4 ms·
"Not in San Francisco" and "easy to exploit" are very different. I had great, professional work done in Russia on Upwork. It didn't cost $200 per hour, but it d
by fipple 8y ago
"Not in San Francisco" and "easy to exploit" are very different. I had great, professional work done in Russia on Upwork. It didn't cost $200 per hour, but it didn't cost $2 per hour either. The engineer who did the work was the vendor, and I was the client, so I was definitely the boss and treated as such, but he was clearly not hurting for work and if I started behaving inappropriately he could have easily dumped me and found another client. I don't know how far his salary went where he was living, but there are many places in this world where 20 US dollars per hour can sustain a very nice lifestyle.
- anoncoward111 8y ago20 US dollars per hour is already more than I make as a full-time SaaS salesman in New York City, and I'm not even hurting for cash either!
- jerry40 8y agoDo not forget about Upwork taxes: Specifically, Upwork charges the freelancer a fee of: 20% for the first $500 billed with the client. 10% for lifetime billings with the client between $500.01 and $10,000. 5% for lifetime billings with the client that exceed $10,000.
- anoncoward111 8y agoGod that's horrid. Not to mention the slew of taxes one pays by being a 1099 contractor. And it's not like the clients one attracts on Upwork are particularly good.
- austhrow743 8y agoAre you working constant 80 hour weeks? Is everyone lying about big city costs? Or do you consider 3 housemates and a 2 hour commute to be not hurting for cash? Something has to be up here.
- anoncoward111 8y ago40 hour weeks, 45 minutes to midtown one way. $20 pre tax pay, $15 post tax pay, roughly $2600 a month with even some shitty health benefits thrown in there. Monthly expenses: $1,000 on rent (splitting with girlfriend) $300 on train tickets $500 on food, phone, internet, entertainment I try to save about $1,000 every month, which is not very good. I could never dream to support a family or a mortgage like this, but at least I'm not struggling to make rent or going into debt. I live in an area that would be described as "tough", but statistically, I think we have one robbery every week and one murder every season. By NYC standards, that's very safe :)
- jerry40 8y agoIt is risky to dump a client since the client can easily spoil your rating on Upwork.
- alihan 8y agoAlways looking for recommended devs on Upwork. What was their expertise and do you have their contact details?