Upwork

I used to be a Rising Talent first then the Top Rated freelancer.

First, there was a 20% fee blow. As a freelance content writer, I can only dream about clients who would pay me $10K+ a year.

Then, I've submitted my suggestions to the Upwork support to improve their membership option more than once. With 60 bids/connects per month there's not much you can do. I didn't like the idea of paying $2 per additional bid.

Eventually, my account got suspended because I was bidding too many times with no success.

Thank you Upwork for all the years I spent there, but you aren't the only freelance platform out there.

I would Like to take this opportunity to thank you Upwork for maintaining a high standards which is what's makes them stand out and the only trustworthy freelancing platform.

However, the availability badge option should be reconsidered as it ask for a minimum of 6 connects per week to keep our profile visible which is not good.

With taht being said i am overall happy with Upwork.

Thank and God bless you.

Best Regards,
Tausif Ahmad Khan.

It takes a lot of work to get started. It's taken me the whole of 2020 to get $800. However, the more positive reviews you can collect, the more people start to approach you for jobs. Once you complete a job, the chances of landing similar jobs go up by a lot, and you can swing your weight around bidding for jobs like that one once you have reviews explaining success from someone else.

Bottom line, success is based on performance, but you need really spot on proposals to land gigs before you have positive reviews.

I have been a successful freelance writer for years, primarily through Elance and private clients in my industry. I began freelancing on Elance and Odesk and both were considerably more responsive. The Upwork site is difficult to navigate and their policies, including 20% fees for freelancers and holding escrowed money for 6 days after release by client is ridiculous. I never work there intentionally but sometimes respond to interview requests.

I must begin by saying the platform accommodates freelancers and clients alike. I have found it to be the best remote work platform yet. Just one reservation is the processing time for payments from clients. Otherwise, it offers the most value for your money, time, and efforts.

Upwork doesn't understand that as a platform that connects freelancers and clients, they have a responsibility by referring freelancers to clients. When there is a problem with the quality of the service they provide, UPWORK will simply say that it is not their problem. It is like you take an UBER and the guy robs you or leaves you in the wrong city and Uber said "It is not my Uber's responsibility. If the driver didn't take you to your destination, you need to talk to the driver". How irresponsible is a company that doesn't understand their role in a commercial agreement? Please save yourself a lot of pain and use other services. Freelancers are great, but from time to time you will find a bad one. Just make sure you use the services of a great platform that takes their business seriously.

I can tell Upwork invests heavily in technology, in customer & freelancer services, new functionalities, attracting major enterprises to their platform. For these, I am very grateful.
I am also grateful for the stability they offer and their exceptional customer (freelancer) support.
The fees are steep but it's understandable to a certain extent, given the above.
In respect to clients you might find on Upwork, there are two major categories: good people and bad people. I guess that is not surprising and it's a general rule of life :).
All in all, Upwork is a great platform to be a part of.

I was scammed by a dishonest agent and paid $500 for nothing. After 2 months of waiting, the freelancer I hired finally declared that he wasn't able to deliver the work and didn't want to issue a refund. I asked for Upwork's help, and after 3 week of back and forth Upwork finally told me: Due to no agreement reached within the timeline given, the dispute and ticket is closed. You have the option to pursue the case independently outside Upwork"

This is basically called a robbery. Please all be aware that your payments are absolutely NOT protected on Upwork.

"I enjoyed working on this project. All expectations and requirements were communicated up front and the client was responsive to any of my requests for clarification. I liked working with her and hope to have the opportunity to work with her again."

I have been a part-time freelancer for over a decade and Upwork is the only platform where I have managed to find trustworthy and long-term clients that have quality work as well. Upwork's fees are quite high and while that could be discouraging in the beginning, I would urge a newbie to stick it through the initial period to reap the rewards later. If you're talented, you will soon get solid responses from clients. I've had to turn down offers at points because I couldn't manage the workload. Thank you Upwork for a great platform. I would love it if they charged a smaller premium fee but for the opportunities we are getting, I guess that's a price worth paying.

Upwork has quality clients. I've tried a few different sites in the past to look for creative work (screenwriter, storyboards, animation) and I find that it's hard to stand out from the crowd even if your work is on a different level than those in your same field.

Upwork puts you where you need to be. I have had multiple clients contact me without having to go find work which is great.

The only downside is that when you have a good paying reoccurring client, Upwork keeps their rates too high. I can take a client off site to a contract company like Bonsai and more of the money goes into my pocket.

Upwork has changed everything about the way I write. I've read some of the other, more negative, reviews and I can remember some of the frustrations they have about the fees and finding the real, viable clients. You have to do the work and build your profile. I've done so and result is that I now have high-paying clients seeking me out (so I never pay to submit anymore). The 10% finder's fee I pay them is well worth it (and is exactly what I pay my reps in the "real world" for my offline connections in my industry). Upwork is excellent - get on there and build your profile... then the jobs will come to you...

Suggestion from a former loyal Upwork user - DO NOT USE IT. I'd been putting up with their high service fee (20%) charges as I believed that they were a reliable platform - but I was wrong.

Their customer service is TERRIBLE - rude and ignorant. If you did anything "they determined to be wrong" and that you aren't even aware of, next thing you'll find your account being suspended, and you'll receive an accusation email requesting you to write a statement like you have committed a crime.

If you don't follow their "rules", they'll do whatever they want to your account - for example, delete your information, terminate your account - because you are not "behaving".

Oh, forgot to mention their "conversion fee" - 12% of your 12-month earning. Don't know what they invented that for, but be careful as what you have been working hard on could be easily taken just like that. How convenient.

I am apparently one of many who also received an email stating that my UpWork account would be closed without notice. It happened around 2 months after my father died. I had spent 1 whole month helping my mother with insurances and lawyers and after that I was sick for 5 weeks, was barely able to work but I did the minimum which entailed my own office work so I wasn't on UpWork.
I was shocked when I received the email. Weeks later I checked to see if I had been paid at the end of the quarter and to my disbelief, UpWork had not sent me the money owed.

This is unforgivable.

Sincerely,
Maria Robichaud

I hired a freelancer on Upwork.com, who ended up scamming me for big money. I tried to get help from customer service, but they refused to do anything! Stay away from this scammy website! It is very similar to Fiverr, both full of scammy freelancers and have poor customer support!