Will initial low rate hurt me later?

[tom-chandler]

I am a new freelancer on UpWork.  After 19 proposals I still have not received any interviews.  I think maybe I should lower my rates now so I can some initial work, and then raise rates later.  Is this a good strategy, or will it hurt me in the long run?

[prestonhunter]

If you only do fixed-price contracts, there is no way to see what your hourly rate was for those projects.

[martina_plaschka]

Well, your rate is quite ambitious. Have you researched your competition? 

[wlyonsatl]

You probably have a lot of competition in your specialty on Upwork, so you will have to submit many, many more proposals to find out if there is enough of the right kind of work you are looking for on Upwork at the right price.

You may need to test different price points across a large number of proposals of multiple months (50 - 60 per month for three months?). If you think the right hourly rate for your type of projects should be $15, you could submit 30 proposals @ $10, 30 @ $12.50, 30 @ $15, 30 @ $17.50 and 30 @ $20. If you win no proposals, can set your range higher or lower and try again.

Unfortunately, unlike its predecessor Elance, Upwork does not provide any information for you to see the price of the winning bid on projects you have submitted proposals on, so it’s something you’ll have to guess at initially and test from time to time.

Because reputation is so important for freelancers in winning projects on Upwork, it's probably a good idea initially to submit pricing below your actual long-term goal in orde to up your odds of winning and successfully completing your first few projects. Over time, you can raise your pricing.

Good luck.

[richard_wein]

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Will L wrote:

Unfortunately, unlike its predecessor Elance, Upwork does not provide any information for you to see the price of the winning bid on projects you have submitted proposals on, so it’s something you’ll have to guess at initially and test from time to time.

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Once the hired freelancer has earned some money on the contract, you can usually see their earnings (and hourly rate if it's an hourly job) in the "Client's Recent History" section at the bottom of the job post.

[pponso]

Let me share my experience with you, when I was a noobie...

I used to bid on the projects, which were of hardly $20 or $5 and the ones I was confident about. I used to mention on my job post, "I can complete this job with in 5 to 30 minutes".

Most of the people want to get their job done quickly and that may be a key for you!!

Once you get your initial projects, you can hide the price you charged to your clients, by taking a premium subscription on Upwork and then you can simply go for high budget projects...

Job Proposal Example:

Someone is having an error in the website...

My proposal would be:

Note: I can complete this job with in 5 to 30 minutes...

Hello,

I'm an experience developer having experience of the following(mention your experience) years...

I went through your website url, seems to be a small bug...

I can resolve this issue with in 5 to 30 minutes...

Thanks,

Robin

[richard_wein]

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Robin H wrote:

Once you get your initial projects, you can hide the price you charged to your clients, by taking a premium subscription on Upwork and then you can simply go for high budget projects...

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"As a Plus plan member, you can opt to hide your contracts' rates and total billings on your profile's work history. This will hide them from the general public and the marketplace, but not from your proposals. Once you submit a proposal or accept an invitation, that potential client will see your past contracts' rates and totals."

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211063168-Earnings-on-Your-Profile