Clients testing the Waters

[digiphics]

Is anyone else seeing clients that post jobs and collect proposals to test the talent? I've had 4 projects put on hold or expired by clients. Two straight up told me today that their "Internal" department is going to try and complete the projects. Hmmmm, Testing the Waters..

[florydev]

I have found that it is almost impossible to guess the motives of another person correctly and, even if you did, get them to admit it. This goes triple for clients.

[tlsanders]

We've certainly all seen projects canceled, put on hold, or just left to expire. But, of course, there are at least dozens of possible reasons for that.

[prestonhunter]

I'm not sure exactly what constitutes "testing the waters."

I agree that you can't know for certain the motives of clients. In my own experience, I find clients are generally sincere and post jobs because the really want to get help.

One thing that YOU can do as a freelancer is to make sure that you do NOT work for free.

This includes avoiding providing free consultation.

Practice being confident in your abilities and comfortable about the value you can provide to a client. When your interactions with a client stop being confirming your availability and ability, and start getting into providing consultation for the project, then end the interview period and let the client know it is time to click the "Hire" button.

[searchwiz]

Yes, they either award the same project to many people or post the same project and award it to a handful of people, then lower the Job Success Score for all those they don't go with (sometimes for all of the freelancers they go with) and only for $25 or so. I think this is a dishonest thing to allow on UpWork and should be shut down.

But so is the private feedback baloney (either direction). Dishonest practice and competely liable to tilting by unknown UW people. Just had my score lowered from 100% to 98% even though I carefully screen all clients beforehand. This service just doesn't pay. Sooner or later you're knocked down by inexplicable reasons that you can't address, see or know.

[pudingstudio]

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Mark B wrote:

Yes, they either award the same project to many people or post the same project and award it to a handful of people, then lower the Job Success Score for all those they don't go with (sometimes for all of the freelancers they go with) and only for $25 or so. I think this is a dishonest thing to allow on UpWork and should be shut down.

But so is the private feedback baloney (either direction). Dishonest practice and competely liable to tilting by unknown UW people. Just had my score lowered from 100% to 98% even though I carefully screen all clients beforehand. This service just doesn't pay. Sooner or later you're knocked down by inexplicable reasons that you can't address, see or know.

98% is completely fine.

Can be from numerous reasons. It is not that big of a drop. No need to even notice it.