This is how movie begins, with this great quote that makes you think a lot. The Big Short You’d be surprised how many successful freelancers who’ve spent years working on Upwork know little about their platform. Shocking Fact #1 - The Legal Catch-22 — Section 7 of Upwork’s Terms You are free to join, and you are free to say goodbye. This is what freelancing is supposed to be all about — freedom. Right again? Well, it turns out that there’s a catch — an Upwork legal catch. Plain and simple, you’re obliged to work exclusively on Upwork with all the clients you found there for a . What if I don’t want to wait for two years? I want to leave now. If my clients want to follow me, that’s their decision. What’s that got to do with me? minimum of two years So, I’m free to leave, but without my clients and contracts. In an ideal freelance world, my client or clients can be generous and offer to pay this opt-out fee. But, this isn’t going to be a gift, but rather an investment or better to say a loan. After my clients pay this money to Upwork, I will have to compensate them, this way or another. With my work, of course. Upwork made sure that I have a great working relationship with my clients in the future outside Upwork. Shocking Fact #2 - There Is A Black Market for Upwork Freelance Accounts It’s much easier than you think. You don’t even have to go to the Dark Web to get it done. It’s all there in plain sight on Google and Facebook. Try it for yourself. All you have to do is type one of these: “buy/sell Upwork account” or “buy/sell Fiverr account.” See what happens. Hey, you can even make demands! You can choose a new freelance account or a well-established one that has been around for some time. The more reviews it has — the more you’ll have to pay for it. Suit yourself! And, that’s not all freelance folks. It turned out that one of my readers was a controversial IT expert — a hacker. So, one day he approached me with He actually wanted to help me. How? an “indecent proposal.” Well, he offered to change my IP address and make it possible for me to appear as if I’m a freelance writer from the USA or the UK. You name a country, he can get you a flag for your freelance account. It goes without saying that as a “native speaker,” I would be able to charge more for my work. Of course, I said, thank you, but no thank you. Shocking Fact #3 - Freelancers Who Work On Small One-Time Projects Are Nothing More Than A Logistic Burden Look, I’m a freelance writer. I’m not a developer. I can only dream of clients who spend more than $10K on my projects. I write you the content for your website, and you’re gone. Unless you want some regular blog posts. Truth be told, I got some clients who made it possible for me to pay a 10% instead of a 20% fee. You can earn more than $500 per client to get into a 10% fee zone. But, the magical 5% fee was clearly reserved for freelance rock stars. OK, I get it. As a freelancer who works on small one-time projects, I’m nothing more than a logistic burden to Upwork. And this is . a price I have to pay to play Shocking Fact #4 - The Odds Are Mathematically and Statistically Never In Your Favor on Upwork Here's what you can find on the official Upwork website when you apply filters for selecting the freelancers ( , but I’m pretty sure things haven’t changed a lot in the meantime): it’s been a while since I took this screenshot I took the liberty to highlight some of the most indicative and confusing numbers, at the same time. See for yourself. Pay attention to the number of Upwork freelancers with "no earnings yet" and "any amount earned" against their colleagues who make $10K+. Shocking Fact #5 - There’s No Single Work-Related Thing You Can Do or Get for Free on Upwork Plain and simple, whether you are a freelancer or a client on Upwork, . If you want: there’s no single work-related activity you can do for free To bid (submit proposals) as a freelancer — you pay for every connect (bid) you use. To pay your freelancer as a client — you pay a processing fee for every payment you make. To access the additional perks as either client or freelancer — you pay a membership fee. Upwork charges you each step of your freelance way. Shocking Fact #6 - There Are Upwork Fake Review “Farms” C'mon guys, you can't be serious about it. No freelancer in his right mind would've invested money in buying Upwork reviews. Right? Well, all you have to do is to type “buy Upwork reviews,” and see for yourself what happens. I thought that this was a ridiculous thing to consider even for a minute. Then, the "Description" and "Additional Information" of the first website that sells reviews in plain sight caught my attention. As a writer, I can tell you, this is one hell of a good copy. Nicely written and structured. Straight to the point. These guys have worked out all possible scenarios. They have covered all reasonable questions. Again, . see for yourself Shocking Fact #7 - At One Point, Upwork Was Posting Fake Jobs to Keep Freelancers Bidding and Spending Money on Connects My fellow freelancers were the first to notice: Some of them even made screenshots of these fake job posts: Where’s these fake jobs? the proof that Upwork was behind Here it is: No need to zoom in on this official Upwork explanation, apology, and refund promise. I’m : quoting the most interesting parts We did review the jobs discussed on this thread and found that they were actually created as part of an outside course by a client teaching other clients how to use Upwork. They were posted as a "test job" The jobs have been taken down, however, we ran into issues with Connects being refunded for them. We have been working on a solution and will make sure the Connects are refunded by end of this week. I'd also like to reiterate that Upwork team doesn't post jobs on the marketplace without an intention to hire. That’s all freelance folks. Are you shocked by these shocking facts about Upwork? Ignorance isn't bliss; if you are an Upwork freelancer, check out what you missed. Also published here

This story contains new, firsthand information uncovered by the writer.

The writer is smart, but don't just like, take their word for it. #DoYourOwnResearch

The writer has or has previously had a business relationship with companies mentioned in this article.

Upwork

The writer was physically present in relevant location(s) to this story.

Writer, GoLancer, "Noonies2020" Award Winner

2021 - Critical Thinker of the Year

2022 - Critical Thinker of the Year

2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Amazon

2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - China

2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Elon Musk

2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Freelancing

2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Future Of Work

2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Gaming Industry

2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Internet Censorship

2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Microsoft

Follow me on Quora

Read My Book

2020 - The Most Controversial Writer of the Year

Nominated for 2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Elon Musk

Nominated for 2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Amazon

Nominated for 2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Gaming Industry

Nominated for 2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Future Of Work

Nominated for 2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Internet Censorship

Nominated for 2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Microsoft

Nominated for 2022 - HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - China

Nominated for 2022 - Critical Thinker of the Year

Hire Me

Buy My Book

Too Long; Didn't Read

Developers: Build Less. Deliver More. [Learn how]	

7 Most Shocking Facts About Upwork Most Freelancers Don't Know

Too Long; Didn't Read

People Mentioned

Nebojsa "Nesha" Todorovic

STORY’S CREDIBILITY

Original Reporting

DYOR

Associated Companies

On the Ground

About Author

TOPICS

Languages

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN...

7 Most Shocking Facts About Upwork Most Freelancers Don't Know

Too Long; Didn't Read

People Mentioned

STORY’S CREDIBILITY

Original Reporting

DYOR

Associated Companies

On the Ground

About Author

TOPICS

Languages

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN...

RELATED STORIES