Lately, people have been including things like "will only pay $120 for this project" or "pay rate is $0.10 per word." This would be great if the employers were honest. The problem is that I have found many of these projects to be a bait and switch scheme. You see, the prices they are offering are decent. Now, some freelancers (especially ones who are newer or not as good) will accept any pay rate. They will bid on any job. You may end up with a poorly written, poorly researched manuscript that will need tons of excess money to fix, but you save a buck up front.
Then there are the middling freelancers like me, who charge a moderate rate, but struggle to get people on freelancing websites to pay more than that. We care about our work, but live hand to mouth. Every bid we submit takes time, so we try our best to submit bids that are for projects with a good fit.
Then you have the people who make big bucks. These people choose only the jobs where they can get top dollar, they are professionals at not only writing but also marketing themselves. They have no problems asking every employer for positive feedback, testimony, and referrals from others in their business.
None of the big bucks guys would bid on one of these people offering moderate pay. But those in the middle do, and usually bid for exactly what they stated they were willing to pay. The problem is that these people really do not want to pay that amount. I have bid for it, and then the employer contacts me and asks me if I am willing to accept something "more reasonable" as pay. What? Um, I asked for something reasonable and if you didn't want to pay it, you shouldn't have put it in your post.
Ironically, most of these employers seem to have forgotten that they were offering that much. Did they simply cut and paste someone else's post? I have no clue, but it is getting to the point where I am going to begin ignoring posts that contain a specific dollar amount.
These employers are wasting my time and theirs. My time filling out a bid and responding to their demand to come down. In most cases, the decent pay seals the decision to bid. But they are also wasting their time. They have to read my bid, and then try to finagle me down.
So let's give these employers the benefit of the doubt: what if I bid and another good freelancer bid and both of us used the same final amount. The employer decides that whomever he can get the project from for the lower amount will have the project. The problem is that trying to haggle two equal freelancers lower is not going to help your project. Some freelancers will work for lower just to have work, but the problem is that when you are being underpaid it is very difficult to do your best. There are many other things that should help you decide which one to choose--check their samples and see who has ones that are closest to the project. Or, choose the one with work you personally like best. It would even be better to flip a coin.
But the fact of the matter is that these employers are not hiring anyone. They probably lost their best prospects by trying to haggle them down. Do if you are posting a job and you want to add how much you are going to pay (something that is fine to do as long as you will really pay it), then just remember how much you said you would pay and don't argue with a freelancer who says they will work for that much.
P.S. This seems to just be a newer fad. I have had people hire me in the past for what they posted in the project listing.
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