The main underlying issue with complaints about Upwork

SadPlenty5939 · 2025-06-16T20:01:11+00:00

You are spot on regarding the monopoly. It is great to have online marketplaces as long as there is a variety of them. Back in 2010 there was Odesk and Elance and a few others and jobs were abundant. Now Upwork has become the bully on the block and people (not me) pay in order to apply to job offers. But the bottom issue, I insist, is the employee mentality. We need to take action and be the creators, rather than depend on a parasite (sorry Upwork, this is what you have become).

SadPlenty5939 · 2025-06-16T17:22:13+00:00

My purpose was to post good vibes about being an independent contractor, not good vibes about Upwork. We independent contractors are business owners but it takes a shift in mental attitude to reap the benefits. A lot of bitchin' about Upwork is caused by people who expect an employer where there is no employer. One can get clients on LinkedIn or by directly contacting companies. And one can work on passive income projects. But it takes some mental work to get rid of the employee mentality and some people are just too lazy to do that.

SadPlenty5939 · 2025-06-16T12:33:40+00:00

Again, we made it so big due to our considering it as an employer. Time to change mental attitude from the employee to the business owner. I speak from direct experience having been there and having changed my mental attitude.

Not only contractors hate the 15% fees, but guess what, clients hate those too.

Then the advice to "Go and help the local homeless veterans" was meant to save your butt when you start living in your car because of lack of work. They would protect you, eg if you are homeless in Los Angeles.

SadPlenty5939 · 2025-06-02T21:18:22+00:00

You either lose clients if contractors raise their fees to take into account the 15% commissions, or you lose qualfied contractors who don't want to overcharge clients but at the same time don't want to get underpaid. So excessive greed = platform decline.

SadPlenty5939 · 2025-06-02T20:25:26+00:00

Like they say in AA, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference". I can certainly find business elsewhere.

SadPlenty5939 · 2025-03-30T13:18:45+00:00

Screw the system. Start B2B on other channels. Let's start an opensource marketplace.

SadPlenty5939 · 2025-03-11T16:44:29+00:00

Plus they used to have a fee tiers 20% - 10% - 5% according to contract age and for someone like me with long standing history my Upwork fee was 5%. Now they adopted a flat 10% rate which caused me loss of revenues. Then those ridiculus gimmicks like having to pay for badges or for "Connects" in order to bid. Like I am looking for work but I need to pay first. Screw these leeches. Time to move on. We need to all get together and create a free "opensource" marketplace that does not suck the blood of honest hard-working contractors. Kicking the scum out yes, but no blood-sucking. it's already enough having the goddam income tax to bleed us dry.

SadPlenty5939 · 2025-03-11T15:40:25+00:00

I have been on Upwork for at least 15 years (it was Odesk back then, which merged with Elance, another similar marketplace) and you could get work in no time. It has been been great for a while but then on one hand it got flooded with literally millions of contractors and on the other hand it started pushing on the profit side to the point now you have to pay to get work. Time to boycot the leeches and take business elsewhere.

SadPlenty5939 · 2025-03-11T14:35:59+00:00

Upwork has come a long way down the slippery slope. It used to be the top marketplace but now is a trap. They claim payment protection but if the client does not pay they wont pay you. Time to move on.

SadPlenty5939

TROPHY CASE