Leslie B.

Upwork charges freelancers a 20% commission on work up to the value of US$500 (with each client). The commission rate drops for higher value projects, with 10% charged between US$500.01 and $10,000, and 5% once an individual client has spent over $10,000.

Some reviewers may find this unreasonable. I have a different take on it.

As a freelancer, I do most of my work myself. I don't hire anyone to help me. I do my own marketing, sales, billing, accounting, and then also have to do the actual work I'm hired for. As a soloprenuer, the economics aren't there to outsource some of the administration.

In previous years, prior to using Upwork, I've lost revenue because of being maxed out wasn't able to devote time to the administrative support tasks. With Upwork, I gained a significant amount of billable time back.

Let's do some math. The first $500 (per client) will cost me $100 (20%) to earn, so I only receive $400.

I could easily spend $100 on the following:
Finding sites,
Posting my resumes
Reading job postings
Writing Unique Cover Letters
Billing for my time
Accounting for the work I've done (justifying my billing)
Collecting on overdue invoices.

But with Upwork, I don't have to do any of that really. Once my profile was set up (easy migration from LinkedIn), I could start bidding on jobs immediately.

The system takes screen shots as I go (approximately every 6 or 10 minutes), and I don't have to worry about micromanaging what I'm doing. The screen shots are there for accountability.

I have the Time tracker open on my desktop, and it's another accountability tool. I keep an eye on how long it takes me to complete tasks, but don't have to also log the time while I'm doing the work.

Overall I would recommend UpWork to freelancers out there. My skills are in the area of administration anyway, so I find this is workable. (I don't know about other types of industries.)

It's better, easier, and right now, more efficient than paying an agent to represent me.