Marketplace Updates: Changes to Upwork Application Prices

[StanG]

Our goal is to make the number of Connects per proposal better reflect the demand for work in the Marketplace. This change will help us facilitate better matches, increase flexibility to price projects accurately, and attract more top tier clients to the platform.

Check out the product release for Marketplace Updates: Changes to Upwork Application Prices, and let us know your thoughts and question in the comments below.

[marjan22]

Upwork will be deaf and dumb and  never take action against itself. Upwork maybe will increase coonects for  aplying to 32 if freelancers are desperate for job and continue paying.

Only if freelancers stop paying or Boycot until changes are made, only then Upwork will think this again. As long as freelancers paying and not saying anything, this madness willl continue. Or new platform come to play. Until then freelancers are doomed in never ending circle of working for connects and without profit.

[shibajyoti]

Upwork  has choosen to dupe its own freelancer to gain a few dollars extra.  This inlcudes fake jobs, and increased connect prices, as if the inflation only hit this platform ONLY. They assume F/L are dumb here, and attempt to manipluate them

And the Agents who reply here, hardly speak for the problems stated by freelancers.  They are more interested in fighting F/L's for the issues, and shutting them off.

Unverified jobs rule the platform, where you can apply  but wont get paid. ANOTHER WAY OF SCAMMING AND EARNING .

Never seen such an **Edited for Community Guidelines** attempt for a well built org. Even God cant help these guys who lack common sense.

[fa9d1717]

Boost and Availability are not working. There are so many jobs that are related to my skills that have been posted daily and I did not even receive any invitations from them. This is Upwork FEATURES so IT SHOULD WORK! BUT IT'S NOT CLEARLY NOT! And I've seen tons of FREELANCERS WHO ARE GOING THE SAME ISSUE AS MINE!!! I'M SPENDING TONS OF MONEY GIVING IT TO UPWORK WITH NO EFFORT AND ALL JUST TO GET A JOB TO BE ABLE TO GET A SLIGHT CHANCE TO EARN MONEY! BUT INSTEAD, I'M GIVING IT AWAY!! please fix it or is this done purposely to take advantage of people who want to work in Upwork? I'm done being kind when I know we are just taken advantage of. Stop deleting our posts or merging them. Stop hiding this kind of system. FIX IT. 

[mindware97]

I have been with upwork for more than 8 years. Connect's are becoming too expensive and the frustrating thing is - even after writing good proposal and spending connects, client even fail to see the proposal.

Upwork should refund connect if client fail to respond or see proposal in 7 days not only on closed or flagged project. Spending $15 per day for 100 connects and applying for 10 proposal everyday and client even fail to view proposal. 

Either lower pricing or refund connect please. 

[jendubois]

totally agree, I've been on the platform for same amount of time and connects are a big waste of time and money and besides the old success score algorithm the WORST DECISION ever Upwork has made. Connecst are not accomplishing what Upwork thinks they will except putting more revenue for Upwork on the table and wasting a lot of time and money for well meaning, professional freelancers. THe VAST MAJORITY of boosted proposals I submit never get looked at, no response, nothing. OR the client is only willing to pay meager rates and yet you have to spend a bunch of connects only to find that out later when they respond to your proposal. But by and large, clients are not reading the proposals, even boosted ones in my experience. Upwork really needs to rethink this system and what is or is not accomplishing. They also need to enforce somehow on the client side, connects required should be related to what the client is willing to pay/budget, they should be held accountable for that, and also how many proposals a client wants to look at. If a client looks at say, less than 3 out of 50 proposals, then the other 47 should get their connects back because that is not fair. 

[shibajyoti]

Dear Fellow Freelancers.

Think twice before you spend on this platform.

Your proposal are hardly viewed, and the sorting alogrithm take precedence for top tier profiles. Maybe you were the 1st  applicant, but your applkcantion eventually drops down to the last position, which the client wont even view.

Doesnt matter how good you write your letter.

[the-right-writer]

Whether your proposal is viewed is up to the client. Just because you were the first to apply, if you do not meet all the qualifications set forth by the client, you will not be on the top. Even if you boost, it's no guarantee the client will view your proposal or hire you. Yes, the algorithm will put the most qualified freelancers at the top, but it's still up to the client to hire, or not hire. Even something like not having the amount of experience is enough to have the client drop you. The only reasons your profile would go to the bottom is because you do not meet the requirements, your profile is mostly a copy-paste or generated by ChatGPT, or is otherwise not up to the client's description.

Yes, how well you write your proposal, along with having a stellar profile, does make an enormous difference. Despite the problems on the platform, there are people making good money.

[shibajyoti]

I hv applied to client who hasd less than 5 proposals. yes it wasnt viewed when i met the requirements. '

You guys act as if you're hired by upwork to shut off freelancers rather rhan helping them !! Haven't come across a single resposne from the commnity team here in recent,  which provided real solutions instead of pointing out what we were supposed to do !!

UNFORTUNATELY, WE ARE UNABLE TO EXPERIMENT HERE, WHERE AN AVERAGE STABLE JOB ASKS FOR 16 CONNECTS !!

If you guys are so concerned, how  about a rule that my connects will only be deducted if the client views my proposal ?  Unless it is against your money making policy.

[the-right-writer]

The clients see the first two lines of the proposal without opening it. They may have made a decision without reading your entire proposal.

I offered you the best solution there is, if you want to freelance here.

Otherwise, you should find another way to earn. Everyone should have more than one source of income as a freelancer.

Upwork is not going to change, and what we say or do has little effect. Upwork wants and needs money, and they don't care what happens to the freelancers or clients to get it. It's a for-profit business, not a social service agency. I'm not defending the business, but I can recognize what it is.

I'm not applying to jobs that are probably scams or pay pennies. I'm not wasting connects, time, or effort. This means I am not applying to many jobs. Everyone has to decide if their return on their investment is worth it.

If you receive connects when you fail to be hired, everyone would have the same. The platform has far too many connects floating around as it is, and no need for more to clog the client's path.

[shibajyoti]

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Whats the point of writing a cover when the client will judge on your capablitites from 1st two  lines, What if my dealbreaker was on the 3RD line ?

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY , WHY THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS ALLOWING CLIENTS TO cover view WHEN PPL ARE LITERALLY WASTING THEIR FORTUNE JUST TO APPLY FOR A JOB HERE ? 

YOU THINK FREELACNERS ARE THAT JOBLESS TO WASTE PRECIOUS TIME WRITING A COVER LETTER, WHICH EVENTUALLY GET IGNORED ALONGSIDE YOUR CONNECTS THAT YOU BOUGHT WITH REAL MONEY ?

If  Upwork is not gonna change , its no good than the beggar outside my home dying for money.  Even Worse, Soem are even advocating for these beggars.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[68f9b305]

I have been using Upwork from a very longtime (seasonally). That even some of my oldest (~2019) projects doesn't show up in the records. Although, I can't actually recall at the moment what exactly happened at the time of merger with 'E-lance'... 🙂. But, I can recall receiving an email about the changes that were going to happen. Looking back on that, I am sometimes flabbergasted by the rapid changes that the tech companies are going through, without prior notice. I would say Elon is much generous in this case, as he always reveals things publicly before proceeding with it. 

Now, let's return our focus to the main topic. I will start by asking a question from Upwork support, how is it possible that I can apply to a $50,000 project with just 4 connects, but I need around 18 connects to apply for a $10 job. I am sure this will resonate with most of you guys, as well... In order to mitigate this issue and ensure quality, I would like to suggest that the Freelancers previous experience and Education/ Certification must be considered instead of just a fixed connects value for each job. Also, Upwork should collaborate with such platforms that certifies each Freelancers Professional Experience (off-site) and Education. One such platform is Cresty. Engineers Australia is also issuing digital badges and so are several other international organizations, in each discipline. 

Therefore, my humble request from the support is to kindly look properly into each Freelancers professional history before making any endorsements as it completely goes against international labor regulations and ethical standards. And I would also like to add further by saying that 'some bad guys' takes advantage of this loophole and forces young people into excessive amount of work while making a lot of money from it. Infact, many Newcomers must have fallen a prey to it and should have received a negative feedback, just to maintain the monopoly. On the other hand, there are some guys who either have some shady relationship with these bad guys OR offer a lot of freework upfront to get ahead of the queue. With that being said, I can always hope for the best from the Upwork support team. 

I hope you all have a great day ! 

Thanks,