I know it is in the TOS not to negotiate free work but few people read them. I am talking about a warning message on the page where people go to post jobs.
There are reasons I say this:
1- If rogue clients ask for free work, and we know they had a warning above the box where they post the job, then we know they have no excuse they did not know and we then will know who we are dealing with in advance.
2- If they ask for initial work, with a proposal, ''innocently' (genuinely not knowing it is not allowed) and they are serious clients, it can lead to embarrassment and even friction when one says no. "Why not, I just want to to have an idea of what you are thinking" they have said to me.
3- There will always be providers who say yes and do the free work, some offer it. This is unfair on the proper providers like me. Clients will take what is offered to them, it is human nature. Some clients have shown me what other providers did for free at the time of bidding.
In the case of design, providers like me will know that clients in this field usually as for sketches, initial computer work and ideas. The designers and creatives job page could tell job posters not to ask for these things in particular, to make it even clearer.
