A rant!

owl_designs · ‎11-30-2021

For the past 3 years my experience on Upwork is becoming more and more negative. All of the latest changes you introduced on Upwork have created an atmosphere where amateurs and not professional designers have taken over the platform. By introducing yearly earnings as a factor to determine whether a person is top rated or top rated plus even, you have created a platform that rates people by how much money they make for you and not how good they are at their job and how well they serve clients on Upwork. This has also led to a situation where a designer like my self that has supported Upwork since the days of Odesk, that has an impecable 5 star rating, has made more than $ 80.000, is at the same level and rating as amateurs and people that are in it just for the "quick" buck. People like me have shown loyalty to Odesk and Upwork, have worked behind the sceenes to improve your reputation among clients as you were growing and now it turns out that none of that matters. By focusing sollely on making profits you are creating a platform that attracts freelancers that are not good at their job while scaring off good and professional clents and companies. So now we are competing against bad freelancers for underpriced projects to get jobs from very unprofessional clients. Once Odesk was a shining promise of a new world where clients with limited funds could find creative people that can help them grow their business and now it's slowly becoming the place where someone can make some quick buck off your client's back. But hey, what do I know, I'm just a guy that has worked on your platform for 8 years and is one of those freelancers that makes clients want to use your platform again because of the quality of services we offer and somehow I've got nothing to show for it and have received zero support and loyalty from Upwork as a company.

I give you my best regards.

moonraker · ‎11-30-2021

Goran V wrote:

By introducing yearly earnings as a factor to determine whether a person is top rated or top rated plus even, you have created a platform that rates people by how much money they make for you and not how good they are at their job and how well they serve clients on Upwork.

This is not true.

While yearly earnings ($1,000+) are necessary to get the badge, whether or not somebody is top-rated is driven mostly be client feedback.

The top-rated plus badge is also driven by client feedback in addition to minimum earnings requirements.

Top rated plus freelancers have to have earned a minimum amount, AND have a good track record.

m_veljanova · ‎11-30-2021

Sorry Jamie, but that's completely false and you know it. It specifically says that the condition to get the top rated is to make $1000 per year and to be top rated plus the freelancer needs to have made $10000 per year. It has nothing to do with the client's feedback. Hiw can you deny this when it's all there, written. If it were as you say, then why am I not top rated when I've had four contracts this month, open and shut, with happy clients who left impecable feedback and 5 star rating. In addition, I personlly have brought the Australian Government as a client here, and made a great deal of $$$ for the platform, and still that doesn't count? Are you calling this a professional move on your part?

moonraker · ‎11-30-2021

Maja, I said that earnings are ONE OF the requirements. I have not denied it's there, try to read what I said again.

To reach Top-Rated or TR+, you need to meet other criteria IN ADDITION TO minimum earnings.

Those criteria include the need to have a JSS of 90% or above for at least 13 out of the previous 16 weeks. To say it's all down to earnings and not performance is demonstrably false.

petra_r · ‎11-30-2021

Maja V wrote:
Sorry Jamie, but that's completely false and you know it. It specifically says that the condition to get the top rated is to make $1000 per year. It has nothing to do with the client's feedback.

Sorry, $1000 is literally nothing and of course it is true that client feedback is the main aspect. No matter how much someone has earned, they can't be top-rated if their JSS isn't at least 90% and has been above 90% for a long time

Maja V wrote:
If it were as you say, then why am I not top rated when I've had four contracts this month, open and shut, with happy clients who left impecable feedback and 5 star rating.

How many top rated eligible weeks do you have?

Maja V wrote:
In addition, I personlly have brought the Australian Government as a client here

How is that in any way relevant?

moonraker · ‎11-30-2021

Maja V wrote:

If it were as you say, then why am I not top rated when I've had four contracts this month, open and shut, with happy clients who left impecable feedback and 5 star rating.

Maybe because you don't meet the criteria?

Have you had a JSS for at least 13 out of 16 weeks, for example?

moonraker · ‎11-30-2021

*Edit

Duplicate post

AveryO · ‎11-30-2021

Hi Maja,

I checked your account and I can see that you are yet to meet some of the criteria. One of which is that your past 12-month earnings are less than $1,000. As James shared, a freelancer needs to meet all the criteria listed in this article to be part of the program. You can refer to the article I linked for more information about the program.

I hope this helps!

~ Avery

feed_my_eyes · ‎11-30-2021

Goran V wrote:

This has also led to a situation where a designer like my self that has supported Upwork since the days of Odesk, that has an impecable 5 star rating, has made more than $ 80.000, is at the same level and rating as amateurs and people that are in it just for the "quick" buck.

I would strongly disagree that you're at the same level - your portfolio is excellent and you have a history of extremely pleased clients. I guarantee you that other designers are having a much more difficult time competing with you - at least for good clients - than you're having by competing with them.

I've been extremely vocal myself about the many freelancers on Upwork who have blatantly fake credentials and portfolios full of stolen work, but, for reasons best known to themselves, Upwork isn't going to get rid of them. I've tried to report such people time and time again, and have now given up. Believe me, I share your frustrations, but there's nothing we can do but accept that Upwork is a "buyer beware" marketplace, and clients will just have to figure out for themselves which freelancers are honest and professional, and which ones aren't.

I think that there are still plenty of clients who do value high-quality, original work and are willing to pay for it - they're few and far between, but there are still enough of them to make it worthwhile for people like you to stick around. Have you thought about raising your hourly rate? I think you could be charging at least $80 per hour, and go after clients at a higher level. Try gradually bumping up your prices by $5 every 3 months or so, and see if that helps, and just leave the low-paying, low-standard clients for the less professional freelancers to fight over.

AveryO · ‎11-30-2021

Hi Goran,

I'm sorry to learn you feel this way about the Top Rated Plus badge and Upwork as a whole. We understand your concern and we definitely considered how adding this new tier would affect those with Top Rated and Rising Talent status. Top Rated Plus is only an indicator that a freelancer worked on a successful large contract and had total earnings of at least $10,000 in the past year on Upwork. It does not mean these freelancers are better or have a higher Job Success Score.

Plus, since we only expect about 3% of freelancers to earn this variation of Top Rated status we know the Top Rated badge will still set you apart as having a great reputation on Upwork.

~ Avery