Connects are too expensive.

[#1]

Now , the connects are too expensive. This is the worst decision for freelancers. It's killing them.

16 connects for a job of 20 or 25 dollars. 50+ proposals on that job. How someone can get hired after spending 16 connects. After spending 200 connects worth of 30$, if someone gets a job, how it will be beneficial for him/her. Please take a look on this matter and revise your decision as it's not allowing us to work or to submit expensive proposals. If you can't do anything, please give some good package on buying connects.

[#2]

16 connects for a job of 20 or 25 dollars.

Edited: That may be reasonable for some. But why are you only applying for $30.00 jobs?

How someone can get hired after spending 16 connects.

If you mean because you have no more connects, then you aren't going to be able to freelance. You did not get where you are by waiting for connects before applying.

After spending 200 connects worth of 30$, if someone gets a job, how it will be beneficial for him/her.

Everyone in business has to determine the return on their investment. Don't apply for jobs where the margin of profit is tiny or nonexistent.

Please take a look on this matter and revise your decision as it's not allowing us to work or to submit expensive proposals. If you can't do anything, please give some good package on buying connects.

Freelancing requires money. If you have none or don't want to spend anything, freelancing isn't for you.

[#3]

**Edited for Community Guidelines** He is absolutely right that a $30 job is not worth 16 connects. That's not his fault, that's upwork's decision to provide such a ridiculous arrangement.

[#4]

— Don't waste your money buying connects, and don't waste your connects boosting your proposals. If you do it, you are paying to Upwork for finding a job, and not receiving money from a client. Serious clients will evaluate your skills and not the number of connects you use. I suggest even not paying for a membership. Use the 10 free connects and only buy 10 connects more ($1.5) if you find a job that fits your skills without boosting! If Upwork does not get money from the freelancers, maybe they will care to avoid the scammers, or do something about clients that post jobs and never hire anyone. 

[#5]

A few times I've found an interesting job late-in-the-game, as in 10+ proposals and a couple of days after posting. In those few cases I've boosted my proposal to "1st" and each time gotten an interview within hours. But, I can't tell if my boost really had an effect. Does anyone know how a boost looks on the client side? Do they get an email and/or a message that says we are so very very interested?

[#6]

I think that boosting is useful for showing you in the first places of the list of proposals, but doesn't guarantee you are the best option for this client. 

[#7]

This is exactly the current situation. So you can only apply for 1 job per month. So anyone can understand that this is not viable anymore for any freelancer.

[#8]

You are free to apply for as many jobs as you wish. No one can freelance with 10 connects. You have to buy them, just like you pay for other freelance expenses.

[#9]

I read this ridiculous rant you're on, shaming every freelancer who doesn't want to pay 16 connects for one job. You are way too rattled. You're also painfully incorrect. Just as you don't pay to apply for a job on Monster, LinkedIn, CareerBuilder, JournalismJobs.com, Indeed and all the rest, it's illogical to pay here. I've been on Upwork since 2014 when it was oDesk/eLance, and they were making money WITHOUT charging to apply. They just made it on the percentage end. If enough qualified people are hired, they're going to make a cut regardless: 5% (once upon a time), 10% or 20%. But qualified people may consider it not worth it to apply because someone could post a job, ignore their entire post, not log in for days and then disappear. They don't get those connects back. This was a terrible business move on Upwork's part. Same for boosting. Now you being THIS upset that people don't want to pay for it sounds about like crying over somebody else's grass not being cut. If you want to pay, pay. But don't get mad when somebody else doesn't, especially if they were here when you DID NOT have to pay. Do yoga. Meditate. Drink some tea. And relax.

[#10]

Do you have amy source of info that Elance/oDesk was profitable?

To my knowledge, they never profit, and they merged, and Upwork also never profit until a few months ago, and that's a reason why I somehow can "understand" all of what they're doing.

[#11]

It took me a year or two to FINALLY buy connects, and it was solely for the reasons you mentioned. I didn't want to ignore a job I was really interested in. I've been on here since 2014 when it was elance and oDesk, and I don't think I've ever been hired by any job that wasn't an invite. There may have been one or two that came and went, but all of my longstanding clients are ones I never paid for connects on. Even clients I invited to Upwork were so put off by the fees that we ended up not working on here long. I really wish they would stop trying to charge us for everything. I know what the site was like before so I can compare how much BETTER the invites were and the quality of the work I wanted to apply to.

[#12]

You cannot be invited if you did not set your availability badge to "Open for work"... which costs connects.

Incorrect. The availability badge, and connects, has nothing to do with being invited to jobs. You do not spend any connects on invitations. I don't pay for the badge, and I receive invitations, sometimes for a real job.

[#13]

No one is forcing anyone to take crappy jobs. The solution is simple. If the return on the investment is poor, don't do it. Why worry so much about what other freelancers are spending? The majority haven't even filled out their profile.

Freelancers are responsible for their business. It is certainly not Upwork's fault if people take those jobs.

[#14]

It is Upwork's fault for placing an inappropriate connect cost on a job.

[#15]

When you go shopping, do you see "inappropriate" prices, decide the item is definitely not worth the price they're asking, and then pay it anyway? Or do you look for better options?

[#16]

Oh of course I don't pay them. As stated, it is [the store's] fault for placing an inappropriate connect cost on a job.

[#17]

Terrible example. As a former mystery shopper who also worked in retail, we were CONSTANTLY paid to go to competitors' stores, see what they were charging and charge COMPETITIVE rates. Upwork is not doing that. All their competitors are letting people apply for free OR just allowing clients to solely reach out to freelancers without all the goofy add-ons (ex. available badge). Trying to rationalize this makes as much as sense as being on a block full of condos that are worth $125K but saying, "No, this one condo owner should be able to charge $250K and just see if somebody buys the house." Your house will sit there forever EVEN for someone who has the credit score and the resume to buy that house. Being greedy for the sake of being greedy is NOT the same as trying to make a profit.

[#18]

Freelancing is not the same as employment.

No, not all of the platforms are free. After seeing over 100 platforms, I don't give free ones a second look. They also tend to have low paying jobs and scams.

Upwork could never figure out how to make money from the business model the other platforms used, so they finally discovered anyone in X connects is a whole lotta money. Yes, Upwork has serious issues, but charging is not one of them, alone. Considering the number of scams and other problems, this changes the rationale of applying and spending money. If the ROI is poor, there is little choice.

Charging for use of the platform, etc. isn't an issue in general, it becomes untenable when legitimate jobs are very few and far between.

[#19]

Your responses to this topic are absolutely absurd. You only get 10 connects a month or 100 for plus, when the average bid on a job is 15+ connects it makes the platform completely unusable anymore. And furthermore, I'd love to see your example of the '100' platforms you've 'seen'.

[#20]

Upwork has never said that the connects they give will result in a job. You are a freelancer, responsible for everything you do. Freelancing means paying for everything yourself. In the physical world, there are costs associated with applying for each new project, and it's no different online. Freelancing means you will spend money on jobs you do not get. It is not the connects that make the platform unusable.

And furthermore, I'd love to see your example of the '100' platforms you've 'seen'.

This is part of the problem. Freelancers who expect everything to be handed to them.

I manage my business, and yes, freelancing is a business, where you are not an employee, but self-employed. Why are you angry with me for telling you the truth, when you haven't bothered to explore options? If you can't look at other possibilities and investigate the sources, that is on you.

[#21]

Still dodged that "100 platforms" question he asked, huh?

Sounds like those folks on Twitter who say "do your research" only to find out that there is no research to do. It was never true in the first place. 

[#22]

---

 Shamontiel V wrote:

Still dodged that "100 platforms" question he asked, huh?

But of course!  She runs around here accusing everyone of "deflecting", yet she's the queen of it.  

JH: After seeing over 100 platforms, I don't give free ones a second look. 

GH: I'd love to see your example of the '100' platforms you've 'seen'.

JH: This is part of the problem. Freelancers who expect everything to be handed to them.

[#23]

If a freelancer looking for work, can't be bothered to do a search and investigate the possibilities, I am not going to waste my time searching for them. In addition, there are different platforms for different professionals.

[#24]

---

 wrote:

Terrible example. As a former mystery shopper who also worked in retail, we were CONSTANTLY paid to go to competitors' stores, see what they were charging and charge COMPETITIVE rates. Upwork is not doing that. All their competitors are letting people apply for free OR just allowing clients to solely reach out to freelancers without all the goofy add-ons (ex. available badge). 

---

If Upwork's rates aren't competitive, then how are they staying in business? They're charging more money because that's what most freelancers are willing to pay.

To use your condo example, if there are hardly any condos worth buying, but millions of people are desperate for a home, the seller can easily put the price up. 

[#25]

If those "millions of people" are "desperate for a home," that desperation is probably because they can't afford the home. Desperation does not mean loaded with cash to spend at a moment's notice, especially for a price that other condo owners on the block NEVER had to pay. If I just arrived at Upwork this year, I would be less phased by the uptick in connects from 2 to 4 to 8 to 23 for THE SAME KIND OF JOB. But I've been on here since 2014, long before their 5% for $10K earnings became 10% for $10K earnings. I've had 10 years to observe them quietly making this platform into something where they make money on the front end and the back end, and it's disappointing.