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c2bba007
Community Member

Extreme Lowballing. Is that the norm?

I am new to freelancing on Upwork and have been reviewing jobs all day. I am in disbelief reading the job descriptions with long lists of demands and required skills for appallingly low rates. $6-8/hour for professional designers. $50 to edit a 100 page PowerPoint...who is taking on these jobs? Is that pretty normal on here? Are better jobs few and far between?

 

Not feeling good about this so far...

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bespokejokebloke
Community Member

The way I look at it is that it's a bit like fishing; there are a lot more rocks, plastic bottles, and poop in the ocean than there are fish.  But if you know how and where to fish, plenty of fish exist.

Please ignore the garbage jobs; somebody else needs them.  There are plenty of people out there Turking who'd view $6 an hour as a reasonable rate. Focus on the smaller number of reasonably paid jobs and go for it.

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nickob
Community Member

Extreme lowballing is unfortunately not uncommon on freelancing platforms like Upwork, where clients can post jobs with very low rates and freelancers are often competing against each other for work. While there are certainly good clients and jobs to be found on Upwork, it can take some time and effort to find them.

It's important to remember that as a freelancer, you set your own rates and should not feel obligated to work for rates that are below your worth. Instead, focus on finding clients who value your skills and are willing to pay a fair rate for your work. You can also consider targeting clients in industries or niches where rates are generally higher, or building a portfolio of high-quality work that can help you stand out to potential clients.

That being said, there are certainly some clients who are looking to take advantage of inexperienced or desperate freelancers by offering very low rates. It's important to be cautious of these types of clients and to carefully review job postings before applying to make sure that the pay rate and expectations are reasonable.

In short, while extreme lowballing is unfortunately common on freelancing platforms like Upwork, there are still good clients and jobs to be found if you're willing to put in the time and effort to find them and set fair rates for your work.

c2bba007
Community Member

Thanks very much for your reply. I am feeling very discouraged at the moment but this was helpful. 

af17a41e
Community Member

I understand what you are going through, I have been there as well. Some freelancers live in such countries they can accept jobs with low earnings. My advice to you is to accept low paying jobs at the beginning just to get yourself going and to get reviews. After it will be much easier to land a better job. Grow your skills and in a while you will choose jobs as invitations will start pouring. Be on a lookout regularly, be an early applicant for jobs you want and success will start happening. Sometimes it takes a long time but perseverance is the key

Good luck in your search

Thank you for you for your suggestions and understanding. I will try to get a few lower paying jobs under my belt as you suggested.

best-sharon
Community Member

Frankly speaking, you are bound to see lots of these low-ball offers and if Upwork is your main source of income, you might be tempted to do them to build your ratings on the platform. However, the long-term strategy is to stick your rates and quality clients will find you

It is a bit hard I would say to hope that quality clients will find you if you have 0 ratins, not a chance especially when they are swamped with other offers and let’s be honest those guys are extremely capable and for lower price which is very tempting even for wealthy clients

Thank you for the encouragement.

bespokejokebloke
Community Member

The way I look at it is that it's a bit like fishing; there are a lot more rocks, plastic bottles, and poop in the ocean than there are fish.  But if you know how and where to fish, plenty of fish exist.

Please ignore the garbage jobs; somebody else needs them.  There are plenty of people out there Turking who'd view $6 an hour as a reasonable rate. Focus on the smaller number of reasonably paid jobs and go for it.

I like your perspective on this lol. Very encouraging. I will keep at it. 

vacoup
Community Member

Same, my first project (which is probably being disputed soon) paid $75. Slicing 3 completely different Figma template to Wordpress. Took me 3 working days to do it. I was willing because it was weekend and I need some good reviews on my profile. Now I most likely won't get a good review either. So a complete waste of my time.

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