With the high cost of connects, will Upwork start vetting clients?

[#1]

Hi fellow freelancers,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but does Upwork vet clients or postings before they go up? It doesn't appear that they do. I wonder if that will change now that connects have become so expensive. 

In any case, I now strictly vet both the clients and job postings before I submit a proposal. For example,

1) Must have their payment verified

2) Must have spent about $1k or more on the site

3) Must have a 4.5 rating or higher

4) Must have a job hire rate that is greater than 70 %. 

5) Must have a tangible posting that I can tailor a work sample to. Etc Etc.

It narrows down the number of postings I can apply to (just as well), but what is the alternative? How are the rest of you coping with this new connect crunch? Still can't fathom that we now have to use connects to respond to invites. I also think there have been other changes in the background that have made it more difficult to land clients, but that is a post for another day. 

Regards,

ECO

[#2]

Your requirements is good. Most of scammers will be filtered with. Anyway it wont protect you with doubles and other money wasters.

Within last times i applied for many jobs that will pass your filters. Most of my proposals wasn't even viewed. Most of jobs was abandoned without hiring. Cannot say for sure is it was fake jobs, or my proposals was hidden, but as is. My money is lost.

[#3]

With the high cost of connects, will Upwork start vetting clients?

No. Upwork raises Connects fees to make more money; not to obligate themselves to more responsibility.

All freelancers should vet jobs before applying. We may have different approaches for vetting jobs and clients, but no freelancer should expect Upwork to vet clients. It's not Upwork's responsibility.

[#4]

Hi Clark,

Thanks for responding. I would disagree on whether vetting clients is Upwork's responsibility. If it's not part of their business model, then it's not part of their business model. However, I'm of the opinion that not vetting clients makes for a poor work environment for freelancers, which will ultimately negatively affect Upwork (especially if a viable competitor enters the market)

Regards,

ECO

[#5]

I agree with your list of requirements.  I use a similar formula.  This is the ONLY way to protect against cruel/vindictive/abusive clients and against wasting connects on dead-end jobs that never hire.  

[#6]

Exactly what Clark said - which is quite sad. 

Your vetting requirement is quite similar to what I use also. 

[#7]

Vetting clients, if done properly, would be expensive.

I prefer to have the option of paying only for what I need, i.e., knowing that the client's bank credentials are genuine (payment verified) and seeing their history on the platform. But then, I will even send a quote to clients supposedly newly arrived on the platform simply because I view the bidding here more like advertising in foreign countries.