Freelancers keep declining invitations?

[#1]

I'm new to Upwork but verified account/payment. Need to get a front-end developed for a Single-Page application, the back-end is already done and APIs are properly documented. I also wrote a detailed documentation listing the Actions that need to be added to the SPA and attached it with Job posting.

I've posted the project several times with a, what I belive to be, really good budget and invited reputable freelancers with relevant experience but they keep declining with reason "Not Interested in Work Described".

The key factors I can think of are: I don't have any existsing experience/reviews and project is fixed budget. Unfortuantely, upwork doesn't allow me to message invited freelancers so I can't address any concerns they might have, which is also making it harder.

Any tips on how to get good/experienced freelancers to at least response and raise their concerns? and get them hired?

[#2]

Are you making sure to post this as an hourly job? (Not fixed-price)

Are you leaving the job public in addition to inviting selected freelancers?

Are you making sure that your job post is descriptive about the work that needs to be done, but also short and succinct?

If you have too much content, you will turn many good freelancers away. It is often best to hire freelancers to do the first step, and continue working with the best freelancers to continue the work until the end.

I have hired over 120 freelancers on Upwork. I typically have no trouble hiring effectively, quickly, and efficiently on Upwork. I can post jobs and get work done quickly. These are some of the things I do to ensure success.

[#3]

I wrote a brief description and then attached a word document with details.

Its fixed-price, since Im concerned about over-billing and project taking much longer than anticipated. How do you ensure the freelancers aren't overbilling when going by the hour?

[#4]

If it is a very small project, then the freelancer's hourly rate does not really matter.

Your project is bigger. There are lots of details. Lots of requirements. That is why serious freelancers are not interested in working on this using a fixed-price contract.

You need to strip out most all of the requirements (at least to start out with), or hire using an hourly contract.

Even if you hire using an hourly contract, you may want to strip out most of the requirements to start out with. It sounds like your list of requirements may be too long. But that is a MUCH bigger problem if you are trying to hire using fixed-price contracts.

Also, there should not be an attached Word file. That is a big mistake.

How do you minimize cost?
Simple: hire many freelancers and continue working only with the ones who provide you with the best value.

My single page web application had 50 requirements.

I hired Anne, Bob, Carl, Denise, Frank and Greta.

Anne and Bob never did any work. I closed their contracts. The quality of Carl's work was terrible. I could not use it. I closed his contract. Denise did great work, but was very expensive. I closed her contract. Frank had an hourly rate of $100/hr. He did 15 requirements in an hour. Greta had an hourly rate of $10/hr. She did 5 requirements in an hour.

Frank and Greta provided me with the most value. They minimized cost. I continued working with them until the project was complete.

If the project is sufficiently large and you really want to minimize cost, you will want to continue hiring new freelancers to see if you can find even better values. If you find freelancers that are great values, assign them more work. Otherwise, close their contacts.

[#5]

@Preston That's very helpful, i'll reduce the size of project to basic features and post that on fixed budget. If anyone bites and gets the job done well, We can proceed with hourly rate. Probably good idea to hire multiple people for basic featureset and pick the best one. What do you think?

@Viacheslav I tried that as well, specifically said to message regarding any concerns before declining, but still most declined without message.

[#6 · Accepted solution]

re: "We can proceed with hourly rate. Probably good idea to hire multiple people for basic featureset and pick the best one. What do you think?"

I think that you have outlined plans which should work to help you hire freelancers for this project.

In picking freelancers to continue working on this through to conclusion... you can pick the most skilled freelancers regardless of their cost, if money is not a concern.

If budget is a consideration, then you can pick the "best value" freelancers.

Sometimes the "best value" freelancers are not the most skilled, but provide a balance of skill and affordable rate.

Remember that it doesn't cost you anything to post the job as a public job posting. I advise you to consider that. I typically send some invitations but also make the jobs post public.

[#7]

Did you write a custom text in the invitation?