Since its inception, the platform "Witkey" has quickly become a new hotspot on the internet due to its fresh online work model. It has also become a hot topic widely covered by traditional media. In these reports, the practice of charging a 20% intermediary fee seems to have become an industry norm, and it is widely accepted.
I have been following this field closely. Recently, I noticed on the newly launched logo Witkey website that the site questioned this charging model in its blog, arguing that 20% is not a golden rule. Here's the original text:
What makes logoke different?
1. It uses a completely different charging model! 20% is not the golden rule!
Instead of charging intermediary fees (i.e., not deducting money from design fees), it charges clients for posting fees!
I believe that charging a 20% posting fee itself is unreasonable. For example, information release platforms like 51job only charge daily recruitment posting fees, rather than taking 20% of the job's salary as an intermediary fee.
Personally, I think the intermediary fee model applies to cases where intermediaries spend a certain amount of time communicating with their service objects, such as real estate agents or headhunters. However, Witkey websites are merely information release platforms. Why do they charge intermediary fees instead of posting fees?
The above passage seems reasonable. Witkey websites, which are essentially information release platforms, differ significantly from recruitment websites in terms of their charging models. Some might argue that Witkey websites offer additional services beyond task postings, such as allowing clients to select works online and communicate with designers. Similarly, recruitment websites have functions like online resume selection. So what leads to the emergence of the 20% charging model?
Personally, I think it’s because when Witkey websites first emerged, the 20% charging model was adopted by everyone. At that time, such websites were just starting, and their appearance helped many Witkeys who had work skills but struggled to find jobs. For them, getting a task was already quite good, and they could accept intermediary fees of 20% or even higher.
Now, the situation is different. There are more and more Witkey websites, and the charges are getting lower. Some have even proposed no longer charging fees, indicating that the 20% charging model is not set in stone. The concept put forward by logoke at this point—no intermediary fees, but charging posting fees—should be considered an attempt to change the Witkey charging model.
What should be the appropriate way to charge? How much is reasonable? I believe there is no definitive conclusion, and all this requires the test of time and the market. But I believe that ultimately the more reasonable charging method will be accepted. Reasonable doesn’t mean free, so what is a reasonable charging model?
We can use the logo Witkey tasks as an example for discussion.
On websites like Zhu Baba (Pigsy) and Task China, we easily find that most logo design task prices are within 300-500 RMB. Let's calculate based on 300 RMB. The intermediary fee for each task is 300 * 20% = 60 RMB. This means the designer who wins the bid finally gets 240 RMB.
Looking at Chuangyi.com, each logo task is over 1000 RMB, and the website takes 20%. Entrants split 10%, and the winning designer gets 70%. Using 1000 RMB as an example, the intermediary fee is 1000 * 20% = 200 RMB. The designer receives 700 RMB.
Looking at the logo Witkey website, the task posting fee is 20 RMB per day, regardless of the bonus amount. Assuming each task is posted for one to two weeks, this would cost between 140 RMB to 280 RMB. We can see that this model is very expensive for small tasks, nearly approaching the price of the task itself. However, for large tasks, it is relatively reasonable because it does not increase with the task amount. That is to say, even if a client posts a 2000 RMB task, the fee still falls between 140-280 RMB, depending on the posting duration. According to the Witkey website, the optimal posting time is 1-2 weeks.
Therefore, we can conclude that logoke's charging model benefits designers rather than clients. In today's highly competitive Witkey website market, we don't know if this model will attract more clients, but it will undoubtedly be popular among Witkeys. From the overall perspective of the website, it seems to favor designers, i.e., Witkeys. Perhaps this isn't a bad strategy, after all, Witkeys are the core competitiveness of Witkey websites. What do you think?