Scheduled rate increase

[sourceprouk]

Who had this brilliant idea?

This is the best way to put off clients: The thought that the fees will increase, with time, as they have less and less money for the project.

The fees (hourly rate) for a given project should be fixed for the duration of the project. When I increase my fees, I do it on new projects.

Now I have to keep coming back to correct my proposals, after pressing Send, because I always forget to cancel this thing and I get the 'Please fix the errors below' message.

[liakat89]

Dear Upwork Team,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to express my disappointment regarding the recent decision to increase the fees for freelancers from 5% to 10%. As one of your most trusted and loyal freelancers, this decision comes as a letdown.

Many of us have put in significant effort and dedication to build a strong working relationship with Upwork, and the 5% fee was a testament to the mutual trust and loyalty. The abrupt increase to 10% feels like a substantial setback and is disheartening for freelancers who have been contributing to the platform's success.

I urge you to reconsider this decision, keeping in mind that excessive fees may lead to financial challenges for freelancers. Striking a fair balance between platform sustainability and freelancer satisfaction is crucial for the continued success of Upwork. I kindly request you to revert to the previous 5% fee structure at your earliest convenience.

[54u]

Thank you for explaining carefully. I was thinking about that now and looking to start a new thread but I found this one. I understand rate increase option it is something not mandatory, but I strongly preferred as it was (Without talking about rate increase or not, during submitting/approval of proposals). I think everything was fine so far. Let me explane my thoughts: I do not mind about people do not need to work for life or do not want to work, they can do what they want. I just think it is not necessary overwhelm coming with news/updates day per day, expecially when it is not necessary. Upwork is the best freelance marketplace I know and dealing rates about contracts was already possible in excellent ways. When something work fine leave as it is. Thank you for your understanding!

[pawa2007]

Please explain how "Never" means "You and the client can also agree to a different rate schedule in the future".

[54u]

Yes, no worries. In any case we can agree with client.

[54u]

From my point of view. The new feature allow to set if a freelancer want to schedule a rate increase during time to propose to client. I guess Upwork is a wide platform letting any kind of thoughts to be as free as possible. Basically it works like that: If a freelancer chose "Never", the rate is fixed during time, if freelancer choose rate increase, the hourly rate will increase during time based from options chosen. In both cases, before and after this new feature was applied from Upwork a client and a freelancer with estabilished working relation could agree and set new rates, higher or lower opening a new Upwork contract or change contract rate. Hope this help to understand.

[0abe39a8]

Thanks for addressing our concerns and clarifying the optional nature of the scheduled rate increase feature. It's good to know that it doesn't go against Upwork's Terms of Service. I appreciate the transparency and the explanation about how freelancers and clients can navigate this feature. Looking forward to continued collaboration on Upwork.

[dyumnin]

I actually think this is a good idea,
As a client what would you prefer,

1. A consultant who starts with a low rate, and after learning all your systems and processes surprises you with a demand to renegotiate the rates OR
2. A consultant who says, This is my current rate, If you find me an useful asset after 6 months, I want an increment of 5%

[sourceprouk]

That is fine if you want it. However, Upwork should not impose it on the rest of us.

[the-right-writer]

Maybe you want to work like this, but some of us are freelancers and want to stay that way. This model is like employment, without the benefits.

As Federico said, Upwork should not force us to work this way.

It is driving away the good freelancer clients, the few that were left. Freelancing is about just that, not setting up a pseudo-employment status.

[sourceprouk]

It says that the issue is solved. How is that?

[celgins]

Are you referring to Avery's post being accepted as the solution?

This forum app, and many like it, allows freelancers to post messages that often include problems, issues, questions (non-rhetorical), etc. When other freelancers chime in with solutions to the problem, the original poster can mark one solution as the best or "accepted" solution.

Marking Avery's post as the accepted solution does not mean the scheduled rate increase issue is resolved. The forum app doesn't recognize this as a discussion and makes the "Accept as Solution" button visible on all threads.

Only you (the original poster) can click "Accept as Solution," so you must have clicked it a few days ago. I think Moderators/Community Managers can also choose an accepted solution, but I rarely see them do that.

[sourceprouk]

I did not mark any posting as the 'accepted solution' 🙄 Upwork must have 😀

[spectralua]

It is can be checked and unchecked as well. Both, solution and upvote is uncheckable.

[celgins]

I guess Avery marked it to ensure none of our opinions or gripes were chosen as a solution. 😂

[spectralua]

Right. She let us know that our opinions don't matter. But I still leave my opinion everywhere. They don't ban for it here. At least I know I tried.. 🙂

[the-right-writer]

Perhaps one can comment without being banned.

[sourceprouk]

The next step is to merge the thread into one with 30+ pages where it will go into oblivion 😁

[the-right-writer]

Or maybe eliminate the forum or make it so only "official" Upwork people can post. Nothing would surprise me anymore. I never thought elance would turn into a low-paying employer where I had to give them money.

[the-right-writer]

Mods can do that. It's their way of letting you know the discussion was never a discussion but mandates.

[tlsanders]

Then, if it seems the discussion is taking a productive term, they declare it unproductive and lock the thread.

[kbadeau]

I don't think I can find adequate words to express how adamantly opposed to this I am.

First of all, as everyone has said, the time to ask for a rate increase (especially when you already have what many clients think is a frighteningly high rate) BEFORE you've ever even TALKED to the client as ABSURD.

Secondly, like Christine I will ALWAYS choose NEVER, but that's just a super awful option because and reasonable client with basic reading skills will not for one second agree with Avery that "this shouldn't deter talent like you from negotiating a rate increase in the future." NEVER, where I come from, and in the English language dictionary means: at no time in the past or future; on no occasion; not ever.

Not that it will make a difference, but I might just decline all invitations until this nonsense is truly optional (meaning I don't choose "Never;" I just choose not to broach the subject at all in my proposal. OPT OUT

And I will be sure to list the reason in each declined invite. Upwork is forcing me to negotiate future rate increases before I've ever even spoken to you.

[7b90f519]

As an employer who has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Upwork, I have to agree! I have rejected a great many applicants in the past few weeks because they are requesting these rate increases. I have no problem talking about a rate increase when it is warranted, after work has been going well. Some are asking for a 10% rate increases every 3 months!

That is egrgiously bad. It amounts to nearly 50% by the end of the year 1. What type of job gets a 50% increase within a year?!? By the end of year 2, that's 2.14x the hourly rate at which we started.

Perhaps I'm an outlier for hiring people longer term like that on Upwork. But I find proposals with such preset rate increases built in to be extremely offputting - to the point at which I'm considering using a different service to find freelancers - potentially hiring directly elsewhere.

Get it together, Upwork!

[sourceprouk]

Just as I thought.

[joe_neely]

I've been on Upwork since 2014. When returning to work after a family tragedy, I was stunned to see this rate increase policy. It is not optional, though it claims to be. I have made TONS of $$$ for Upwork over the years. But I will absolutely NOT work with Upwork again until you make this "rate increase" nonsense TRULY OPTIONAL. 

You just can't cut us off at the knees in our negotiations with clients. If you can't be equinanimous (if you simply pimp us out), we will RUN AWAY in droves. And your once-reputable platform will become a ghost town -- the Twitter/X of the freelance world. 👎👎👎

[ashley_m_mann]

I really wish there was a way to cap the rate increase at a certain amount.  If I could do that, I would start lower than my desired rate as a sort of "trial period" and eventually work up to what I actually want to earn, but I wouldn't expect to keep receiving raises indefinitely.