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bmhumphreys
Community Member

Question RE Hourly Rates

Okay, Community Gurus, I have one more question for y'all, if y'd be so kind...

Yesterday I did my own analysis of the average bid for hourly rates for jobs in my field.  I looked at 40 postings - 20 listed as "intermediate" level, and 20 listed as "Expert" level.  My goal was to determine what a reasonable hourly fee to post on my profile would be.  I found that in my study, the average intermediate rate was $38.77, and the average expert rate was $56.96.  I consider myself to be an expert, and I also consider myself to be at least a little better than average, so I decided on an hourly rate of $65 for my profile.  I can live with that.  I feel like it's both competitive and fair.

My issue - and this very well may be just my neuroses taking - is that on so many of the jobs I'm looking at now, UW is suggesting I charge hourly rates in the $80-$100/hour range!  I throw my hands in the air and shout to the heavens, "What's a Freelancer to do?!?"

Any advice on this from gurus?  If UW thinks I can make $100/hour, I certainly want to do that, but I don't want the hourly rate on my profile to scare away potential invites - especially when I look at the average bid numbers.  What would/do you do in this situation?

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petra_r
Community Member

You've not *done* any hourly contracts, so what your hourly rate does is mainly position you in a segment for search purposes.

 

That said, clients aren't stupid. They look at your profile and your history to see if your hourly rate is in line with what you were earning on your recent jobs. If there is an obvious discrepancy, it makes you look like either a chancer or delusional.

 

Personally I would ignore those rate tips. The time to up your rate is when you have enough / more than enough work at your current rate.

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petra_r
Community Member

You've not *done* any hourly contracts, so what your hourly rate does is mainly position you in a segment for search purposes.

 

That said, clients aren't stupid. They look at your profile and your history to see if your hourly rate is in line with what you were earning on your recent jobs. If there is an obvious discrepancy, it makes you look like either a chancer or delusional.

 

Personally I would ignore those rate tips. The time to up your rate is when you have enough / more than enough work at your current rate.

Thanks, Petra.  That's what my gut said, but I wanted outside opinions.

Besides what was mentioned about the UW rate "tip" I generally advise that you completely ignore what others are charging. Personally I could care less what others in my area charge and I never seek out an analysis of it. Chances are that doing that analysis will lead you to charge less than you should assuming you are an expert in your field. Most people get into group think with regards to their rates which then just reinforces itself whether it is actually the true market or not. I would look at industry rates outside of UW and then make sure your profile measures up. Then see what actually happens and adjust as needed from there without being too reactive. UW rates are lower than market in my experience but there is a trade-off that itself has value which you will need to ascertain for your own situation.

martina_plaschka
Community Member

There was a recent thread where a client wondered why freelancers charge different rates in their proposals than the one's on their profiles. 

It is because upwork suggests a different rate, but the clients don't know about this function. 

I can see that this is a huge turn-off for clients, as they feel the freelancer is trying to take advantage. 

I can never seem to quote on this Kindle...

Any client with any sense at all knows that rates can vary for a number of different reasons.

My rates generally change either because: 1. I have raised the rate over time, which isn't exactly a bizarre thing to happen; 2. a particular job needing approximately the same amount of words as a different one will require much more of less prep, more or less (or no) research and take more or fewer skills; 3. it was a repeat client, I already knew what s/he generally wanted and it was going to basically be straight writing; or 4. that was the client's own proposed rate, and I felt okay with it.

I have literally never charged a different rate because Upwork suggested it. I never even look at that feature.

Thank you for sharing what should be obvious. Different jobs are not comparable. Some may be close, while others require hours of interviews and/or research.

cahenningsen
Community Member

You hit it on the nose.  I'm an expert making much higher rates than you see here, but like you see UW suggesting I charge a higher rate only to get low ball offers.  There has to be another way here besides billing ourselves out dirt cheap and then raising rates over a protracted period, etc.

resultsassoc
Community Member

Upwork's expertise is in algorithms and transactions, not freelancing. Their suggestion for a rate is based on that expertise. Ask your cocker spaniel, at least he will lick your hand.

 

The industry standard for what I do is north of $500/hour. Upwork does not attract clients who pay that, and I'm interested in serving small businesses. My "standard rate" on UW is $150/hr, intended to scare away clients with whom I don't wish to work. If the work is interesting I charge less than if it's something I already know about. That reflects a boredom premium.

 

Best practice is to price your work at what it is worth to the client. If it's only worth $15/hour, don't respond. Your client establishes the value/worth of your work, you just decide what rate fits your business model. I have learned that when somebody tells me I'm charging too much to raise my price.

That’s kind of where I’ve come down on this. I’ve got an hourly rate I can live with, and if I know it’s going to be a quick job, I may bid a little less. I’ll probably raise my public rate a little in a few months once I have more of a portfolio built up, but for now, I can live with it. Thanks, Bill and everyone else!


Bill H wrote:

Upwork's expertise is in algorithms....


That's surprisingly generous, Bill.

Bill H wrote:

Upwork's expertise is in algorithms....

That's surprisingly generous, Bill.

 

Michael, everyone has an area of expertise, which I'm equating to "core strength." Some people's core strength is pretty darn weak.

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