Nickel and Dime Mentailiy Is Getting Old

[wptophat]

I have been a freelancer on UpWork for a long time. I am a top-rated freelancer. So I have worked REALLY hard to build and maintain a strong rep here. But honestly, I am getting sick and tried of the nickel and dime mentality UpWork has had toward freelancer over the last year or.

UpWork introduces as auction style bid system which means now we have to spend more money to buy more connects in order to actually compete, rather than competing based on merit and reputation!

Now they want use to pay weekly connects to have the "availability" badge! Whats worse is that the price for this is fluid so while it may cost us 7 connects this week, it may cost us 10 next week!

This is getting stupid and I for one am growing weary. Does UpWork not realize or care about the negative impact this has not JUST for freelancers but for clients too!? As my cost of doing business on UpWork goes up, I have to pass that on to clients. 

I am a capitalist so I get the drive to make money. But when you screw the very people that make your business run, you shoot yourself in the foot.

I for one am about to leave UpWork for good. I am working to get on to Codeble and TopTal and other freelance networks that actually care about their freelancers. 

UpWork, you REALLY need to get your heads out of your butts and stop abusing freelancers!

Whats next, charging us to be top-rated?????

[spectralua]

Yep. Possible charges: for toprated, monthly membership, to exist in client's search, for first position in client's search, to search one job, to search 10 jobs more, to search jobs for month... i have more "ideas" but will not post it here, im scared that greedy Upwork will apply all asap. 

🙂

[aprovado]

Can't wait until the platform uses internal AI to post juicy, well-written, highly-tailored job postings able to fool even the most cynical eye among us. Open-ended boosting on those for sure. The possibilities are endless.

[the-right-writer]

Talk to the prosecutor that ChatGPT decided was the lawbreaker. Oh yes, the possibilities for similar "oopsies" that cost a man his reputation.

[c1f2cd98]

Hi everyone how do I get connects to begin writing

[the-right-writer]

You need to read this and follow every link because you are not ready to apply for jobs. Currently, you will only attract scammers. You will learn about connects as you go through the Upwork Academy.

Your profile is a mishmash of skills including, nursing, data entry, etc. Learn how to promote yourself and focus on your real skills. All of your questions will be answered if only you will use it.

[feed_my_eyes]

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Sharon M wrote:

Hi everyone how do I get connects to begin writing

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You don't need connects yet - you need a portfolio of your writing before you start bidding on anything.

[wptophat]

Add this to the fact that UpWorks' algorithym punishes you for not being active. If you go long stretches without enoguh work, your  JSS drops. I went from 100% JSS to 90% as of today. This is despite the fact that EVERY rating I have is 5 star! It is simply because I have only done 2-3 jobs since Nov. 2022. 

I pulled back from UpWork because of these shady practices. Now I am just preparing to leave altogether and I am warning existing clients to avoid UpWork. That is sad because over the years I have brought a ton of business to upwork in terms of both clients AND freelancers. But I can no longer recommend them in good conscience!

[25005175]

But what are all of your private ratings? Public feedback doesn't mean much to the JSS. It's possible some of your past jobs changed JSS time windows and now one or more jobs that had mediocre or negative private feedback now have more impact.

[wptophat]

But thats part of the problem. Private feedback should NEVER be allowed. Does nobody believe anymore in the old saying "if ya cant say it their face don't say it at all"?

Private feedback lets clients screw freelancers over just to avoid paying for the work we do. I had exactly that happen. Fortunately, I was able to prove the clients' private feedback was a lie. Check out the article I just posted where I tell the full story.

The bottom line, UpWork does not care about their freelancers as long as they get paid in 5 different ways on every project. 

[tlsanders]

Star ratings are completely irrelevant. Social norms, clients who want to placate, and even freelancers who ceaselessly harass clients to change feedback have rendered them entirely meaningless. Private feedback is Upwork's only shot at POSSIBLY getting accurate information. 

[feed_my_eyes]

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Tim B wrote:

Add this to the fact that UpWorks' algorithym punishes you for not being active. If you go long stretches without enoguh work, your  JSS drops. 

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That isn't true.

[wptophat]

Really? Then explain how my JSS dropped 10% between November 2022 and march 2023? I did just 2 projects during that time. On Nov. 1 I had a JSS of 100%. On March 15th it was 90%. If you look at my job history, you see that the last rating I got that was under 5 stars was 4.70 start in Feb 2021!.
So I get nothing but 5 star feedback, plust a smattering of clients that do not leave feedback (another thing the algorithm penalizes). Since there were no new project during this period of Nov until Mar, how else do you explain my JSS dropping.

Intentional or not, the JSS system does penalize freelancers for lack of activity and fort clients that do not give feedback.

[feed_my_eyes]

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Tim B wrote:

Intentional or not, the JSS system does penalize freelancers for lack of activity and fort clients that do not give feedback.

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False. Jonathan already tried to explain the JSS calculation window to you, so I won't try again. Since you're leaving Upwork anyway, I suppose it doesn't matter.

[wptophat]

Your (and Jonathans logic does not hold water. When a freelancer has nothing but 5 star feedback for nearly 3 years, there is zero logic to their JSS dropping so sharply as what I expereinced. The idea that 5 star ratings are worth less over time is rediculous. I could see if I had 5 star ratings further back, but lesser ratings in more recent times. But as I said, it has been more than 2 years since I had a rating that was not 5 stars.

And as for your comments about private feedback, you kind of prove my point for me. The idea that a client can leave private feedback that differs drastically from what the freelancer can see is unethical at best. It literally tells clients that it is perfectly acceptable to praise a freelancer in public while talking crap behind their back. I am sorry if you were not raised this way, but I was raised to believe that talking bad about someone behind their back is wrong. If you cannot say it to their face, you should not say it at all. 

What is worse is not simply that clients CAN do this, but that it can have such a negative impact on honest, hard working freelancers.

My case where a client did this to me proves me right.

Now I challenge you Christine, you  make a statement that my claims are "false". SO ok, you want to call me a liar..... prove it. You see, I can back up every single claim I make with evidence. Can you prove me wrong? You say it is false, but you do not back up your statements.

I don't lie.

I did not maintain Top-Rated status for more than 2 years by lying and not delivering high quality work.

In my 5 years on this platform, my JSS saw significant drops 3 times:

1 time when the client lied in private feedback (which I proved and had the feedabck removed and my JSS restored) 

and 2 times when I went dormant, or semi-dormant for more than 3 months at a time. During tose periods, there was no other activity on my account. Good or bad. So how do the 5 start rating I have lose their impact on my JSS? 

The only logical and fair reason for a freelancers JSS to decrease is when they do not get 5 star PUBLIC feedback.

That in fact is the underlying problem with the JSS algorithm I think. A JSS should be based 100% on performance and the client should be held accountable for any claims they make about a freelancer, good or bad. It really is that simple

[yofazza]

I've only had two jobs since mid 2022 and I see the JSS thing is 100%. I have a feeling that it might disappear soon though (and although I don't really care about an "Upwork success score").

As for talking in the face. I used to like it. You can see it in my 2013 feedback. But right now I prefer to keep quiet (and prevent future cooperation, or charge more) on clients I don't like. I don't say anything public anymore. I realize that my "honest feedback" could help other freelancers, but I guess I've changed, right now a few other considerations comes into account.

It also depends on the "severity" I guess, there are cases where public "honest feedback" is necessary I believe.

[tlsanders]

It seems like you've lost the thread.

Your assertion was that you are penalized for being inactive. That is false.

As you undoubtedly know since you wouldn't have been foolish enough to work on this platform for four years without learning the basics of how it functions, Upwork calculates your JSS in three separate ways: based on the past six months, the past year, and the past two years. Your JSS is the highest of the three. 

You may personally believe that ratings aren't worth less as time passes. Upwork has decided and always made very clear that in terms of calculating JSS, ratings more than two years old aren't just worth less--they are worth nothing. They are simply not considered. 

During the November-March period you mention, you had jobs fall out of each of those calculation windows. That can have a positive or negative impact, depending on what falls out.

In a perfect world, public feedback would be honest. It is not. Who do you propose should hold the client accountable (and how) when their 5-star lies cost other clients time and money?

[25005175]

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Tiffany S wrote:

As you undoubtedly know since you wouldn't have been foolish enough to work on this platform for four years without learning the basics of how it functions, Upwork calculates your JSS in three separate ways: based on the past six months, the past year, and the past two years. Your JSS is the highest of the three. 

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Missed one: the "trending" JSS, which is the average of the 3-month and 6-month windows.

[25005175]

Clients can leave falsely (overly) positive public feedback for a number of reasons. The most likely in my mind are:

1. Client doesn't want to be seen as nit-picky and thus a bad client when Freelancers consider bidding on their job (a Client's past feedback to FL is visible)
2. Client believes that if they post excellent public feedback, you will see it and be more inclined to rate them well with your own public feedback.
3. Client believes that giving good public feedback demonstrates good faith or good character on their part.

And the BIGGEST reason: Clients don't realize that the "how likely are you to recommend this FL to someone else" question is actually a private rating and thus severely affects the freelancer's JSS.

[susanm2541]

I totally agree!!!  I'm going to go a step further and just scream how bad Upwork **Edited for Community Guidelines**. Constant scams and unverified payment postings. And I've had 2 jobs here in the past year. I'm not spending one dime on additional connects when it isn't working anyhow. And the jobs posted for a **Edited for Community Guidelines** load of work for $3 an hour. Spare me. I'm officially done with this joke of a site. Good luck. 

[wptophat]

In the last 3 weeks, I spent almost 200 connects bidding on projects. Not a single one even got me an interview or single client interaction. Bear in mind that 6 months ago, I was literally turning clients down because I was too busy on other projects, most of which I was getting on other platforms.

Besides, its not just about the JSS system. Its about the nickel and dime mentality upwork has adopted to force freelancers to spend more and more connects on getting a project, and thus keeping less of our earnings. 
Customer aquisition are higher by far than all of the other 4 freelance networks I am now working on.  With UpWork, I am not paying more to earn less. 
No thank you.

[20550b3e]

I also received responses from clients for my proposal some time ago.
But in the last 2 months, my proposal has not received any feedback.

[20550b3e]

[yofazza]

View to sent ratio are low in average, but yours is lower. Take a look here.

"View" happened before clients see what you wrote in the proposal (except the first two lines) and before they read what you wrote in your profile. So I strongly believe "view" is mainly affected by our proposal position, determined by the sorting algo. It's nearly  out of our control.

On jobs that has 50+ proposals, it's bad news if the algo doesn't like ours. There are proofs some clients doesn't read more than 10 proposals. Here's something related.

[20550b3e]

thank you very much