Since Upwork theoretically locks you in for 2 years with a client, I’m expecting there will be a small exodus of people with long-term projects . I’d much rather sort out invoicing myself and get paid through Stripe than lose out on extra 5%.
If you can find and bill directly, of course that may be preferable, but finding clients is hard and the business development also has a cost.
I've only used it once, but after having a call with the client, I felt comfortable accepting payment directly in crypto and not paying their fees.
The advantage of staying on the platform for freelancers is that they are guaranteed to get paid for correctly booked work on a predictable timeline.
For buyers, the advantage is one weekly payment to your credit card, some contractural protection and a bunch of features to support the work.
I’ve never felt the need to bypass them as a buyer, and I’ve only been approach a few times by freelancers to go direct. (My answer has been no mainly because I dislike the admin of manually paying people, checking timesheets, invoices etc.)
Also, automatic billing is a big value add for those of us who hate paperwork and chasing non paying customers. Upwork does it for you.
Re crypto, it's an appealing vehicle for laundering and we don't want to be implicated. couple of clients suggested it and it's a red flag for me. (if you want to get paid in crypto I don't get why you would use Upwork at all honestly, surely you have your own great platforms with how much talent is supposedly working on that web3 stuff)
Can you explain?
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...