Has anyone used Upwork for freelancers?

[Kerwin]

I've pretty much finished one of the websites I've been working on. The backend code is done, the front end HTML is in a reasonable state, and the client-side JavaScript is pretty much all there. All I need now is a designer to make it look good and thought of paying someone on Upwork to do it.

I was just curious if any other businesses have used Upwork, and what the experience was like?

 

[japancool]

I guess you mean used it to find a contractor.

I've used it to freelance, and I don't think I'd want to do it again. It's a race to the bottom.

 

[AC-20]

The freelancer websites like upwork, freelancer, etc.. are generally good and extremely competitive for freelancers. There is some level of protection to the customers as the payment is only released to the freelancers upon work submission.

As a general rule for picking freelancer, I would pay attention / ask for past work and look at reviews.

 

[Kerwin]

The freelancer websites like upwork, freelancer, etc.. are generally good and extremely competitive for freelancers. There is some level of protection to the customers as the payment is only released to the freelancers upon work submission.

As a general rule for picking freelancer, I would pay attention / ask for past work and look at reviews.

Thanks. I'll certainly do that.

 

[Jyothi Tulasi]

I have used it previously but now it's pretty difficult to use that site as the competition is too high and you need all stars.

 

[-Q-]

I've used Upwork. Can be hit and miss with quality of work you get. I used to use Elance a lot before it became Upwork. Found my go to guys from Elance. I've been using them for over 10 years.

As long as you have clear and specific milestones then you'll have a better chance of getting what you need.

 

[antropy]

Its ok but using freelancers is very hit and miss, especially when it comes to developers or designers. Alex

 

[japancool]

Most people using Upwork are looking to pay peanuts. And you know what they say about that.

 

[MikeHunter]

My business works a lot with freelancers. Part of my role is recruiting new ones, so I was eager to try Upwork. The translation industry has a number of portals for recruiting freelancers and posting jobs, which I've used successfully for years. I was eager to see how Upwork would compare, so registered, and posted a job.

I was quite horrified by the response. Why? I work in an industry where many people claim expertise. Someone speaks a bit of a second language and thinks they can translate. However professional translators are highly skilled and highly qualified. I found that the responses were all price focussed, and gave no evidence of qualifications or background. There was no way of judging applicants' professional qualifications and experience.

of course this is a specific experience in a specific industry, it may be better in other areas, but certainly for me it isn't a useful platform.

 

[antropy]

Most people using Upwork are looking to pay peanuts. And you know what they say about that.

We only used it at the start, not anymore, if that is a dig at us? But yes I agree if you do not pay a great rate you are going to get bottom of the barrel! Alex

 

[japancool]

We only used it at the start, not anymore, if that is a dig at us? But yes I agree if you do not pay a great rate you are going to get bottom of the barrel! Alex

No, it wasn't a dig at you. It's my experience of freelancing on Upwork. People wanting work done for a hundred dollars that they would have paid four or five times as much for if they'd approached a developer firm.

 

[Kerwin]

Well, I certainly do have a limited budget for things. I guess the definition of peanuts depends on the person who is getting paid. If someone offered to pay me £50 an hour, I'd be thrilled.

 

[japancool]

If you asked me to write you a customised inventory and invoice system for £100, I'd tell you to add a zero before I'd even talk to you.

But that's the sort of thing you get on Upwork.

 

[Kerwin]

If you asked me to write you a customised inventory and invoice system for £100, I'd tell you to add a zero before I'd even talk to you.

But that's the sort of thing you get on Upwork.

Ah, I see what you mean. OK, my bad.

 

[GraemeL]

Yes, I have used Upwork and have been really pleased. I have not a clue about website coding, so I needed basic help - such as 'move that word over to here' and 'add this theme' type stuff. Built up a relationship with one chap in India to the extent that I stopped getting quotes in advance, just told him what I wanted and he did it then charged me. It was super cheap and incredibly fast compared to UK based contractors.

My feeling is that it worked so well for me because I communicated exactly what I wanted, sending pictures and text so there was no doubt what the result should look like. It would not work if I had wanted vague things such as 'a more effective website', or something that wasn't crystal clear.

 

[antropy]

My feeling is that it worked so well for me because I communicated exactly what I wanted, sending pictures and text so there was no doubt what the result should look like

You also only wanted simple changes here and there, we have seen website builds by outsourced companies that have been train wrecks! Yes it might be cheap but then you have to pay more to fix all of the issues caused (usually because the outsourced company goes AWOL) and they come running to us proclaiming how they didn't see it coming. We always say 'buy cheap, buy again'. Alex