When should a client send a contract?

[ec78b5b5]

Hello,

I just recently joined Upwork and sent out my first proposal. The client messaged me saying that he was interested in working with me on content writing. He has asked me basic questions, confirming that I understand the number of words to write, deadlines, etc. He just sent me another message asking me to read information about a product, take notes, and send it back to him and then "we'll move onto the next step."

My question is, should he have already sent a contract to work together before sending out this assingment of taking notes on a product review? I'm not sure if I should be doing work, even if it is just taking notes, before agreeing on payment.

Thank you for your help!

[colettelewis]

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Adele S wrote:

Hello,

I just recently joined Upwork and sent out my first proposal. The client messaged me saying that he was interested in working with me on content writing. He has asked me basic questions, confirming that I understand the number of words to write, deadlines, etc. He just sent me another message asking me to read information about a product, take notes, and send it back to him and then "we'll move onto the next step."

My question is, should he have already sent a contract to work together before sending out this assingment of taking notes on a product review? I'm not sure if I should be doing work, even if it is just taking notes, before agreeing on payment.

Thank you for your help!

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Yes, he should. You write back politely and say you would be very pleased to do this, but that you cannot start work before a contract is in place (either fixed price with all the agreed amount in escrow, or hourly but using Upwork's hourly tracker, which will protect you), and that you would need to test the product before you can write about it.