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Significant Change to Upwork coming in May 2019... “Pay to Bid”

Choate

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You read that right. You will now have to pay $0.15 per Connect to bid on a job, with some jobs costing up to 6 Connects or $.90.

The most noticeable impact? Less competition for jobs. The barrier to entry just got raised a lot, spam reduced, etc.

I’m personally against it, even though I only bid on a couple of jobs per month. The people already out hustling me or writing better proposals or with a better skilllset are going to continue to do so anyways, but this has much larger implications. It feels like a gamble now with a degree of skill involved - almost like sports betting. And for people in some countries, bidding $.90 is a pretty large wager at that, amounting to what, half a days pay?

If you’re great at what you do, not much will change besides paying what might amount to be a $5-20 fee per month depending on how many and the type of jobs you apply for. With that said, nows the time to apply for long term jobs for free while you still can and use up whatever Connects you might have left.
 
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Charnell

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I would rather have 1-5 people apply to a gig that they know they're qualified for rather than 20+ and 75% of them are firms or unqualified people.

I imagine the competition would go down for qualified freelancers. OR like my man did the other month: contact me on LinkedIn to do lead gen, then ask to get the gig on and paid through UpWork to build up his credentials.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Towel squeezing underway...

I expect nothing less from a company that recently went public. Gotta meet those Wall Street consensus earning estimates!!
 

Lex DeVille

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I wonder if they'll still set profiles to private after a month when they haven't picked up new gigs. That way you're forced to bid from time to time to keep money rolling in for them ;)
 

PizzaOnTheRoof

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I wonder if they'll still set profiles to private after a month when they haven't picked up new gigs. That way you're forced to bid from time to time to keep money rolling in for them ;)
You put a winky face but you're probably spot on unfortunately.

My profiles been hidden because of no activity. I’m wondering if it’s even worth it to reactivate.
 
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lowtek

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You put a winky face but you're probably spot on unfortunately.

My profiles been hidden because of no activity. I’m wondering if it’s even worth it to reactivate.

They do this to me periodically. While you're between gigs (for some period of time) they really want you to sign up for their paid tier.

They even locked my account until they got me on a video chat with one of their minions... at the request of a POTENTIAL client.

It's getting harder to recommend the platform, with all the games they're playing with their freelancers.

I'd advise people to start there, but be building a strong personal brand in parallel so that you can eventually break away.
 
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JordanK

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Really looking forward to these changes. Less competition for those of us who are already doing well and for only a few extra pennies every month.
 

ZF Lee

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If you’re great at what you do, not much will change besides paying what might amount to be a $5-20 fee per month depending on how many and the type of jobs you apply for.
And do my best to open chances for recurring gigs. Set some kind of expectations with the client for when things get more comfortable.

That's actually where the real freelance money is, though.

That does not need any Connects, if Upwork is right.

Really looking forward to these changes. Less competition for those of us who are already doing well and for only a few extra pennies every month.
Reminds me of what @Vigilante said on taxes and Amazon fees...

I don't have a problem paying taxes. I want to minimize taxes I pay, but believe I have benefited greatly from entrepreneurship in the greatest economic opportunistic system in the world. I have paid a lot of taxes. I literally just caught some things up and paid what would be the equivalent of more than a great salary... but that was for a few years of catch-up. I believe in what Kyosaki said when he was facing a large tax bill... he just had to go make more. I see no ceiling in what I can earn.

People ask me all the time about Amazon fees. Amazon fees? Who cares? It is only a percentage of what I MAKE on Amazon. Same is true to a degree with taxes. I could be so blessed to have such a large tax bill. Means I am doing something right. So... taxes? You're worried about taxes? Go make more money. Go pay an accountant to handle your tax strategy.

There are a few on the forum whose whole existence is to avoid taxes. Personally, I'd rather live on the Gulf Coast of Florida and pay some taxes than live in some third world shithole but be "tax free." To each his own.
 

Lex DeVille

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Now I'm also wondering if they'll eventually make clients pay for every job post. I bet they will. .15 cents per post or something like that to help even things out in regards to the kind of people who post jobs. A lot of people who post jobs are fakes or spammers or people just trying to get a look at their competition. The big enterprise companies won't have any issues with this change. Meanwhile spammers will quickly drop away.
 

kkoasdfawfqwe2

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I start to get the feeling that whenever a company goes public it basically means you can copy their business and focus on the customer, since they just switched the focus to the investors.

Also lets not forget that investors don't pay the bills in the end, they only provide credit for the bills, until the customers pays them.

I know there are a few alternatives to Upwork out there, but I feel like there is room for more competition.

I often list my jobs on Upwork and other platforms, and I wouldn't mind placing it on one more platform if it had a chance of providing me with the necessary freelancer for the job.
 

ZF Lee

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I start to get the feeling that whenever a company goes public it basically means you can copy their business and focus on the customer, since they just switched the focus to the investors.

Also lets not forget that investors don't pay the bills in the end, they only provide credit for the bills, until the customers pays them.
Correct on the investment part!

On copying the business, I think that Upwork still has more gaps in their services that they have ignored or simply forgot about.

One of thew few times I had to get off Upwork to talk to my client on other channels was due to Upwork not having video chats or screen-recorders on BOTH smartphones and PC, unlike Skype or Whatsapp. A lot of clients are always on the run, so it is important to have cross-platform access.

Unfortunately, Upwork hasn't done that yet.

Alternatively, they could have gone into a partnership with Skype and the other channels, and created a plugin that tracks the client-freelancer communications, just to have a paper trail in case anything goes wrong. It's not much different than credit card companies partnering with other businesses for loyalty points and encouraging more usage.
 
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Lex DeVille

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Deleted because FU Upwork. :)
 

ZF Lee

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Deleted because FU Upwork.
Too late, Lex:smile:

Got your post on my mail.

Upwork merch store, seriously?:rofl::rofl::rofl:

I know merch can provide some sort of identity to freelancers...but we don't exactly work FOR Upwork, right?

IMO, its like Elon Musk selling caps and flamethrowers.
Might not affect overall performance of his companies, but its like a filler between TV episodes.
 

QDF

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Upwork's fees have always been too high, and they aren't heading in the right direction.

It's only a matter of time before another freelancer marketplace comes along with a much better price structure.

If I was going to do it, I'd completely get rid of the commission structure and charge a monthly fee of like $10 on the freelancer side. First few months are free, then a flat $10-20 a month membership or something.

Adds more value for both sides.
 
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Lex DeVille

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Too late, Lex:smile:

Got your post on my mail.

Upwork merch store, seriously?:rofl::rofl::rofl:

I know merch can provide some sort of identity to freelancers...but we don't exactly work FOR Upwork, right?

IMO, its like Elon Musk selling caps and flamethrowers.
Might not affect overall performance of his companies, but its like a filler between TV episodes.

I legit believed them, and I honestly think it wasn't a joke but a market test to find out if freelancers would click that link. I noticed it had a special tracker link attached to it. I don't for one second doubt that Upwork will sell merchandise if they think freelancers will pay for it.
 

srodrigo

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They do this to me periodically. While you're between gigs (for some period of time) they really want you to sign up for their paid tier.

They even locked my account until they got me on a video chat with one of their minions... at the request of a POTENTIAL client.

It's getting harder to recommend the platform, with all the games they're playing with their freelancers.

I'd advise people to start there, but be building a strong personal brand in parallel so that you can eventually break away.
Out of curiosity, what kind of work do you do on Upwork? Is it IT related?
 

lowtek

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Out of curiosity, what kind of work do you do on Upwork? Is it IT related?

Machine learning freelancing. Upwork is not really the best platform for it, so I'm trying to create a stronger online presence to get better contract work / sell courses.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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I start to get the feeling that whenever a company goes public it basically means you can copy their business and focus on the customer, since they just switched the focus to the investors.

I wrote about this in Unscripted , it's basically stakeholder demotion. Wherever a public company has its #1 Stakeholder as Wall Street and shareholders, it's an opportunity for companies who have the CUSTOMER as the #1 stakeholder.

Example after example exists of public companies who grow like weeds because they are client centered. Then they go public and become shareholder-centered, dropping the very concept that caused them to grow in the first place. It sucks, but such is life and it is always an opportunity for a small, customer-centric company to rise up.
 

Choate

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It seems like they've rolled out another additional change today. You can now have up to two additional "specialized profiles" for various skills. This is really helpful and for example will let me compete with a more specific focus for other jobs that are outside of my main niche.

So basically it boils down to me now having 3 profiles on Upwork that will show up separately for specific searches. Web design, copywriting, and B2C sales. Originally, I didn't list sales in my profile even though I have years of experience in it because it would detract from my main focus. And web design was sort an after thought. This is change is great though, it's basically like having three different fishing rods in the water with different bait without the risk of tangling them up.

I'll take anything that helps customers find me so that I don't have to "pay for leads" with their new system. Still keeping it in the back of my mind that I need to eventually move off of Upwork completely.
 
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Jaden Jones

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Im sure fiverr will step up to fill the gap, someone always does.
 

CareCPA

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I've changed my mind on Upwork's fees. They need to increase. Why?

Because...what the F*ck?!

Lex D.

This dude stole my name, my business, and even my face!
"and almost a Bachelor's degree in Psychology" :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
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ZF Lee

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I've changed my mind on Upwork's fees. They need to increase. Why?

Because...what the F*ck?!

Lex D.

This dude stole my name, my business, and even my face!
WTH???

The profile write-up is 100% the SAME from the one you wrote for your old tutorial vid!

Send a report to Upwork ASAP.

Don't think raising fees can solve it 100% though.

If he's earning cash, he can spend it.
 

SEBASTlAN

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ThumbTack had this model a while back, which I believe they switched now to "free to bid, but pay when they reply" model. Let's see what happens.
 

srodrigo

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Machine learning freelancing. Upwork is not really the best platform for it, so I'm trying to create a stronger online presence to get better contract work / sell courses.
That's awesome ;) Machine Learning was supposed to be "my thing" before I surrounded to making games. Who knows in a few years...

It's a shame that your execution thread is in the INSIDERS's. It'd be really interesting to follow. I felt like ML is one of those things that require proper (and long) training, not just a few NodeJS tutorials and become a programmer. It's such a large field that I've seen people spending years before becoming authorities, even if you can get started today.
 
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PizzaOnTheRoof

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ApparentHorizon

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IDK why some of you have a problem with a 20% fee on clients served on a silver platter.

A good salesperson would laugh you out the door at that rate.
 

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