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ebe397fe
Community Member

Respond to freelancer's comment

We posted a job offer which stated a "budget" of $5.  Obviously, this was intended to keep our budget confidential until we select a freelancer for the job.  We did get responses from freelancers who obviously understood our intention.  However, we were rejected by one who gave the low budget as a reason for the rejection.  We fully intend to pay freelancers what they are worth.  I would like to respond to the freelancer who rejected our offer.   Is that possible as we will not be changing the job listing.

11 REPLIES 11
feed_my_eyes
Community Member


Steve R wrote:

We posted a job offer which stated a "budget" of $5.  Obviously, this was intended to keep our budget confidential until we select a freelancer for the job.  We did get responses from freelancers who obviously understood our intention.  However, we were rejected by one who gave the low budget as a reason for the rejection.  We fully intend to pay freelancers what they are worth.  I would like to respond to the freelancer who rejected our offer.   Is that possible as we will not be changing the job listing.


I understand your intention, but if you want to keep your budget confidential, why not set it at something like $100 instead of $5?Otherwise, unfortunately some of your invited bidders will reject your invitation without even reading it, and might even block you from sending further invitations. Freelancers often do get invitations from clients who literally want their jobs to be done for $5, so they can't be expected to know that your intentions are honourable. 

 

I'm not sure whether you're allowed to try to invite the freelancer a second time - you might try reaching out to customer support via the chat feature. Or you can set up a new project and send an invitation to just that one freelancer, if you're interested in hiring them.

 

Christine,

Thanks for the suggestion.  However, the job description clearly indicates a long-term complex project that anyone should understand the absurdity of a $5 budget.  Setting the budget at $100 is equally as irrational.


Steve R wrote:

Christine,

Thanks for the suggestion.  However, the job description clearly indicates a long-term complex project that anyone should understand the absurdity of a $5 budget.  Setting the budget at $100 is equally as irrational.


I'm not sure whether I agree that it's "equally irrational" - $100 is at least a starting point, whereas $5 is a non-starter. Clients post projects with irrational budgets ALL the time, and freelancers have learned to skip past these rather than trying to analyse the client's expectations. I have my own job search set to filter out projects below $100. Do I miss out on some potentially great projects by doing so? Yes - if your project is any indication - but mostly, I minimize having to read through loads of unsuitable projects. 

 

Obviously, you can continue to post projects with $5 placeholder budgets if that's what you feel comfortable with; I'm just providing some insight on why you'll miss out on hearing from some of your invited freelancers.

 

However, I did take your suggestion and placed a comment in the job description to indicate that $5 is to be ignored and we are willing to pay what is necessary to complete the job.  I should also point out that I did add that we agree to pay experts a higher rate.

petra_r
Community Member


Steve R wrote:

Christine,

Thanks for the suggestion.  However, the job description clearly indicates a long-term complex project that anyone should understand the absurdity of a $5 budget.  Setting the budget at $100 is equally as irrational.


Do you realize that many, if not most of the freelancers you are trying to target are filtering projects with a budget below $  XXX out....  so they would never see yours?

By setting a placeholder budget you are effectively preventing the very people you are trying to attract from seeing your post.

 

ebe397fe
Community Member

Petra,

No, I was not aware of that; and it is something I had not considered.  That changes everything - live and learn.

gilbert-phyllis
Community Member

It's not clear whether you posted a job description, sent invitations to your job post, or sent actual job offers to selected freelancers. Nor is it clear why you want to contact the FL who gave it a pass. If they didn't realize $5 was a placeholder, then maybe they aren't a good prospect.

 

A client's reason for using a budget placeholder is not always obvious. It may be that they have no clue how to scope their project. I often respond to those if they look promising in terms of fit. (But rarely if the placeholder is that low. It needs to be closer to the actual ballpark.) Or it may be that they are unwilling to divulge their budget in hopes of attracting lower bids. I never respond to those. And if I decline an invitation, I am not really interested in hearing from the client.

prestonhunter
Community Member

Steve:

This isn't your fault.

And this isn't the fault of the freelancers who rejected the project because they thought you only wanted to pay $5.00.

 

Upwork's system is very problematic and confusing on this point. Many of us would like it to be possible for clients to indicate that the budget is unknown, or not stated, but for right now, that isn't possible.


That field needs to be filled in. And yes, it causes all kinds of problems.

Preston,

Thanks for the insight.  I can't imagine that anyone on this site possesing the credentials that we asked for would think we only intended to pay $5.   If that were the case, we would have posted on Fiverr!

You should have noted in your posting that $5 was just a place holder and that you were open to negotiation on a price for the job. That way it is clear and you are not asking a freelancer to be a mind reader.

petra_r
Community Member


Steve R wrote:

We posted a job offer which stated a "budget" of $5.  Obviously, this was intended to keep our budget confidential until we select a freelancer for the job. 


Did you make it really plain in your job post that the budget is a placeholder? As in saying "Ignore the $ 5 - it is a placeholder?"

(Long version: "Ignore the $ 5 - it is a placeholder and we expect you to waste your connects (which you pay money for) without having the faintest clue whether we would even dream of paying what you generally charge, hence potentially subjecting you (and us) to the kind of awkward (on both sides) conversation that usually happens when a client is told that the freelancer they are speaking to would charge 4 times what they are comfortable paying... ")

 

Do you consider it fair for freelancers to spend their Connects (which they now have to pay for) on "secret budget" job posts?

 

To answer your question:

You can go to the freelancer's profile and hit the "invite to job" button to get in touch with the freelancer.

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