UW suggestion for fixed-price project

[#1]

I responded to an invite that asked for a fixed-price budget. 

It's a project the client thinks will take approx. 15-16 hours. Upwork's suggested bid amounted to a whopping $160. 

???

Where does that amount come from? Since it's a BIG enterprise client, is that number supposed to be a serious suggestion based on past experience?

Sorry if that is something I should know - I haven't really bid on flat rate projects for a while...

[#2]

That's bizarre and I would ignore it. An Enterprise client will likely (hopefully!) know better than that.

Hoping a moderator comes along to shed some light on how that suggestion is generated.

[#3]

Hi Ela,

Thanks for sharing your experience with the job in question. I located the job and checked, and suspect the amount appearing as the project budget should not have been displayed. I can confirm it's not a suggestion and freelancers can set their own rate as expected. We've asked our team to look into it and will be providing an update once we have more information. In the meantime, I see you already took the correct steps in responding to the invite. I apologize for the confusion the displayed amount has caused you.

[#4]

Thanks, Vladimir.

I was just so surprised to see such a random amount appear automatically.

[#5]

I finally received an answer from support.

They said that due to "the budget of the client being hidden", the $160 was the estimated price for the contract.

And that the amount was displayed by design and that this happens "when the contract price is set to private."

The amount is still totally random.

[#6]

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Ela K wrote:

The amount is still totally random.

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...as is that response...

[#7]

OMG. I just heard back from said huge Enterprise client that was founded by somebody with a name similar to **Edited for Community Guidelines** - they told me my bid was way over their budget and offered $240 for 16 hours of work. 

So the suggestion was actually pretty accurate!!

Depressing.

[#8]

I have had this happen as well.  I just disregard it as a suggestion that has no bearing on what my personal bid would be.  As far as what the client sees, I wouldn't know.  I would hope that the client isn't seeing this disproportionate figure as some may (and often do) then demand the lowest price for the highest quality work (is that even surprising?).

I would also hope that this isn't a visible suggestion on the client side because it would have some recency effect on how the client receives the freelancers bid, and ultimately underscores Upwork's ability to increase their own revenue.