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Nick's avatar
Nick H Community Member

Why do freelancers withdraw their proposals?

I posted a job and out of 24 proposals, 5 have been withdrawn. One of those I was in the middle of messaging, I had told him more about the job and I asked him for some examples of past work, which he sent me. Two hours later he had withdrawn his proposal. I'm new to upwork and I'm trying to understand why proposals are withdrawn, if there is something I am not doing correctly. Thank you for your advise.

21 REPLIES 21
Andrea's avatar
Andrea G Community Manager

Hi Nick,

 

Freelancers have the option to withdraw proposals on their end manually. Sometimes they do it because they'd like to change something and resubmit, or maybe they are not interested in the job post anymore. Another possibility to keep in mind is that, if a hold is placed on a freelancer account, all of their active proposals will be withdrawn since they would be unable to start a contract anyway.

 

~Andrea
Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

Nick:

There may indeed be things that you could improve with regards to how you are posting jobs and hiring.

 

I have hired 178 freelancers on Upwork. Sometimes I want something done quickly.

 

I am able to post a job, AND hire a freelancer AND have the work COMPLETED within one or two hours. These jobs are often for extremely specialized tasks that only a small number of freelancers on Upwork would be able to do.

If you are concerned about how long it takes, or how much effort it takes, to post jobs and hire freelancers, then it is likely that you are not completely aware of best practices that successful clients utilize to accomplish their goals.


If you want advice, feel free to tell us a little more about what you are trying to accomplish with your hiring, what kind of freelancers you want to hire, etc., and Forum participants will be able to provide you with tips.

Oluchi Queen's avatar
Oluchi Queen A Community Member

You absolutely do have a point.

Luqman's avatar
Luqman M Community Member

Some of the reasons i withdraw:
- the posted decription is very different than that which is explained in interview
- the client does not understand/cant explain the work and is paying a very low fee 
- the client raises red flags

Tom's avatar
Tom J Community Member

So then why would they offer a proposal in the first place?

 

Oluchi Queen's avatar
Oluchi Queen A Community Member

Hello Nick,

I would say as a freelancer that this could happen when they less connects and they have observed that the job has more submitted proposal where they might not stand a chance. For me, a freelancer wold rather use their connects to apply for a job with less proposals.

Queen.

Amit's avatar
Amit S Community Member

Withdrawing a proposal does not give you your connects back AFAIK.

Martina's avatar
Martina P Community Member

Many do this because they mistakenly believe they get the connects back they used to apply to the posting. They don't. 

Experienced freelancers don't withdraw, because it's a waste of their time, since it serves no purpose. They send a proposal and forget about it until they hear back from the client. 

Withdrawing mid-conversation is just weird, I can't venture a guess what is going on there. 

Nick's avatar
Nick H Community Member

It turns out that the freelancer I was talking about was automatically withdrawn by Upwork because there was "a problem with their account". I'm not sure what that's all about and why it happened at this time but it had nothing to do with the job posting.

 

As far as the others that withdrew, I'm still unclear. All but one of them has $0 earnings, so perhaps they think it is useful to withdraw for some reason? On the freelancer side, can you see all the proposals you are competing against?

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

re: "On the freelancer side, can you see all the proposals you are competing against?"

 

No.

 

re: "so perhaps they think it is useful to withdraw for some reason?"

 

If that is what they think, they are incorrect.

No advantage is gained.

If they realize they genuinely don't want to work in the project, then it would make sense to withdraw to ensure they won't be offered the job.

Amit's avatar
Amit S Community Member

Speaking as a freelancer, no, this doesn't seem to make much sense to me. Others have already listed some possible reasons (a hold is placed on their account, or they mistakenly believe their connects will be returned, or they discover something about the job or the client which makes them want to withdraw from or not enter into a conversation). As many as 5 proposals being withdrawn out of 24 seems surprising, but I honestly don't know how common such a thing is. And no I can't see the other proposals as a freelancer, though I think those with Freelancer Plus can see the amount other freelancers have bid.

 

I have posted only one job recently here as a client, have received about a dozen proposals, and I don't think anyone has withdrawn as yet.

Emmy K's avatar
Emmy K I Community Member

Well Nick, i believe that the freelancer thought they can recover their connects back by withdrawing.

Prashant's avatar
Prashant P Community Member

I believe most likely it is one of the reasons Andrea G gave - account suspended.

 

You should be thankful that they withdrew for whatever reason.  They would be trouble any way.

Sinisa's avatar
Sinisa V Community Member

Did you think about hourly rate?Was it too low**Edited for Community Guidelines**work for peanuts in last 3 years?

Nick's avatar
Nick H Community Member

I didn't put an hourly rate on the post.

Nick's avatar
Nick H Community Member

Do freelancers look at the invites I sent and are turned off that I've sent 5 out? Or do they see that I'm already interviewing 2 people and they want out for some reason?

Prashant's avatar
Prashant P Community Member

No it makes no sense.  They already have paid some money to apply (buying connects at 15 cents each).  They are not refundable

CJ's avatar
CJ A Community Member

Reasons I have withdrawn proposals - maybe a helpful 'point of view' as you begin your Upwork journey as a client :

 

1. Client takes too long to respond to the proposal.  Usually if I don't hear something back within 24-48 hours (excluding weekends/holidays), I just withdraw it and move on. This is especially true if I re-open the job post and see the client hasn't logged in and looked at the proposals since they posted the job. I do it for several reasons.  A client moving 'slow' reviewing proposals usually moves 'slow' during the interview/hire process.  Also, I figure if they are 'unresponsive' from the outset, they are going to be 'unresponsive' throughout the project/contract, which limits the likelihood of the project being successful.  I also don't like a 'backlog' of old proposals sitting in my queue, or for the client to randomly show up weeks (or months later) suddenly interested in 'interviewing', when I've completely forgotten about the job and moved on. That has happened to me several times.  Sometimes, I've gotten other offers during that 24-48 hour period while that client was moving 'slow' and had to withdraw the proposal because my availablility changed.  Things move fast on Upwork, especially with such a labor shortage: While one client is 'thinking about' hiring somebody, another client is already sending them an offer.  This is the primary reason I withdraw a proposal: The client simply took too long to respond, the proposal is 'old news' to me, and I so purge it from my queue. 

 

2. I got a 'bad vibe' about the client or project or the client was rude/unprofessional/offensive or left me with the impression they weren't honest, knowledgeable, or trustworthy for one reason or another.   It's hard to explain what a 'bad vibe' is, but if I hear a voice in my head that says 'avoid this person', I listen to it, no questions asked. I've never had anything good come of getting a 'bad vibe' about anybody and giving them a 'chance' anyway. If something seems 'off' about anybody, whether it's a client or a stranger on the street, I go the other way.

 

3. The client can't clearly explain the scope of work,  describes different needs other than what the job post says, doesn't understand the complexity of the task they need done, or has unrealistic expectations about how fast (or cheaply) it can be done.

 

4. Client posted a job  offering a particular fee/rate, or 'accepted' my proposal with my offered rate/fee, and then wasted my time by trying to 'bargain down' to a rate/fee other than what I proposed. For instance, a client advertising a rate range up to $80/hour, then starting an interview and informing me "I'd really like to keep the rate under $30/hour, if possible".  Complete bait and switch waste of time.

 

5. The client has been bombarded with proposals or is 'interviewing' or 'inviting' too many people.  If I see the client now has 50+ proposals since I sent mine in, or is 'interviewing' 8, 10, 20, or 30 people (along with me), I just withdraw the proposal. If they invited 30, 40, 200 people to their job, I withdraw the proposal.  It's almost always a waste of time (for me) waiting on something like that, and it's usually going to take them many days, weeks, or months to finish all that and make a 'decision', by which time I've already moved on and lost interest in their job.

 

6. The client decides to interview me, but it becomes evident they didn't even bother to read the proposal or my profile fully.  This becomes evident when the client starts asking questions that are already clearly outlined on your profile, or should be evident from your profile.   Example: "So, have you ever managed any projects before?" when you have 20+ years of experience doing just that outlined in the profile.  It's insulting,  suggests the client either didn't understand what they were reading, or was too lazy to read it and want you to re-type your entire career history all over again in a 'chat'.  No thanks.  Don't have time.

 

7. The client started the 'interview' process but is moving too slow, is 'spotty' with communications, or keeps 'ghosting' during the process.  For instance: The client sends me a few detailed questions.   I respond within minutes or an hour.   The client disappears for many hours or several days, then pops back online and asks a couple more questions. (repeat cycle) It's a waste of time, the client doesn't look 'serious' to me,  and my availability is changing in the interim.

 

8.  A call/video interview is scheduled with the client and they either don't show up at all or are more than a 'few' minutes late without notice or a lame excuse.  This behavior is indicative a person that doesn't respect other people's time.  I don't treat others that way, and don't tolerate it from others.  Proposal is immediately withdrawn and I usually block the client for being unprofessional and disrespectful.

 

Freelancers do not withdraw proposals to 'use' those connects on other jobs.  It does not work that way.  Once the connects are spent, they are spent.  Freelancers don't get 'refunded' by withdrawing proposals.

Bruce's avatar
Bruce D Community Member

Nick, I might withdraw a proposal because I had more than one proposal out, and had accepted an offer for a different project that was going to require my full attention.  I would not just disappear in mid conversation, however.

Kamrunnahar's avatar
Kamrunnahar M Community Member

I also want to know about this.

Ariful's avatar
Ariful I Community Member

HI, 

@Nick H. It's not just your case, it's happened to many. In fact, if the freelancers withdraw the proposal, they have withdrawn in the hope that they will get back the connections they had spent on applying.

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