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[Melissa P]

I came on here to see if I was the only one who thinks this is a terrible idea...glad to see I'm not alone. I don't really get the point of this new program...as an editor/proofreader, my profile explains the services I offer to potential clients. If I show up in their search results and a client wants me to edit their project, great...they reach out to me and we discuss before beginning a contract, or deciding we're not the right match. 

Why would I post a project that a client could "buy"? I can't exactly say I will edit your book for $500, period. My pricing depends on content, level of editing, word count, deadline, etc. and there is no one-size-fits-all pricing. I would think this applies to most freelancers on this platform, regardless of your category. I suppose it would make sense if you posted a project with your hourly rate versus fixed price, but I still need to know specifics and talk with the client before agreeing to anything. (And like someone else said, 24 hours isn't necessarily enough time to cancel.) 

Also, there are many times a client will reach out to me or offer me a contract already, and I am either not available or not interested in their project. Currently, I'm able to turn them down with no penalty...there's no way I would want to have clients randomly creating contracts. I can see lots of disputes and lowered JSS in the future. Appreciate Upwork's attempt to try something new, but I don't think this is the right direction.

[Solomon D]

This is exactly how it is on fiverr. You will come to love it. Just relax for now.

[Susan S]

And, if a client buys a project and you happen to be busy, what then?  The contract is automatically generated and binding?  Or is there a way to put the projects on hold while you're busy and can't do another contract right then?

[Avery O]

Hi Susan, 

I'm sorry we missed responding to your message. You’ll also be able to cancel a contract within 24 hours of the client submitting requirements to you without any penalty or impact on your Job Success Score. To learn more about Project Catalog, click here.

[Renata S]

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Wes C wrote:

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Theresa C wrote:

Hi Wes,

When a client buys your project, the idea is that they are agreeing to what you've pre-defined in your project. So a contract will be created and the milestone will be funded.  You'll be notified whenever a purchase happens and a contract room will automatically be opened, at which point you can start messaging.

This is an absolute dealbreaker for me. And frankly, I'm surprised it isn't for everyone.

There is absolutely no way I would ever allow a contract to be automatically created for me without vetting the client, understanding their needs, and reviewing the material I'd be working on. The only way I'd consider using this is if it worked like the previous iteration where a chat is created with the client to discuss the project or even where an offer is created that can be further refined or declined. 

I understand Upwork is offering 24 hours to back out of a contract created this way. That is not sufficient time to make a decision when clients often don't respond in that period or when a contract comes in late on a Friday night (I don't have much experience with this concept, but I understand some people take the weekends off). But even if it was 48 hours, 72 hours, or a full week: the experience of taking a client's money, then having to refund it because the client isn't a fit, the material isn't something I'd work on, or it doesn't meet the requirements of the predefined project, is not a good customer experience. I also see that this 24-hour back-out period is a limited time deal. 

This is going to be a trainwreck of trashed JSSes and review histories.

I did go through the screens to create a project and found some limitations that would need to be tweaked before this would be useable even if we get past this one point, but I'll post those separately later.

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Yes to everything you've said Wes!

I can't understand why there's been such a push for pre-packaged projects. I am not Amazon, and there's no way I can be expected to function in the same way. There's a simple concept that I would like to share with the people who come up with these features: We are freelancers, not vending machines.  

[Chris M]

I agree 100% with Wes. For a professional it is important to interview the client first and see if it is a good fit. Fiverr works with this model because the quality of projects is very low and people are spending $5-$50, but on a $5000 project that is going to take the next 3-4 weeks of my time, I need to speak with the client first and see if this will be the right project for me. I also need to be able to plan out my months and allow for time off. I can't just have jobs popping up out of nowhere ruining my weekend or vacation. I welcome people to message me first about the project, but I need the right to refuse to work with clients who are not the right fit or the timing is not right for me.

Please consider the different approaches some of us take to running our businesses.

Chris

[Anna B]

Yeah, the most concerning is when you're on holidays or just have a few days off, I sometimes go to the mountains with no reception. So the project would just be automatically accepted even if I am not available and not aware of it. 

Can we, at least, base this on our availability? If we will set up Not available from this day to this day, will we still get the projects popping up? 
Would really like to know the answer

[Vladimir G]

Hi Chris and Anna,

Thanks for your feedback. Regarding the availability scenario you mentioned, since clients will be able to instantly buy your project and likely will expect you to meet the delivery time you have listed there, you may wish to turn off the project if you won’t be available to complete the work. Pro tip: In general, if your project is “on” you should be prepared to have a client purchase it at any time.

[Anna B]

Thank you, Vladimir.

So there will be a possibility to turn the project off? If yes, then it's a perfect solution.

Sorry, don't see how the approved options look like yet, as am waiting still for approval. 

[Jessica S]

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Theresa C wrote:

Hi Wes,

When a client buys your project, the idea is that they are agreeing to what you've pre-defined in your project. So a contract will be created and the milestone will be funded.  You'll be notified whenever a purchase happens and a contract room will automatically be opened, at which point you can start messaging.

Ok.. so I already signed up for this but this is a deal breaker for me too so I just canceled it. While a decent number of my jobs can be done at the prices I designated, some are WAY above scope and cannot be done at those prices so I absolutley need to review the scope first. All projects are different - there is no "one size fits all" solution that leaves me out of the process. There are actually even some jobs in my field that I can't do - like optimizing content for a different country or being asked to work within a rare industry that is simply not something I have done before. 

Also, I have a decent amount of clients who, after I request additional content, never submit it. When I first joined here I accepted contracts right away, not knowing this, and had a decent amount of contracts that Upwork had to come in and close because the client disappeared. I don't do this anymore - I wait until I have everything I need to do the job before I accept it. So ... I can't have a contract created right away because then I have to spend a ridiculous amout of time chasing clients down who rarely even respond.

Lastly, I said i can work on 4 projects at the same time - but I get projects from other places and through the regular way on Upwork so again, I have to be able to choose to accept the project.

Wow... I should have come here first. I would only be willing to do this if it was 100% separate from regular Upwork and nothing about it appeared on my profile page or in my JSS score. You guys made the JSS incredbily biased to clients so I can't risk it.