Upwork

I'm new at Upwork but I have had a lot of opportunities to show my talent. I know my bussiness will grow in the future with my Upwork account.

I am (was) a client. I don't want something for nothing, but I also don't like being stolen from. Upwork advertise in Australia, using an australian site, my account was set to Australian Dollars, so the site should then either state US infront of freelancer rates, OR, I should feel confident that as my currency is set to Australian Dollars I am viewing rates in Australian dollars (a no brainer really). No! They advertised in australian dollars, billed me in australian dollars BUT charged my card in US dollars. So the $1500 AUD that I budgeted suddenly becomes $3420 AUD, unknown to me. When I brought to their attention they were hedgy, gave differing responses, and pointed me to some fine print buried in the terms and conditions that says they bill in USD. Well then either advertise in USD or notify the client that we are viewing AUD rates but will be charged in USD. RIP OFF. Stay away from these sharks. My accountant tells me the invoices are useless as they say I've only paid $500 when I've paid over $850. RIP OFF as I say! I feel sorry for the freelancer who did an amazing job until I pulled the plug. No-one benefits when platforms steal like this.

Re: UPWORK Not!.
Q: Is UPWORK profitable?.
A: No, UPWORK is not profitable. In 2022, UPWORK'S net losses were a sad $89.9 million.
In a time when you should be making money— and you're not--it's time to rethink the business model.
FYI: It's no wonder UPWORK is a failing company. The website needs work—but UPWORK doesn't take to kindly to suggestions. For instance, to randomly reset our user privacy setting (to invisible to clients) is nonsense and the sad excuse for doing so is ridiculous. Upwork is not doing anyone a favor by blocking accounts and for such frivolous reasons as it's just doing dirty to freelancers and employers, alike. Plus, it was very childish of Upwork to suspend my account for suggesting they stop playing with our privacy settings and proves my point that UPWORK is useless.
Your account has been suspended. Please contact customer support.
I don't need to contact anyone. You're not the boss of me!.
Unfortunately, Upwork practices a crude and sloppy way of doing business. To treat its users with such utter disrespect is not good PR, for sure.
It's no wonder Upwork is suffering big loses when every day it wastes even more money, effort, and resources defending its stupid decisions on too many similar complaints. Without doubt, Upwork doesn't follow the SDLC or process improvement methodology. And surely Upwork never tests its website properly or with qualified users. And there are other problems with Upwork and its website too numerous to mention.
To be in business for profit or not—Upwork just doesn't have the know-how to get it right—which is indicative of piss-poor management. Just try to get in touch with them and you'll find it's intentionally a big hassle and indicative of people who just don't give a damn. So I don't see this iteration of Upwork lasting much longer as flushing good money down the toilet to support a crap site in dire need of a full upgrade by incompetent folks who are obviously clueless is evidently not the best investment.

All I need to tell you is that you have to be insistent and patient. At beging take small jobs, built up your profile and you will see.

I was struggling to find local photography jobs during covid! All the local small businesses I would reach out to would either not making as much money due to covid or closed because covid. I had client and jobs lined up before all the covid closures after that each client I had prior just isn't able to afford hiring a photographer at this time. Desperate for work I looked online and found Upwork! Quickly I got a photography job for $150 and I haven't stops since! It is now 9/23/2020 and I and working on 3 jobs from upwork. 1 for $250, another for $100, and the last for $500. All are clients I would have NEVER had access to and for that I TRULY Thank Upwork.

The only reason I am not giving 5 stars is simple! I pay 14.99 a month to be a member (my choice) and I have also been on the site for a little bite hitting 100% Job Success and Rising Talent, soon to hit even higher goals hopefully! I feel for people like that they should START to get discounts on the 20% that Upworks takes from the job I. E. The job for $500 Upwork is going to take $100 of that;( That SUPER sucks! The client reached out to me and I am experienced in the website for thing like that I thing the site should only charge 10% at the most! I now bring value to the website. Say once you hit 100% Job Success you now only pay 15% then at rising talent it goes to %10. I think that would be an amazing idea to reward people. If Upwork implemented a system like that doesn't have to be those exact number but just a similar thing that would be game change to all freelancers out there!

Hope this info help the next freelancer!

Nick Gonzales
Owner
SOS Photography

As a freelancer, I have had no problem with this website before. I see many people complaining about safety concerns, but I've never even thought of relying on Elance to protect me. Elance is simply to get me in touch with prospective clients. You have to make sure to take steps necessary to protect your money and work on your own. They do have some useful services (such as Escrow and WorkView), and while they have their faults, a bit of caution will keep them from being abused. I never send full copies of my work until the Escrow is funded, but I also don't ask for it to be funded until it's completed on my end and give frequent notice of my progress; if your freelancer doesn't do this, then ask for them to do so through the job. If a job is cancelled, I also keep a copy of it and make regular checks (usually once a month) to see if anything I sent has been posted elsewhere; if it is, I just issue a DMCA take-down notice and harass them (without the help of Elance) until they take it down and stop using it online.

Most of the bad experiences listed here spawn from people putting way too much faith in a single website with their money. YOU need to learn to take the initiative necessary to keep your work and money as a freelancer safe. Elance is there to help you meet people and take some simple jobs - not to be your mother.

A lot of people also seem bitter about disputes not being in their favor when they very well should not be. If the client specifies you are to do something or use something specific, if you don't do this and don't warn them beforehand, then of course they're not going to pay you. If a professor tells you to type something and you hand it in written, of course he's just going to put it in the trash can next to his desk. You need to follow the directions of the clients to ensure nothing is against you.

You should also go through the ToS with a fine-tooth comb to avoid having your account closed. "But it should be clearer!" The ToS is fairly clear, but let me guess... you haven't read it? You oughta at least do that if you're putting your time and money into a website for freelancing, whether it's Elance or anything else.

The following site is the definitive expose of the iWriter scam and the information there applies to many other freelance writing sites as well.

YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BELIEVE THE INFORMATION YOU FIND THERE.

http://the-giant-iwriter-scam.blogspot.ca/

One of the biggest online scams right now is in the "freelance writing" area.

The biggest company in this area is called iWriter and it is maybe the biggest online scam period.

Ignore all the fake positive reviews and fake websites recommending iWriter while pretending to be independent, they are all a part of the scam.

Iwriter is not just a huge scam, it is maybe the biggest of all the online scams.

There is an awesome website that uncovers the whole iWriter scam in great detail. The site is hilarious and extremely well-written.

It's also very thorough and comprehensive, maybe the best resource available yet on the iWriter scam.

That website shows clearly how fraud is not just peripheral to iWriter, but on the contrary, EVERYTHING at iWriter is fraud and scamming.

IWriter needs to be exposed to everyone until the iWriter scam is finally shut down.

I am very lucky to join in Upwork marketplace. I run my business through Upwork. It is one of the biggest marketplaces in the world.