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dand123
Community Member

statistical analysis of Upwork

Dear Upwork,

 

Please run an analysis of the activity on your system and show us the numbers. Give us a breakdown of how much money freelancers make here? How many connects does it take to get one job? What is the average payment received per job by category?

 

I do not see these stats published anywhere on Upwork. You can run those number in a jiffy. Please let us know what we are buying into.

 

Thanks, 

 

dan

17 REPLIES 17
Anonymous-User
Not applicable


Dan D wrote:

Dear Upwork,

 

Please run an analysis of the activity on your system and show us the numbers. Give us a breakdown of how much money freelancers make here? How many connects does it take to get one job? What is the average payment received per job by category?

 

I do not see these stats published anywhere on Upwork. You can run those number in a jiffy. Please let us know what we are buying into.

 

Thanks, 

 

dan


That's impossible. 

 

Everyone has a different skillset, different expertise level and everyone runs their business differently at different rates. 

 

Quite frankly, I want them to spend my money on more important things rather than having them spin their wheels on nonsensical stats. 

 

My business plan tells me all I need to know. 

Computers are wondrous things that can run stats at the press of a button.


Anonymous-User
Not applicable


Dan D wrote:
Computers are wondrous things that can run stats at the press of a button.



You should focus on getting approved and verifying your identity before concerning yourself with stats. 
They change every day. 

hodgesh
Community Member


Dan D wrote:
Computers are wondrous things that can run stats at the press of a button.



Only after the program that button runs has been designed, created, and debugged.

Yes, computers are wondrous things - and you can use them to read all kinds of stuff online about Upwork. There are over 1 million freelancers on Upwork so at least some of them must be making money.

So is anyone making any money here?

Does anyone's business plan include a cost-benefit analysis for
participation on Upwork?


d
lysis10
Community Member

I'm just hungover from girl's night Friday and like to poop post when I'm bored and too hungover to think.

quiller
Community Member

You rock.

Dan - Of course, there are people making money on Upwork - some more than others. What is your point? 


Dan D wrote:
....Does anyone's business plan include a cost-benefit analysis for
participation on Upwork?

d

dan,

Upwork takes a 10% commission, plus an additional 10% on the first $500 with any one client—in effect, a finder's fee that maxes out at $50.

From my net revenue, another 10–15% covers some business basics like communications and software subscriptions. Paying 10% off the top for Upwork to do my marketing, and having solid new sources of revenue handed to me as a result, is a better deal than I can imagine gettng anywhere else.

 

Best,

Michael


Douglas Michael M wrote:

Dan D wrote:
....Does anyone's business plan include a cost-benefit analysis for
participation on Upwork?

d

dan,

Upwork takes a 10% commission, plus an additional 10% on the first $500 with any one client—in effect, a finder's fee that maxes out at $50.

From my net revenue, another 10–15% covers some business basics like communications and software subscriptions. Paying 10% off the top for Upwork to do my marketing, and having solid new sources of revenue handed to me as a result, is a better deal than I can imagine gettng anywhere else.

 

Best,

Michael


Adding to this, I track the performance of each of my gigs on and off Upwork. I record gross earnings and net. I can compare any of my gigs based on my net per hour earnings (I independently track my time for fixed priced work). I don't factor in the cost of lead generation for either category. 


Even without considering the time it takes to generate leads, Upwork contracts perform as well or better than non-Upwork ones. If it did not, I wouldn't bother to use the platform. 


As you've pointed out, evaluating exactly what you are keeping from your earnings is important. I didn't keep track of my time invested or my net earnings when I first began freelancing. But keeping track of those numbers from the outset is a better plan. Plus, it is good for your ego when you see your net per hour increase over time. 😉


Dan D wrote:
So is anyone making any money here?

Click through to the profile of anyone who has responded to you in this thread and you'll have your answer.

Does anyone's business plan include a cost-benefit analysis for
participation on Upwork?

Of course. Every successful business person assesses the profitability of their choices. Working through Upwork saves me about $1,000/month. But, of course, that's meaningless to you, or to anyone else. It's a case-by-case analysis depending on a wide variety of factors.

d

 

Thank you, Miss Tiffany.

I will be quiet now. 

researchediting
Community Member


Dan D wrote:

Dear Upwork,

 

Please run an analysis of the activity on your system and show us the numbers. Give us a breakdown of how much money freelancers make here? How many connects does it take to get one job? What is the average payment received per job by category?

 

I do not see these stats published anywhere on Upwork. You can run those number in a jiffy. Please let us know what we are buying into.

 

Thanks, 

 

dan


Upwork is an extremely data-driven company. Chances are they have at their fingertips the figures you request, although their "categories" might be broader than you would like, and might not yield information that would be meaningful to an individual contractor or even a skill set. They do encourage us to ask for good market rates, and offer, with some controversy, rate range estimates somewhat randomly throughout the interface.

Their data—particularly correlations with loss and still-elusive profit—drive policy. Many of us who work with and evaluate data question the inferences Upwork draws from its data, and the policies it formulates in response. Since the bulk of the data is not made public, we make educated guesses.

We're pretty sure we know that relatively few contractors are profitable for either themselves or Upwork. Upwork periodically indicates as much in its public financial filings and in various initiatives to either directly terminate "non-earning" accounts or encourage their owners to leave.

So if you are looking for a guarantee, or even good odds, you're in the wrong place. Much as I miss the market insights formerly published by Elance, I believe that we're better off focusing on what we know about our own marketability, and the sustainability of our business models, as they fit into the wider world—outside Upwork—of the services we provide.


Thank you for the informed, intelligent, and respectful response. 


Douglas Michael M wrote:

Dan D wrote:

Dear Upwork,

 

Please run an analysis of the activity on your system and show us the numbers. Give us a breakdown of how much money freelancers make here? How many connects does it take to get one job? What is the average payment received per job by category?

 

I do not see these stats published anywhere on Upwork. You can run those number in a jiffy. Please let us know what we are buying into.

 

Thanks, 

 

dan


Upwork is an extremely data-driven company. Chances are they have at their fingertips the figures you request, although their "categories" might be broader than you would like, and might not yield information that would be meaningful to an individual contractor or even a skill set. They do encourage us to ask for good market rates, and offer, with some controversy, rate range estimates somewhat randomly throughout the interface.

Their data—particularly correlations with loss and still-elusive profit—drive policy. Many of us who work with and evaluate data question the inferences Upwork draws from its data, and the policies it formulates in response. Since the bulk of the data is not made public, we make educated guesses.

We're pretty sure we know that relatively few contractors are profitable for either themselves or Upwork. Upwork periodically indicates as much in its public financial filings and in various initiatives to either directly terminate "non-earning" accounts or encourage their owners to leave.

So if you are looking for a guarantee, or even good odds, you're in the wrong place. Much as I miss the market insights formerly published by Elance, I believe that we're better off focusing on what we know about our own marketability, and the sustainability of our business models, as they fit into the wider world—outside Upwork—of the services we provide.



Post of the week.

tlsanders
Community Member

Dan,those stats would be completely meaningless. There are freelancers here who bid on hundreds of jobs without ever being hired. There are freelancers who are hired on the first job they bid on. There are freelancers who have never made a dime on Upwork and others who have made hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

What does it matter to any one of us if the average hire rate is 15% or 30% or 50% if our own hire rates are 1% or 75%?

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