 13.5% of estimated earnings over a 12-month period in each specific client-freelancer relationship. Learn more”.

It seems they changed it quite a bit since the last time I looked at it. You can find more information about it here: https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043210654-Co...

Re: Upwork removing 5% commission bracket and moving everyone to 10% bracket

#82

Post by msadowski »

vimy wrote: post #72
msadowski wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t check the ToC in a while but last time I did if you got a client through Upwork you cannot work with them outside of their platform for two years otherwise you and the client risk a fine.

An empty threat. There’s no way they would know.

The worst that can happen is that they can deplatform you as far as I can tell from the ToCs so I bet some people will do just that if their fees go up at the end of the year.

Re: Upwork removing 5% commission bracket and moving everyone to 10% bracket

#83

Post by Uvix »

nidnogg wrote: post #64
mulvya wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lifetime, in theory. In practice, you can move the relationship off Upwork after 2 years. See https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043210654-Mo...

Has anyone paid this fee? I think when it gets to the point of dropping 12% of a freelancer's annual income to just talk outside of the platform it's simply not worth it.

If you wait two years per grandparent's post, the fee is only $1, which probably is worth it.

If you want to convert sooner, it's a percentage of the income for that specific client/freelancer relationship, and not total work for the freelancer. So it is probably a more palatable amount, assuming the freelancer has multiple clients.

Re: Upwork removing 5% commission bracket and moving everyone to 10% bracket

#84

Post by anovikov »

anonzzzies wrote: post #50
anovikov wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are losing money and have always been. They are spending a ridiculous amount of money to bring in clients through ads and other marketing channels, and the whole thing simply doesn't look too sustainable.

Ah, I did not know that. It looks like a goldmine considering the amounts that streams in. But yeah, if they spend a lot on acquisition; that goes very fast.

This seems to be happening due to the nature of the freelance work itself. It simply can't work at scale in a win-win fashion: if you want to attract immense volume of clients the way Upwork does, you are inevitably looking for those who don't know what they are doing, and are lured by advertisement. And that's pricey. I've been there for 15 years and made millions; i believe whole freelancing thing exists simply due to the systematic fallacy.

Re: Upwork removing 5% commission bracket and moving everyone to 10% bracket

#85

Post by oivoodoo_ »

I lost believe to work via upwork to be honest. I have the profile 10 yo. and after the changes with connects to use to send for the dead job posts as result it's really unfair. then they added more commissions and the rules are always changing.

I feel like now it's better to search the job in LinkedIn via the connections and the jobs posts with Fast Apply option. I don't promote LinkedIn but it's more attractive for me for now.

Also what you get by paying the huge commission and timer that screens you? they don't help you promote, autocomplete cover letters, what the real advantage in this case.

Re: Upwork removing 5% commission bracket and moving everyone to 10% bracket

#87

Post by arcanemachiner »

mulvya wrote: post #58
safety1st wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, a lifetime 10% just for making the introduction is pure exploitation. On the buyer side we have been defrauded by Upwork providers and the company did absolutely nothing. Clear cut case of illegal activity and ToS violation, Upwork did nothing other than take our money. The FTC needs to beat this gang of criminals into the ground. They are a racket from top to bottom. Fraud shouldn't pay. Exploitation of worker…

Lifetime, in theory. In practice, you can move the relationship off Upwork after 2 years. See https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043210654-Mo...

> Taking a relationship outside of Upwork without first paying the Conversion Fee is a serious violation of the our Terms of Service.

This sounds like something a pimp or a mob boss would say.

Re: Upwork removing 5% commission bracket and moving everyone to 10% bracket

#89

Post by biql »

oivoodoo_ wrote: post #85

I lost believe to work via upwork to be honest. I have the profile 10 yo. and after the changes with connects to use to send for the dead job posts as result it's really unfair. then they added more commissions and the rules are always changing. I feel like now it's better to search the job in LinkedIn via the connections and the jobs posts with Fast Apply option. I don't promote LinkedIn but it's more attractive for…

They do help with promotion by giving "top rated" and "raising talent" badges and work history. Hard to say how much value and leverage it really gives and whether it worths all the downsides.

Re: Upwork removing 5% commission bracket and moving everyone to 10% bracket

#90

Post by benatkin »

sph wrote: post #5

Meh, that's a dishonest title. Yes, Upwork are moving everybody on the 10% fee. But they previously had a progressive fee: * 20% fee for the first $500 earned from a client * 10% fee between $500 and $10,000 earned * 5% fee after the first $10,000 earned Those figures are per client. Start a new job with someone else, you start from the lower bracket again. So they were basically living off short term contracts and l…

Not a dishonest title. The word "bracket" refers to this sort of thing at least with tax brackets.
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