61–70 of 115 posts
Wow, I thought they would honor the 5% charge till the end of the contracts but it seems they will go to 10% by the end of the year. Since Upwork theoretically locks you in for 2 years with a client, I’m expecting there will be a small exodus of people with long-term projects . I’d much rather sort out invoicing myself and get paid through Stripe than lose out on extra 5%.
When I started out as a freelancer / independent contractor, I made the conscious decision to not use any of these platforms, out of fear for my client base or finances being tied up and taken away from me due to a simple ToS violation; the fees never sat with me either. Admittedly, it took so much longer to get a consistent base of clients (1-2 years), but it feels like a fresh of breath air over having to rely on a…
Well it's definitely a clown car. The product experience is comically bad (like sad clown comedy). There is incredible friction in the hiring and interviewing processes. API access is disabled unless you have a through-the-nose enterprise account.
I would die for a freelancer hiring platform that I could interact with programatically, so I wouldn't have to use their shitty tools.
(Source: Hired through rentacoder, vworker, upwork, elance, etc.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, a lifetime 10% just for making the introduction is pure exploitation. On the buyer side we have been defrauded by Upwork providers and the company did absolutely nothing. Clear cut case of illegal activity and ToS violation, Upwork did nothing other than take our money. The FTC needs to beat this gang of criminals into the ground. They are a racket from top to bottom. Fraud shouldn't pay. Exploitation of worker…
Lifetime, in theory. In practice, you can move the relationship off Upwork after 2 years. See https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043210654-Mo...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
IMHO, most of the Upwork jobs are upwards of $1000 if it's a serious client. A large number of freelancers & agencies have built a stable clients on Upwork from years together. It will be a little revenue shock for them. Or eventually clients will pay more to cover the costs. Let's assume you are a freelancer with a client relationship of 40k * 20% fee for the first $500 earned from a client - $100 * 10% fee between…
Yeah, a lifetime 10% just for making the introduction is pure exploitation. On the buyer side we have been defrauded by Upwork providers and the company did absolutely nothing. Clear cut case of illegal activity and ToS violation, Upwork did nothing other than take our money. The FTC needs to beat this gang of criminals into the ground. They are a racket from top to bottom. Fraud shouldn't pay. Exploitation of worker…
These seem like real concerns and failures of the market. I know Upwork has strong network effects, so this seems like a justified government intervention
- You could only find jobs if you were ready to underbid everyone else.
- The disproportion between the amount of work and job-seekers was abysmal.
- The platform did nothing to protect the workers from untruthful or exploitative clients (from anecdotal evidence).
- Upwork attracts clients who can't find contractors any other way, mostly because of unrealistic compensation expectation, unreasonable requirements, or poor reputation. This leads to the average job being an underwhelming experience (to put it in generous terms).
Moreover, being on Upwork is a sign of desperation. You fear the day any of your regular clients notices and asks why are you there or just starts to doubt you.
The proposition of the service is very attractive, but I'm not sure if it brings more value than harm in practice. It's very hard to find clients nowadays, but I'm still fighting the urge to restore my account there.
It is mind-boggling how this business with $600 million in annual revenues is still barely breaking even on a free cash flow basis.
When I started out as a freelancer / independent contractor, I made the conscious decision to not use any of these platforms, out of fear for my client base or finances being tied up and taken away from me due to a simple ToS violation; the fees never sat with me either. Admittedly, it took so much longer to get a consistent base of clients (1-2 years), but it feels like a fresh of breath air over having to rely on a…
Impressive!
Assuming that I’m correct and that that hyphen should be read as “minus”: How are you able to get your clients to pay in advance?
Assuming that I’m wrong, it’s still impressive.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
IMHO, most of the Upwork jobs are upwards of $1000 if it's a serious client. A large number of freelancers & agencies have built a stable clients on Upwork from years together. It will be a little revenue shock for them. Or eventually clients will pay more to cover the costs. Let's assume you are a freelancer with a client relationship of 40k * 20% fee for the first $500 earned from a client - $100 * 10% fee between…
True, your figures seem correct. I guess the problem is that I haven't had any luck finding any serious client, due to the competition and race-to-the-bottom. Some clients want quality, of course, but in this economy if it's a lottery to find a job in the real world, it's a lottery for those billing upwards of $100/h on Upwork. So what's left is small contracts where being a seasoned expert to deal with emergencies i…
Why are they still afloat? Last time I checked you couldn't find any work there: - You could only find jobs if you were ready to underbid everyone else. - The disproportion between the amount of work and job-seekers was abysmal. - The platform did nothing to protect the workers from untruthful or exploitative clients (from anecdotal evidence). - Upwork attracts clients who can't find contractors any other way, mostly…