Money-back guarantee

[peterg77]

May I offer a client a money-back-if-not-satisfied guarantee (minus Upwork's fees)?

[petra_r]

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Peter G wrote:

May I offer a client a money-back-if-not-satisfied guarantee (minus Upwork's fees)?

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You may. I wouldn't. (Upwork has a dispute mechanism to deal with clients who are not happy)

Expect to be taken advantage of and scammed.

[prestonhunter]

Peter:

If you are not confident about your ability to do a particular job, then do not offer to do it.

If you are confident about your ability to do a particular job, then simpy do a great job on it.

The client will not want his money back.

In fact, he is likely to do whatever it takes to stay in your good graces, so that he may ask for your services again in the future.

[peterg77]

Thank you for your prompt response.
You’ve made an incorrect assumption. I am perfectly confident about my ability to do the job. However, I am brand new to this site, have no ratings, have not yet been able to digitize and upload numerous samples of past writings, and am anxious to get a few quick assignments and positive ratings under my belt.
I am interested in applying for a position that requires positive ratings, so I wanted to offer the client an assurance of satisfaction and back it up with an offer to refund any payment. But I wanted to make sure I would not be violating any Upwork rules.
I appreciate your response, but confidence is not the issue.
Thanks again...

[prestonhunter]

Thank you for providing more information and context for your question.

Petra's tip is really the main point.

I don't think that any REAL, professional clients want "money-back guarantees." They just want to hire people to get tasks done.

In my mind, publicizing "money-back guarantees" would only attract the types of people you do NOT want to work with.

As a client, I have hired many new freelancers who had ZERO work history. The main things I look at are their portfolios and their skill lists. If I am hiring an artist, I look at their portfolio. If I am hiring for technical work, I look for small/slim skill lists. I look for specialists who do the kind of work I need done.

I have never looked for somebody offering money-back guarantees. I can't recall any freelancer saying something like that in any job proposal I have received.

[peterg77]

Thank you for your helpful insights… I would say only this: the client is offering $20 (!), is looking for “lowest freelance rates,” and is requesting an article I can likely knock off in an hour or two. I don’t believe this is a major publishing house but a simple individual looking for a little help with a task he or she is unable to do. I am anxious to get my first assignment so was willing to risk not getting paid at all for what i thought would be a quick, almost guaranteed positive rating. The $20 fee translates into roughly 1/20th what I got paid as a decades-long professional. But I am retired now, dipping my toes into a new field, and trying to catch up to speed fast.
However, after your message, and a few others with similar sentiment, I will rethink the strategy of using a "money-back” offer.
Thank you for your response.

[tlsanders]

Peter, I want to add another caveat. It sounds like you have great credentials, and often when a client sees a profile with great credentials and a solid hourly rate but a flurry of $20 jobs on the page, it raises questions about whether those credentials are real. It's understandable to be willing to lower your rates to get started, but remember that every Upwork project you do becomes part of your profile.

[yitwail]

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Peter G wrote:
I am anxious to get my first assignment so was willing to risk not getting paid at all for what i thought would be a quick, almost guaranteed positive rating. 

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Peter, what you need to be aware of is that on a job for which you receive no payment, you will not get a public review that appears in your work history, so refunding payment would be self-defeating for you.

[peterg77]

Thank you... I never really anticipated a client not liking my work... but as has been noted in some replies to my question, some less-than-honest clients might grab the article, decline payment and then I’d be screwed. And to top it off, as you noted, I would get no review for all that effort. I’m definitely reevaluating my strategy… Thanks again for your input.

[kat303]

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Peter G wrote:
Thank you... I never really anticipated a client not liking my work... but as has been noted in some replies to my question, some less-than-honest clients might grab the article, decline payment and then I’d be screwed. And to top it off, as you noted, I would get no review for all that effort. I’m definitely reevaluating my strategy… Thanks again for your input.

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If you refund your earnings back to the client that will cause a job with no earnings and a job with no money will affect your JSS. And although you don't have a JSS yet, when you do get one, that (and any other job that you refunded) will impact your JSS.

Freelancers here who have done good professional work and went above and beyond what the client requested are being hit with statements from their clients such as, I don't need this work anymore, I want a refund, I don't like the work you did, I want a refund, this is not what I wanted, I want a refund. And freelancers scared of a negative hit on their feedback are freely giving that refund, this reinforcing the notion that all a client needs to do is to issue one of the above excuses and they can get their work for free. And that gets passed around. 

These freelancers are working long and hard and being taken advantage of, I can not even imaging what will happen to you when you ADVERTISE "money back " statement. 

As to charging a low price, IMO you should charge what you are worth whether the job will take 10 minutes, or 10 months. Clients will hire you for your expertise, and expertise costs. Many many month ago, and I don't know if it was on this site or if I read it elsewhere, but it was a quick story, something about a worker putting an X on a problem and charging a very high price, and when confronted about it said, it only cost $20 to actually fix the problem but $300 for my skills and expertise to locate the problem.  I think that relates to you. Don't take cheap jobs, lowering your rate, it will take twice as long to get reestablished when you raise your rates. It's like starting all over again. 

[florydev]

Peter, I am going to add some unsolicited advice, and bear in mind I am not a writer (which I am sure by the end you will have already figured out).  If you you think an article is worth doing for $20.00 then do it.  But if you think it is worth $400.00 then bid it at $400.00 (or more likey not bid it at all).  What the client thinks a job is worth, very often, is irrelevant to me.   Every consumer in the world wants things cheap, wonderful, and easy and is almost always disappointed with what they end up.  I think what you want to deliver is value.   Ultimately what the best clients want is value.

I understand you are anxious to dive in, but be careful what pool you are diving in.  The world is litered with people willing to pound out an article for $20.00 (or $5.00).  Whatever you do you don't want to be just another person pounding out $20.00 articles.

You want to be Peter.  The guy who delivers amazing value.

[versailles]

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Peter G wrote:
Thank you for your helpful insights… I would say only this: the client is offering $20 (!), is looking for “lowest freelance rates,” and is requesting an article I can likely knock off in an hour or two. I don’t believe this is a major publishing house but a simple individual looking for a little help with a task he or she is unable to do. I am anxious to get my first assignment so was willing to risk not getting paid at all for what i thought would be a quick, almost guaranteed positive rating. The $20 fee translates into roughly 1/20th what I got paid as a decades-long professional. But I am retired now, dipping my toes into a new field, and trying to catch up to speed fast.
However, after your message, and a few others with similar sentiment, I will rethink the strategy of using a "money-back” offer.
Thank you for your response.

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Don't. Be patient, take small jobs at first, small in the sense that they are very quick and thus don't cost much, not because you undersell yourself.

Add pieces of portfolio. Plenty. Write stuff on Medium and send the link along with your proposals.

But do not undersell yourself. Man, I look at what freelancers have charged in the past prior of hiring them. Sorry, I know people won't like this, but if you try to give me a higher rate when you have lower rates on your profile, I won't hire you. I will want the same rates that you gave to others.

[tlsanders]

Peter, that type of guarantee will draw out the many "clients" who have no intention of paying and give them carte blanche to steal your work.

[peterg77]

Thank you… good to know that digital scams extend even to otherwise innocuous jobs web sites! I appreciate your response...

[petra_r]

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Peter G wrote:
Thank you… good to know that digital scams extend even to otherwise innocuous jobs web sites!

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Oh dear lamb....you have no idea.

[petra_r]

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Preston H wrote:

The client will not want his money back.

In fact, he is likely to do whatever it takes to stay in your good graces, so that he may ask for your services again in the future.

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You need to make up your mind: Here you are declaring that some unknown future client wouldn't dream of wanting their money back.

On this thread, you declared with just as little data (NONE... zero. nada.) that the client who put his hand in his pocket and shelled out **bleep** near $ 6000 intended to go for a refund from the start and never intended to pay. As evidence, you cite the fact that the OP, who lost arbitration which usually almost invariably goes the freelancer's way, agrees with you. Doh. Of course she does, she lost arbitration which is hard to do.

You declare stuff as fact which you are pulling out of thin air (or some much darker place) and with absolutely no hint of a clue about the people involved or the work that was done or will be done in the future.

You confuse the living hell out of newbies inventing scenarios such as that and you lead people down the wrong path, so it would be kinda cute if you tried to base your advice on facts rather than just making up fantasy scenarios as you go along.

[mtngigi]

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Peter G wrote:

May I offer a client a money-back-if-not-satisfied guarantee (minus Upwork's fees)?

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Everyone has offered spot on advice. My advice is to change your profile title to what you do ... write - not how you do it "Fast, accurate, compelling". You may not come up in searches without the proper heading/skill on your overview.

[peterg77]

Great suggestion. Thank you!

[wendy_writes]

Peter, adding another voice to the mix - 

1. Do NOT even think about a money-back guarantee.  Every single scammer will try to take advantage - 

2. Do NOT work for less than you are worth.

3. The comments about believability of your credentials is very real - and, in the end, yout reputation is all.  Casting doubt on them from the start will be the end of your foray into online freelancing.

4. The first 2-3 lines of your proposal are crucial.  Address the client's RFP; not how good you are.  Rather, show understanding of the issues he/she is facing.

[peterg77]

Thank you for adding another voice to the mix! Your advice is greatly appreciated.