New freelancer

[prestonhunter]

The rates were too low?

You are the freelancer. You are the one who determines your rates.

In the future:

Only work on hourly contracts, until you learn how to use fixed-price contracts in a way that is more appropriate.

[ddc63e9e]

 Thank you for your input. 

[voiceovervandeen]

Hi Mubina, I'm sure the reasons these very low paying clients often have 5* reviews is that they only appeal to new freelancers who are looking to build a reputation on Upwork. These new FL (as you yourself did) give a good review, possibly in the hope of receiving one back from the client, or at least not inviting a poor review in return.

Just a quick tip for the future, look at the "About the client" tab on the job, particularly the avg hourly rate.

This guy shows up as a UK client & he's only paying "$2.22 /hr avg hourly rate"  😮 

+ remember you need to factor in the 20% upwork commission, 20% VAT on the commission fee, $0.99 USD withdrawal fee to get payment into your bank (or $2 for paypal + their other fees) & to take the "less than optimal" upwork USD/GBP conversion rate into account.

You need to factor all of this in when putting a price & value on your time as a freelancer, & maybe even consider the National Minimum Wage that can be earned when working anywhere in the UK (if that's an option for you) instead of freelancing.

[lizablau]

"I only got hired after I completed the project, which was a few days ago."

Are you saying you agreed to work over 80 hours for the ridiculously low rate of $5.00 and you didn't even have a contract? 

Oy.

If so, working without a contract in place is against Upwork's TOS.

Read them so you understand how the platform works.

No, you definitely shouldn't work for this "client" again.

[prestonhunter]

I suppose this should be categorized as an effort to learn the system, without any actual regard for payment or hours.

The original freelancer's post indicates she knows that this sort of thing is not what she wants to do in the future.

But for other people reading this thread:
Don't even do this the first time.

It would be better to come here to the Forum and ask about something like this, so that we can steer you in the right direction.

If you aren't sure: Use an hourly contract.

[lizablau]

No, Preston.  She actually asked for advice at the end if she should work for this client again.  I didn't see where she wrote she didn't want to do this "sort of thing" in the future. 

[prestonhunter]

Well... she knows now.

She should follow your advice.

[ddc63e9e]

Thank you for your input 

[dotsandcrossesnz]

Hi Mubina

I had a look at the job post on your profile - how disappointing for this client to so clearly try and exploit a freelancer! Upwork's policy is for employers not to pay less than $3 per hour. By using the minimum fixed price of $5, this employer is clearly just trying to get around that by taking advantage of less experienced freelancers who don't know how it all works!

I'm sorry you had this experience. There are a lot of scammy clients on Upwork in my experience so you need to be careful. My suggestions for the future:

- never start work until you've received the formal Upwork 'offer' from the client that states how much you'll get paid etc. Clients know this and if they question it, they're shady and you need to walk away.

- before you accept an Upwork offer, make sure you message back and forth with the client so you understand how much work is involved and how much you'll get paid. Even though you've submitted a proposal saying you agree to the $5 fixed price, you're not committed to this until you've accepted the 'offer', so there's room for negotiation here. 

- make sure clients are paying you enough to cover your normal hourly rate.

I hope you have better luck with future jobs.

[ddc63e9e]

Thank you for your advice.

[bobafett999 · Accepted solution]

Avoid this buyer.  Even if he agrees to pay you bit more, he will be pain and won't even pay that amount.  As others have suggested initially go for hourly contract and use Upwork's time tracking APP.Also make sure that buyer's payment method is verified. 

[cc12a20d]

Hi,

Hope you are doing well.

Actually, I start working on Upwork 2 months and in starting I'm
getting one project but now I didn't get any projects.

Can you please help me out of this situation?

Thanks
Arpita

[ddc63e9e]

Thank you. I will keep this in mind.

[c63ea194]

Avoid working for fixed contracts, especially if the price is that low.

If you need to work on fixed contract, multiply the estimated hours with your hourly rate and if the result is way above the fixed price, avoid working on it. In your case, with your $8 per hour and 80 hours of work, you should accept a price of $640 or something a bit lower in worst case scenario. $5 is rediculus. Avoid working with that client again, as he is clearly trying to exploit newcoming freelancers

[db254abd]

Are you claiming that without even having a contract, you agreed to put in more than 80 hours of work for the absurdly low pay of $5.00?
Hey if so, it's against Upwork's Terms of Service to work without a contract in place.

Read these to gain an understanding of the platform's operation.

No, you shouldn't ever take a job with this "customer" again.