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b47e0e82
Community Member

crisis

Hi everybody.

I am well-experienced artist animator freelancer and now I feel this crisis about the freelance jobs and clients as well.

I started ,approximately, a year and a half ago and I was watching all the way down.

Before it was much better and easier , that Upwork sent us the connects regulary. I could talk with the live people support any time. But now it`s impossible for me (I don`t know why, honestly).

What about the jobs , is that there are too much scam as the clients now, asking for the "test work" and after telling you , that you are bad and they dont want to cooperate more . And then they can easily use your bad "test work" for their needs.  Haha, that`s funny, really. 

Also, I dont understand how people can just ask and propose the huge , really huge work for pennies (like 5-10-15$). This is unacceptable fact, that such types of proposals just can be established on Upwork. This is a great disrespect to the performers, I think.Upwork, you have to keep track of it somehow. You know, I am not going to lower the reputation of the Platform, I just want to find out what went wrong and how to keep it stable and profitable to both clients , freelancers and the platform as well. I was living for working there, it was my the only way of earning.

However, want to ask another freelancers. How do You feel about the fee percentage now? It was much lower before, but now even, for example, for 600$ work , you will have 485 (or lower, I dont remember exactly). Also too many precedents of the clients wrote you about the work and just disappeared and stopped requesting. 

Also, Upwork removed my Top-rated status a few months ago and now when I got my job success high again, my status didn`t get back. 

Once again, this article is not the post of hate and criticism. These are just thoughts, I have had for a long time. 

Would like to hear the other freelancers opinion about that. Is it only my observation or is it the common thoughts, fliying in the air, but one dares to say?

Thanks for your attention

12 REPLIES 12
moonraker
Community Member


 

What crisis?

No more free connects was a change in policy - not a crisis. 

Making live support available for all freelancers would be expensive and astonishingly cost-inefficient. But support is still available to all through email and the ticket system. You can also get support from the community and admins here. 

There have ALWAYS been poorly paid jobs on Upwork - even before it was Upwork. If you don't want those jobs then don't apply. 

The fees help pay for opportunities to send proposals to people looking for my services. They cover the cost of marketing, advertising, development, admin, and so on. The commission drops to 20% after $500 billed with each client.

You losing your top-rated status does not mean there's a crisis. It only means you don't currently qualify.

One thing that has changed over the last 18 months or so is a surge in competition due to COVID, making it harder for some people to get work. That's not Upwork's fault. 

*Edit. Upwork does have issues, IMO, but not any of those listed above. 

There were before the function to message directly with support, and this is what I meant. But I heard your opinion, Jamie.

petra_r
Community Member


Lubomyr T wrote:

There were before the function to message directly with support, and this is what I meant.


That's because you were top rated. Chat support is available to top rated freelancers. You are not top rated because you don't fulfill all the criteria.

 

None of the stuff in your post is anything you need to contact support over. 

 

If you have any actual questions, you can ask them here.

b47e0e82
Community Member

Actually, I`d like to ask one. What should the freelcancer do, if all his/her connects end? 


Lubomyr T wrote:

Actually, I`d like to ask one. What should the freelcancer do, if all his/her connects end? 


Buy some more. 

petra_r
Community Member


Lubomyr T wrote:

Actually, I`d like to ask one. What should the freelcancer do, if all his/her connects end? 


Buy more

2a05aa63
Community Member

Times change. You either adapt or quit. Being in the middle will make you miserable. 

marc_compte
Community Member

My opinon as a new freelancer on Upwork regarding your remarks is:

 

- The fee is huge, in my opinion, and the chances of lowering them look very narrow. 20% of what the client pays goes to Upwork, another 20% goes to taxing. This means my hourly rate needs to be about 40% higher than I could otherwise offer, nothing more.

 

- There are ridiculously cheap job postings, I agree. But I'm not sure Upwork should (or may, for that matter) do anything about it. The terms "cheap" and "expensive" are often very objective. Upwork's main job is to match clients and freelancers, not to establish minmmum rates. If a client just wants a cheap job, I'm not a match and I don't waste my time and connects. There are other freelancers that will match that client's priorities and there are other clients that will match mines.

 

- I started about a month and a half ago and I always have around 90 or 100 connects available to make proposals. That is because I did a test on my skills here at Upwork, I passed it and I got 80 connects as a reward. And I keep that amount because I only make proposals to jobs I believe I can do and I try to submit good proposals, asking also some relevant questions so I have higher chances of the client contacting me back and if I end up not taking the job at least I get 10 more connects.

 

- I haven't encountered yet any dishonest client asking for free work. If, during the interview, I suspect a client may not be trustworthy, I politely step out and move on. If you take the job, you may end up in a loop where you work uncomfortably, risk getting a bad review and you don't have enough time to search for better jobs to get out of the loop.

 

- I don't think there is such a thing as "lowering Upwork's reputation". Not intentionally and not by a single individual. If Upwork is perceived as better than its competitors (or one of the best), it is a waste of time to try undermining it. The only way to lower their reputation is to build a better Upwork and compete with them.

 

Upwork is not my main source of income. As it happens with anything else, when you are not desperate on doing something it is easier to get good deals. Patience and persistance are usually good companions.

But I do unerstand, if this is your main source of income and it is not going well, it is difficult to stay patient. If that were my case, I would keep on eye on Upwork (persistance) and would look for additional opportunities somewhere else.


Marc C wrote:

My opinon as a new freelancer on Upwork regarding your remarks is:

 

- The fee is huge, in my opinion, and the chances of lowering them look very narrow. 20% of what the client pays goes to Upwork, another 20% goes to taxing. This means my hourly rate needs to be about 40% higher than I could otherwise offer, nothing more.

 

- There are ridiculously cheap job postings, I agree. But I'm not sure Upwork should (or may, for that matter) do anything about it. The terms "cheap" and "expensive" are often very objective. Upwork's main job is to match clients and freelancers, not to establish minmmum rates. If a client just wants a cheap job, I'm not a match and I don't waste my time and connects. There are other freelancers that will match that client's priorities and there are other clients that will match mines.

 

- I started about a month and a half ago and I always have around 90 or 100 connects available to make proposals. That is because I did a test on my skills here at Upwork, I passed it and I got 80 connects as a reward. And I keep that amount because I only make proposals to jobs I believe I can do and I try to submit good proposals, asking also some relevant questions so I have higher chances of the client contacting me back and if I end up not taking the job at least I get 10 more connects.

 

- I haven't encountered yet any dishonest client asking for free work. If, during the interview, I suspect a client may not be trustworthy, I politely step out and move on. If you take the job, you may end up in a loop where you work uncomfortably, risk getting a bad review and you don't have enough time to search for better jobs to get out of the loop.

 

- I don't think there is such a thing as "lowering Upwork's reputation". Not intentionally and not by a single individual. If Upwork is perceived as better than its competitors (or one of the best), it is a waste of time to try undermining it. The only way to lower their reputation is to build a better Upwork and compete with them.

 

Upwork is not my main source of income. As it happens with anything else, when you are not desperate on doing something it is easier to get good deals. Patience and persistance are usually good companions.

But I do unerstand, if this is your main source of income and it is not going well, it is difficult to stay patient. If that were my case, I would keep on eye on Upwork (persistance) and would look for additional opportunities somewhere else.


I think this is pretty good perspective for a newbie except your take on fees. You'd spend a lot more than 20% trying to find clients if you couldn't use Upwork and had to advertise and cold call on your own. Once you've established more success on the platform, you can also raise those rates comfortably to cover more of your costs. Freelancing is a business, and as with any business, hardly anyone turns a profit in the first year or two. 

petra_r
Community Member


Amanda L wrote:

Marc C wrote:

- The fee is huge, in my opinion, and the chances of lowering them look very narrow.


I think this is pretty good perspective for a newbie except your take on fees. You'd spend a lot more than 20% trying to find clients if you couldn't use Upwork and had to advertise and cold call on your own.


It's also "only" 20% on the first $500. I think of the fee as being 10% with a $50 finder's fee. But then my clients tend to mostly stick around long term.

 

The (vast) majority of my income is at 10%, and I have 3 clients approaching the magic 10k when it drops to 5%. It gets really, REALLY sweet at that point.

a_lipsey
Community Member

Same, I get to 10% within a week if not sooner. But many newbies and depending on someone's field, they may find they are often at 20%. And still that's not a bad cut.

Yes, you are right. My take on fees is strongly biased. I am a newbie at Upwork, but I've been working in my field for more than 20 years and I've been freelancing for 10.

 

I have just been lucky enough to barely need any advertising and I've never done cold calls, because I already had some few contacts from my previous (non-freelancing) jobs that would hire me.

 

I tend to forget my bias and I compare this to what I have outside Upwork, but I can see this is not the general rule.

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