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Splitting big projects with Milestones
Break a large order into a sequence of staged deliverables — each with its own deadline, its own escrow, and its own approval — so big projects stay safe and predictable for both sides.
4 min read
Milestones turn one daunting order into a series of small, fundable steps. Instead of a single delivery weeks away, the buyer funds and approves the work stage by stage — and you get paid as you go.
They're built for the kind of work a single delivery can't carry well: a multi-page website, a brand identity, an app build, an ongoing content series. Each milestone is its own mini-order with two deadlines — a delivery date (when you hand the stage over) and a payment date (when its escrowed funds clear to you after approval).
Why use milestones
Escrow per stage
The buyer funds each milestone into escrow up front. You start every stage knowing the money is already secured by the ledger.
Get paid as you go
Each approved milestone releases its own payment instead of waiting for the entire project to finish.
Clear scope
Splitting the brief into stages sets expectations early and kills scope creep before it starts.
Bigger orders, less risk
Buyers commit to large projects more readily when they can approve progress step by step.
How a milestone order works
- 1
Propose the stages
From a custom offer or order, lay out the milestones — a title, a price, and a delivery timeframe for each. Together they make up the full project.
- 2
Buyer funds the first milestone
The buyer accepts and funds milestone one into escrow. The remaining milestones stay queued and are funded as you reach them.
- 3
Deliver the stage
Do the work and submit the milestone's delivery before its delivery deadline — exactly like a normal order delivery.
- 4
Approval releases payment
When the buyer approves, that milestone's funds enter your earnings and clear on its payment date. The next milestone unlocks and is funded.
- 5
Repeat to the finish
Work through each stage in turn. The order completes when the final milestone is approved.
Each milestone is independently protected
Funds for a stage are only ever released after you deliver and the buyer approves that stage. If a milestone is cancelled before approval, its escrowed amount returns to the buyer — earlier, approved milestones are unaffected and stay yours.
Tips for setting good milestones
- Keep stages bite-sized. Three to six milestones is usually the sweet spot — enough to show progress, not so many it's noise.
- Make each stage a real deliverable. "Wireframes", "Homepage build", "Revisions & handoff" beats vague "Part 1 / Part 2" labels.
- Price each stage to the work it contains so the buyer can see where their budget goes.
- Set honest delivery dates — your response rate and on-time delivery feed your performance metrics on every stage, not just at the end.
Frequently asked
Milestones are available to every seller from day one — they're a core selling tool, not a level-gated perk. They shine most on larger custom orders sent as an offer.
Each milestone releases its payment after the buyer approves that stage. The amount then follows the normal earnings clearance window before it becomes available to withdraw.
Revisions happen within the current milestone, just like a normal order. Only once the stage is approved does it lock and release payment, so you're never delivering the next stage on top of unapproved work.
Yes. Any milestone not yet approved can be cancelled and its escrow returned to the buyer. Milestones you've already delivered and had approved remain paid — that's the whole point of staging the work.
Start a staged project
Send a custom offer and split it into milestones from your dashboard.
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