Free vs. Paid

[nancykz]

Hi, all. I've been on Upwork for 5 1/2 years and have recently hit my stride since being back in earnest. After I initially started I stopped to write a book. Currently I have three ongoing contracts that are allowing me to meet my financial goals. I do not mind paying the $15/month for connects but I have 100+ and feel like I don't need that many at this point.

Can someone who's been in a similar situation walk me through their thought process and please, feel free to tell me whatever I'm missing. The way I see it I can switch to free and possibly lose my currently banked connects OR just keep paying the $15/month which supports a platform that has allowed me to prosper as a freelancer. Do I lose anything else if I switch to free?

I'm aware that I will only be able to roll over up to 140 connects and that I'd have to pay for additional but I'm curious if there is any consequence to switching for free if I'm working steadily and don't see myself taking on anything else.

[robin_hyman · Accepted solution]

Many freelancers will tell you the freelancer plus is unnecessary.  It allows you to view bids (low, medium, and high), set your profile earned amount and project earnings to private, plus it automatically sends you 70 connects each month- not a real benefit to freelancers who already get work consistently.  If you need to apply to jobs, just buy the connects.  

I pay the $15 because:

1) I can't be bothered with buying connects

2) I enjoy reviewing the low, medium and high bids which helps me decide if I should apply or not (I usually never go more than $10 more than the high)

My 2 cents

[nancykz]

Thanks for the insight, Robin. I hadn't considered the value of being able to see the low/med/high bids! I'm just going to keep it as it is. Appreciate your taking the time to answer.

[tlsanders]

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Robin H wrote:

2) I enjoy reviewing the low, medium and high bids which helps me decide if I should apply or not (I usually never go more than $10 more than the high)

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You might be losing out on a lot of money that way. I've been hired on many jobs where my bid was hundreds of dollars above the next-highest.

[aaronph]

That won't have any effect on your current banked connects, profile rating, or on-going and incoming contracts. I've been on and off that quite many times. 

Personally, I don't see much of a perk buying that plus once I have already been on the roll. 

The available connects are enough for me to **bleep** peak only the jobs I want, from serious clients. 

That being said, I believe the plus helps a lot for new FLs, or people you have just gotten back after awhile. It helps publish their profile, having extra connects for door to door selling...