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Client asking you to buy from Amazon
Mar 8, 2016 12:45:44 AM by Irish T. L
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Mar 8, 2016 12:45:44 AM by Irish T. L
Hi, is it risky to accept a job that requires you to buy books from amazon? But the client promises to pay you the cost only after you submit the book reviews? Is this a legitimate practice on projects such as writing book reviews? Thank you.
Solved! Go to Solution.
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Mar 8, 2016 01:26:31 AM by Jack C
According to the FAQ at https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211063118-Report-Suspicious-Activity you should actually report any client who:
"Asks you to pay money to get a job, including things like reimbursable site registration fees and assurance deposits."
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Mar 8, 2019 07:59:11 AM by Aki T
I'm wondering about a similar job that I've been invited to, where they are asking me to order a product from Amazon and write a review for it. The invitation states that I will receive a certain amount up front for the item and shipping, and I would get paid an additional amount afterward for the review itself. Is it still against TOS even if the "reimbursement" for the product comes before the actual purchase, and not after it?
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Mar 8, 2019 08:32:24 AM Edited Mar 8, 2019 08:40:39 AM by Preston H
re: "I'm wondering about a similar job that I've been invited to, where they are asking me to order a product from Amazon and write a review for it. The invitation states that I will receive a certain amount up front for the item and shipping, and I would get paid an additional amount afterward for the review itself. Is it still against TOS even if the "reimbursement" for the product comes before the actual purchase, and not after it?"
Aki:
There are two completely separate issues at play here.
You must not accept the job you referenced, because writing PRODUCT reviews for pay is a violation of Amazon ToS, and Upwork ToS requires that user not violate Amazon ToS.
It IS GOOD that the client is offering to pay up front for the item and for shipping. Obviously that is what any client should do if a freelancer needs materials in order to do the job. So you are correct in your understanding that by doing this, the client is avoiding violating one specific Upwork rule. Another example of this would be: The client wants you to bake a cake and take a photo of it. The client uses the Upwork Reimburse Expenses tool to send you the money for the materials before you go to the store to buy the materials.
But that has nothing to do with the other issue, which is that the client is asking you to violate Amazon ToS by writing a paid product review. Amazon has DIFFERENT RULES for books versus non-book products. And those rules prohibit paid reviews.
You may read more here:
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Mar 13, 2019 02:15:07 PM by Mary T
This is a good and clear explanation. I got mixed up with a client asking me to do the same thing only she did not tell me ahead of time it was an Amazon review. She wanted me to "write a description of a product, 125 words for $20. Sounded like a good deal so I accepted it. Then I found out the real deal was she wanted me to purchase the product for $15, plus because of the type of product it was (fake eyelashes) I'd have to book a salon visit to have them applied.
Would not listen to reason. She never paid me, yet Upwork charged me the $4 fee for the job.
I'm just telling this story so others will be careful about any job for "writing product descriptions."
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Mar 13, 2019 02:23:28 PM by Phyllis G
Mary T wrote:This is a good and clear explanation. I got mixed up with a client asking me to do the same thing only she did not tell me ahead of time it was an Amazon review. She wanted me to "write a description of a product, 125 words for $20. Sounded like a good deal so I accepted it. Then I found out the real deal was she wanted me to purchase the product for $15, plus because of the type of product it was (fake eyelashes) I'd have to book a salon visit to have them applied.
Would not listen to reason. She never paid me, yet Upwork charged me the $4 fee for the job.
I'm just telling this story so others will be careful about any job for "writing product descriptions."
How could UW charge you a fee if you were never paid for the job?