This is truly sad...

[Bettye U]

Someone in Liverpool, England just posted this ad. I can hardly believe what they are asking for vs. what they are paying.

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**edited for Community Guidelines**
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Can you BELIEVE that? $5 for what will likely be at least 3 hours worth of work and very possibly more (of which Upwork will take 20%)? The really sad part is that than 5-10 people have applied.

I usually shrug off these low-paid jobs, but this is so incredible I just had to comment on it. How desperate can people be to be willing to work for $1.50 an hour or less. This is truly sad. 

[John K]

Thanks for posting that, though moderators will edit it shortly. But consider that she'll consider new freelancers looking for their first job; that's her hook. It was always difficult to get your first freelancing job, even before oDesk and Elance combined to become Upwork, but now that Upwork can suspend freelancers for submitting too many unsuccessful proposals, it's understable many new freelancers will be desperate to land their first job, and clients like this one know this and will exploit it.

[Bettye U]

Good point, John, about clients going after newbies.

I recently lost my Top Rated status because I wasn't active for about 60 days. I suspect I won't be getting it back anytime soon, because good-paying editing jobs are too hard to find on the platform and things are getting worse all the time. I'll probably just stick to my existing clients and the work I get from my website.

Odd that moderators would see the need to edit a posting that's on the feed. It's okay for it to be on the feed, but not okay to repeat it here? I must be missing something...

[John K]

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Bettye U wrote:

Odd that moderators would see the need to edit a posting that's on the feed. It's okay for it to be on the feed, but not okay to repeat it here? I must be missing something...

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Maybe it won't be. Upwork Community Guidelines are open to interpretation. For instance, it *might* be suppressed as an instance of "Posting advertisements for any products or services" even though that's not the intent. There's also "Posting content determined to be inappropriate, overly negative, in poor taste, or otherwise contrary to the purposes of this forum, in the sole discretion of Upwork." (I added the underlining.)

[Petra R]

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Bettye U wrote:

I recently lost my Top Rated status because I wasn't active for about 60 days.

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No. You lost it because your JSS is below 90%

[Bettye U]

Let me try this again. My JSS dropped below 90% because I wasn't active for 60 days, and as a result I lost my Top Rated status.

[Denise B]

Upwork can suspend freelancers for submitting too many unsuccessful proposals?!

I'm an Upwork Newbie. Could you please explain the details of this statement or where I can read more about it? What is the threshold and do you get a warning?

I'm trying to determine my niche on this platform and seem to have to kiss a lot of frogs.

Thanks 

[Brandon H]

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Denise B wrote:

Upwork can suspend freelancers for submitting too many unsuccessful proposals?!

I'm an Upwork Newbie. Could you please explain the details of this statement or where I can read more about it? What is the threshold and do you get a warning?

I'm trying to determine my niche on this platform and seem to have to kiss a lot of frogs.

Thanks 

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I'd like an answer on this, too, please.  Is this real?  I've sent out about 30 proposals in the last few days, because I'm trying to get my number of active clients back up (don't worry, I'm not applying for the bottom feeders' posts), but I'm worried that my "been interviewed" rate hasn't been as high lately.  If this is really an UpWork policy, can you, Avery, or one of the other gurus please post a link?

Thanks!

[Jennifer M]

haha the ol' "I'm injured can you work cheap to help a poor feller out?" trick. It's a good attempt. Plenty of idiots will do it.

[Bettye U]

Someone invited me to a job that included the words, "I'm on a tight budget..." I thanked them, but declined. In my experience that phrase usually means they want a lot of high-quality work for very little pay...