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It isn't always about holding up in court. It is sometimes about whose pockets run dry first. Even if you sue them for legal costs (and win), you still have to pay your legal costs along the way to get to the court decision where you get reimbursed.
Stryder did the right thing by not signing.
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I tried several freelance sites years ago when I was laid off in 2009. All of them were scams to get cheap labor.
Even purchasing their premium memberships didn't help. On top of that you had to write lengthy proposal only to never get an answer as to if anyone even reviewed them.
You are probably better off using an email list from a reputable company than doing anything online anymore. With email lists at least you can target your audience without worrying about ridiculous competition in a single site.
Finally, it appeared that many of the high earners were either teams or people who had been doing this for quite some time. In either case, unless you paid for it you could never get at the top of any list and even then you were still placed in competition with such entities...
Steve Naidamast
Sr. Software Engineer
Black Falcon Software, Inc.
blackfalconsoftware@outlook.com
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I never used UpWork, but a long time (+8 years) ago I did use VWork. There was no requirement to provide ID, just a credit card I believe.
The work was badly paid, because you had people from all over the world (with different living costs) competing. So it was mostly a race to the bottom, until I got a few positive reviews. Afterwards I was able to raise my fees but still nothing even in the same galaxy as a typical contract work for a customer.
Overall I didn't dislike the experience. It was my first time doing contract work, and I learned a lot about how to engage with potential customers. It could be worth it if you want to create a network of potential customers, and continue to work with them after there is a mutual trust and an escrow site like UpWork is no longer necessary.
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I did create an account and created profile in it long time ago . I don't remember the ID requirement but to be honest the pay offered by customers were rock bottom.
There used to be a bidding system and me from Germany the price was too low to put in a honest effort.
cheers,
Super
------------------------------------------
Too much of good is bad,mix some evil in it
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There are lots of scammer registrations on Freelancer and possibly on Upwork, that's why they want to have some kind of validation. Could be also some money laundry prevention.
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I can understand the need for verification if they perform services such as escrow. However, they may be in violation of national banking and escrow laws. Briefly, it takes more than setting up a website for this purpose. In many countries, only a local lawyer may provide escrow services, and the money must be deposited in a special escrow account (in a bank).
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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I’ve used it for over 2-1/2 years and it’s been life changing.
It is not a scam. The ID verification is a deterrent against scammers (and unfortunately there are a LOT!) and a reassurance for both clients and freelancers that you are dealing with someone legit.
Upwork is a publicly traded company
YMMV, but...
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My daughter has used it to find transcription work and I've been at a company that used it for finding people to do specific freelance work. It's not a sham in that way, but the work you find on there sometimes is a lot of work for low pay.
Elephant elephant elephant, sunshine sunshine sunshine
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Its a legit site and a valuable resource for those looking to hire extra resources. I'm not sure how valuable it is for US based resources b/c of the rates we like to command.
I've used Upwork at my business to find temporary contractors for many years. My experience is that the majority of the technical contractors are from low income engineering countries, such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, Indonesia, and some South American countries.
I have never hired a rate above $40 per hour - I have never needed to. The majority of rates I have hired are $25 and below and I have found great resources for:
- Dot Net
- WPF
- Laravel/PHP
- Electron
- Book Transcription
- Web Page Development
- Javascript Web App Development
- Ruby on Rails resources
I use it often for quick prototypes, where I don't want to distract my US based engineering team.
There are lots of agencies contracting on the site which means you have layers of management that often distract from getting the right work out.
But if I were looking for work, Upwork would probably NOT be the place I would go. I couldn't feed my family on the rates I would have to compete against.
<hr>
"Qulatiy is Job #1"
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Further to my earlier post about having had good results via these sites, I should add that I've also used them as a "buyer" to effectively sub-contract parts of contracts. That's a very cheap way of buying-in very specific skills (e.g. I had a large project with a small TAPI component; never having done any TAPI work, and not planning to again, it made sense to write a tight functional spec and outsource it, for a hundred dollars or so). The problem is these days you get scores of responses from Asian body-shops saying "We can write the codez 4 u" and just ploughing through to find a realistic bid can take some time. When I did find genuine, skilled workers I always added a bonus payment and good review. The best way to find good subcontractors is to find reviews that aren't just a simple five-star, but make reference to actual skills and ideally include a bonus as that really shows someone's worth considering.
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As long as we still have Grand Tour we don't need culture.
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we are "cancelling culture" til even neaderthals will despise us
Press F1 for help or google it.
Greetings from Germany
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I know these "activists" in the ancient near east
Press F1 for help or google it.
Greetings from Germany
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Damnit! If that had been treated as well as The Expanse was, it could have been brilliant.
And to lose Ringworld as well ...
Maybe it's time to reconsider my Prime subscription.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I tell people "I live at work".
It is more hard core than saying
"I work from home."
Remember, no matter where you go... there you are.
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Is that hardcore? To slave for your manager?
I don't live to work, I worked to live.
Bastard Programmer from Hell
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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Amen brother, such wisdom!
Although, one needs and Ikigai as well....
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Do churches take donations via PrayPal?
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Not the catholics - they use Papal.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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If the app can't add vat I can.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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If you purchase something from a church, do you get a buy-bill?
Ravings en masse^ |
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"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Nah, that involves too much clerical work.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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