Clients asking article test tasks for $5

[philomenaaah]

Some clients post the amount that they are able to pay per article at the job request, others not. But lately, in most of the cases, most of them (they are not that many opportunities in Portuguese market) ask me for an article test task, for free, or for much less that is announced by them, like $5, even after I share my experience and real examples of articles in that area of expertise.

At all the situations that I accepted (only three), they didn't even contacted me again after I deliver the article and I asked for feedback with no success, what makes me think that most of the clients who do this, do it to several freelancers to get different articles at a very low cost or even for free. I'm not saying that all clients are doing the same, but to protect myself and my work (which deserves to be paid properly regarding my experience of several years), I'm refusing those proposals and offering other kind of alternatives, but the answer is always the same, that they cannot pay for a test article or they will only pay $5 and then they will analyse if they hire me or not.

I'm wondering if this is happening with someone else and what can be the best approach to end this type of negociation process with success. Please share your thoughts. Thanks in advance.

[versailles]

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Filomena S wrote:

makes me think that most of the clients who do this, do it to several freelancers to get different articles at a very low cost or even for free.

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Yes, that's exactly what they are doing, with lots of success.

[philomenaaah]

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Rene K wrote:

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Yes, that's exactly what they are doing, with lots of success.

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In Portuguese there are not so many opportunities so I feel that I'm paying connects for nothing... All conversations end with they saying they cannot pay or offering a ridiculous amount per article. So sad...

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

All jobs posted on Upwork are "test" jobs.

So just ignore the word "test." It doesn't mean anything.

For example, if you see:

Client: "I want to hire you to write a test article."

Change this in your mind to:

Client: "I want to hire you to write an article."

If it is worth your time to write that article... if the client is offering to pay your rate, then you can agree to the job. If not, then don't agree to the job.

[philomenaaah]

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Preston H wrote:

If it is worth your time to write that article... if the client is offering to pay your rate, then you can agree to the job. If not, then don't agree to the job.

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Great advice. Thank you, Preston.