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7a08e89c
Community Member

Proposals pricing

Hi Community!

 

I am new to the site and curious how the vetting process works. I created a posting and set a budget for a project. I got approached by a freelancer, yet after some emailed exchanges, found out that he considered my budget to be a "placeholder" he called it, and thus couldn't do the project for the amount specified in HIS proposal.  I thought the whole point of them giving a proposal for the project is that they are agreeing to that price for the project? I could easily assume that anything "outside the scope" of the job detail could be considered an add-on, and potentially subject to a higher price, but this wasn't the case in this scenario. I am relieved that I didn't end up hiring this freelancer (who knows the price he would/could have charged). Is this normal?

6 REPLIES 6
AndreaG
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Jeffrey,

 

Freelancers are free to decide their rates and the interview process is your opportunity to negotiate the terms of the contract before making an offer to the freelancer. Please know, freelancers cannot charge you more than the agreed amount provided the contract is set up correctly:

 

For Fixed-Price: You deposit milestone funds into Upwork escrow and you have the chance to review your freelancer’s work before any payment is released to them. For any further payments above the amount in Escrow, you would need to fund new milestones.

For Hourly: You can set a weekly limit on billable hours.

 

Thanks!

~Andrea
Upwork
7a08e89c
Community Member

So then what is the point of the freelancer submitting a proposal (which I know isn’t the final contracted price), if they weren’t even going to (come close to) honoring it? I did have one freelancer propose a price over my budget, and at least that seemed more “honest”.

Hi Jeffrey,

 

When a freelancer submits a proposal they can either propose new terms or leave them as they are. It may be the case that a freelancer needs more information about the scope of the project before proposing accurate terms and wants to discuss it with you. You may choose not to work with a freelancer who proposes terms out of your budget during the interview process.

 

Thanks!

~Andrea
Upwork
7a08e89c
Community Member

I understand that a freelancer can propose something else (perhaps my budget is not what they can offer the service for). That in itself is a given. My issue is that the freelancer "proposed" what I had set as my budget, when he replied to me. There was no indication from him, until I was looking to "verify" the "agreed upon pricing" that he then told me he had an issue with the amount. To me, that was shady and a waste of my time.

Jeffrey, I am sorry if you were disappointed by this experience.

 

Nothing you have described in your posts strikes me as shady.

 

The fixed-price contract model is considerably more complex than the hourly contract model.

 

With some of your questions, it does not seem to me that you should use fixed-price contracts yet. If you do use them then you will benefit by learning more about them.

 

I sounds like you now know that when clients post contracts, the dollar amount they specify is a placeholder. It is not intended to be a final amount. It is the start of a conversation. Any freelancer who treated it as such was being honest with you. Not shady.

 

re: "I thought the whole point of them giving a proposal for the project is that they are agreeing to that price for the project?"

 

No, that is not the case. Some freelancers and clients may look at it in that way. I do not look at it like that, and I don't believe Upwork intends for it to be used that way.

 

The thing to understand is that a job posting may not have all the information in it that a freelancer needs in order to provide a fixed-price quote.

martina_plaschka
Community Member


Jeffrey W wrote:

Hi Community!

 

I am new to the site and curious how the vetting process works. I created a posting and set a budget for a project. I got approached by a freelancer, yet after some emailed exchanges, found out that he considered my budget to be a "placeholder" he called it, and thus couldn't do the project for the amount specified in HIS proposal.  I thought the whole point of them giving a proposal for the project is that they are agreeing to that price for the project? I could easily assume that anything "outside the scope" of the job detail could be considered an add-on, and potentially subject to a higher price, but this wasn't the case in this scenario. I am relieved that I didn't end up hiring this freelancer (who knows the price he would/could have charged). Is this normal?


A proposal is nothing more than a start to a conversation. Many clients put placeholder amounts into the job posting. If your quoted price is exactly what you want to spend, note this in your job description so that you don't receive proposals of freelancers assuming that it is a placeholder. 

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