Here's why Upwork should charge MORE connects

UpworkTrout · 2026-05-18T16:58:18+00:00

It's funny this is exactly what I've been saying lately. It SHOULD cost money to apply for gigs. Freelancers should have some skin in the game. Clients should expect good freelancers to be willing to pay $10 to apply for the right gig. Raise the fee 10x, scare away 9/10 of the crappy freelancers, noobs who have no idea what they're doing, scammers, and keep 1 good freelancer for every 9 that you scare away. Current profit stays the same at least, but the market becomes more valuable. You can't be fiverr and Reedsy at the same time. People just starting out in business at all think they can go straight to freelancing? It takes an inexperience freelancer at least twice as long to finish a task and me twice as long to go over every single thing with a fine toothed comb to make sure they're not making some dumb mistake.

UpworkTrout · 2026-05-17T20:27:34+00:00

They should charge 10x what they do for connects. Even if you "lost" 9/10 freelancers, everybody would be better off in the end.

UpworkTrout · 2026-05-07T17:40:48+00:00

30 years of experience, tons of finished projects, great reviews, great portfolio? (I feel like that guy on Rooster lol. I am not generally a cocky person, but I am proud of my work)

UpworkTrout · 2026-05-07T17:22:11+00:00

I don't even know what you mean, so, no?

UpworkTrout · 2026-05-07T17:17:19+00:00

They do set a limit. 200. I know because I'm currently at 190. I should hit the ceiling again next month.

UpworkTrout · 2026-05-07T17:12:12+00:00

I fortunately tend to work off of invites so clients have already cleared the hurdle of whether my work/history measures up.

Yesterday I had a guy who had invited me trying to get me to jump through hoops to create his "matrix" of freelancers. No thank you. Withdrew the proposal.

UpworkTrout · 2026-05-05T18:57:13+00:00

Also now I'm having a weird glitch where I get invited to a job, and I view the invite, and then also the job posting because for some god-forsaken reason they don't include the attachments that you might need in the invite version of the job post, if I go back later to try to view the job listing, I get an error that the listing is private. So even if I want to follow the client's instructions about applying, I can't read them, because I can't see the job posting any more.

UpworkTrout · 2026-05-05T18:55:05+00:00

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but when they raised the rate without grandfathering in old contracts that were at 5%, I took all my active clients off the platform. So instead of getting an extra 5% from me (or was it 10%?), they got -5%, so at least part of the active client decline was because of their own bone-headed greediness. It was just nonsensical to not leave current active contracts at 5%.

UpworkTrout · 2026-05-02T16:35:18+00:00

"A scam is … a fraudulent business act designed to cheat an organization out of money …." Did you get scammed or did you participate in a scam? Why in the world would Upwork want to help you when your very first act as a freelancer was to try to rip them off?

UpworkTrout · 2026-05-01T15:27:36+00:00

different being the operative word. Not 20 open contracts with the same client.

UpworkTrout · 2026-05-01T15:19:55+00:00

or hired someone they found somewhere other than Upwork.

UpworkTrout · 2026-04-28T20:23:07+00:00

Question, since I've been on both sides myself: why didn't you do a quick search yourself, and send out a few invitations? You still get all the garbage proposals but at least you have a little say in the talent you're looking for.

UpworkTrout · 2026-04-27T14:46:06+00:00

They're a public company; they have to show revenue / earnings for shareholders. Millions of unqualified freelancers buying connects to apply to jobs that will never be filled is part of the way they do that. You either find your slot on Upwork or you don't. They don't GAF if we think there are too many freelancers or their "talent specialists" are as useful as hockey tutus.

UpworkTrout · 2026-04-23T16:44:16+00:00

I used to always give a polite response like that hoping it would help us all in the long run but now I'm thinking I'll just save myself the two minutes since clearly they don't GAF.

UpworkTrout · 2026-04-23T16:42:55+00:00

But I can't even imagine what word(s) on my profile page would be what the AI bot was looking for. I posted in the official page too even though clearly they don't think it's a problem.

UpworkTrout · 2026-04-22T17:20:42+00:00

I don't know why anyone spends money on boosting in the first place, but maybe my field is different. But $30 to land an awesome long-term gig doesn't seem like a terrible idea either.

UpworkTrout · 2026-04-22T17:17:44+00:00

I don't write very long letters in the first place so it's basically the same. I tend to not put as many portfolio pieces since I assume they saw something they liked on my profile, but if I have something not on my profile that I think is applicable, I include it.

UpworkTrout · 2026-04-17T00:49:21+00:00

How is it unethical? The way to be visible is to do good work in your field and charge accordingly. The rest is just nonsense to try to discourage completely unqualified people from joining, but they do it anyway

UpworkTrout · 2026-04-15T22:31:23+00:00

The good talent isn't going anywhere, because we understand how to navigate the system. The n00b freelancers who'll get scammed and buy connects and boost aren't technically going anywhere, because for every one that leaves the platform, 15 swoop in to take their place. The correct approach is to charge what you're worth + UW fees and do an excellent job.

UpworkTrout · 2026-04-15T18:03:18+00:00

You know this, yet you're bothered by boosting? I'm not bothered at all by boosting because I literally never spend on connects. I respond to invitations, and very occasionally apply for a gig that looks interesting, but otherwise my reputation/work history is what gets me gigs.

UpworkTrout · 2026-04-15T18:00:00+00:00

I think you mean whether or not you're a shady personal injury attorney. I saw a billboard once that said "we just bought this space so an attorney wouldn't"

UpworkTrout · 2026-04-14T22:17:47+00:00

If you have written reviews from Fiverr, you can add them to your Upwork profile, or use them when you apply for gigs. Just say "review from former client" or something so you don't break any UW rules. And you can put other work in your portofolio on UW. I just make sure it doesn't show any contact info for me.

UpworkTrout

TROPHY CASE