Why We Charge 8% (And Nothing Else)
By Dave Kouri
We get asked about our fee structure fairly often, usually by freelancers trying to decide whether BidTable is worth it compared to other platforms. This post explains our thinking.
The structure
We charge 8% on the freelancer side. That's it. Clients pay nothing to post projects or hire freelancers. The 8% is taken from the amount paid to the freelancer at project completion.
So if a client pays $1,000 for a project, the freelancer receives $920.
Why only the freelancer side?
This was a deliberate call and one we thought about for a long time. The alternative -- charging both sides, which most platforms do -- creates a weird dynamic. When clients pay a fee to post or hire, they become more transactional. They're paying for the service, so they feel more entitled to squeeze on price.
When clients pay nothing, they're more relaxed. They're more likely to pay a fair rate because they're not anchored to "well I'm already paying a platform fee." In our testing, client-side fees actually led to lower freelancer earnings on average, not higher.
Why 8%?
We're a small team. 8% covers our operating costs at current scale with a reasonable margin. It's lower than most comparable platforms (Upwork is 10-20% depending on lifetime billings). We don't plan to raise it, though we're not going to promise that forever.
What the fee doesn't cover
Payment processing costs (Stripe fees) are separate and taken off the top before our cut is calculated. These average around 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, which is standard. We don't mark this up.
One last thing
We don't charge subscription fees, listing fees, or fees to send bids. The only time we make money is when a project is successfully completed and the freelancer gets paid. We think that alignment -- our revenue only happens when you succeed -- is the right model.