If you’re reading this, chances are you’re an Upwork freelancer. And if that’s the case, I have some bad news for you: your job is in danger. There are a number of reasons why, but it all comes down to one thing: Upwork permanent bans.
If you haven’t heard, there has been a massive influx of freelancers on the platform recently due to its ever-increasing popularity as a go-to source for finding work online. This resulted in a major spike in user countand with that came an increase in competition and unfairness among both clients and workers (to be discussed later).
As such, many people have been banned from using Upwork permanently without cause or warning and it’s only getting worse every day. Rather than sit back and let these bans happen without trying anything about them (like most others), I decided I’d take action by writing this article and spreading awareness about the issue so people know what they’re up against when dealing with Upwork permanently bans like mine.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Understand the potential risks and consequences of permanent bans on Upwork. |
| 2. Maintain a clear understanding of Upwork’s terms of service and policies to avoid violations. |
| 3. Keep your account in good standing by following Upwork’s guidelines and rules. |
| 4. Be cautious of engaging in prohibited activities or behaviors that could lead to a permanent ban. |
| 5. Regularly monitor your account activity and address any issues promptly to avoid escalating consequences. |
| 6. Seek professional advice or guidance if you have concerns or questions about Upwork’s policies. |
| 7. Maintain professionalism and integrity in your interactions with clients and Upwork support. |
| 8. Consider diversifying your freelance platforms to mitigate the impact of potential permanent bans. |
| 9. Stay informed about changes in Upwork’s policies and updates to ensure compliance. |
| 10. Learn from the experiences of others and take proactive measures to protect your Upwork account. |
1. Upwork Has A Right To Do Whatever They Want
Upwork is a private company. They can ban you for any reason, including for no reason at all. The fact that they are licensed by your country’s government does not mean that they must follow any of your laws. If a country has licensing requirements, then Upwork is likely compliant with them (or will be shortly after launch).
But even if Upwork were legally obligated to follow local laws regarding employment practices and discrimination, it wouldn’t matter because these laws don’t apply to them anyway: Upwork is not an employer; they’re just an online marketplace where employers hire workers through specific contracts with those workers’ credentials (e-mail addresses).
Which means any discrimination claims would have nothing to do with federal law or state law; they’re just contractual agreements between two parties who aren’t employees of each other.
Upwork may ban you from using their platform forever. You’ll be unable to access your account, any jobs that you were working on, or any of your client information. As a result, many freelancers lose all of their clients and have to start over from scratch.
If you get banned for violating Upwork policies or for poor performance as an employee (or even if the client simply doesn’t want to work with you anymore), it can ruin your reputation as a freelancer and even make it difficult to find another job in the future.
Your reputation is on the line every time you accept a new job; if you are not careful about who hires you and why they decide not to use your services again after one project is finished, then it could be very difficult for anyone else in the industry to trust what kind of work ethic they can expect from someone who has been banned twice before!
Building a successful freelance career starts with creating an impressive profile. Learn how to make an Upwork profile that attracts clients and showcases your skills by following our comprehensive guide on How to Make an Upwork Profile That Gets You Clients.
3. First Offense Bans Are Permanent
With Upwork’s first offense bans, you don’t have to do anything wrong. You can have a clean record and still be banned permanently from using the site. You might think that Upwork would give you some kind of warning before they ban you for life.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case at all the company has no obligation to tell you why they’ve decided to terminate your account. It doesn’t matter if you’re an employer or employee; if your eligibility is in question or not verified by Upwork, then it’s all over. You’ll get an email saying that your account has been “permanently suspended” and there’s nothing more to be said about it.
If this happens to you as an employer OR employee (or both), then all of the money paid out will simply disappear into thin air: gone forever!
4. You Can’t Appeal Your Ban
This is a really important point. If you’ve been banned from Upwork, there’s no going back. Your account will be permanently closed and all the information stored within it erased forever you won’t even be able to access your profile page for reference purposes later on.
Even if the reason for your temporary or permanent ban isn’t clear, Upwork has made it clear that there are no appeals allowed in this regard: “To protect our freelancers and clients, we don’t allow any appeals once a decision has been made.”
Are you wondering why your Upwork account got suspended? Our article on Why Your Upwork Account Was Suspended provides insights into the common reasons behind account suspensions and offers tips to prevent such issues in the future.
5. You’ll Never Make The Same Kind Of Money Again
If your Upwork account is permanently banned, you’ll lose all of your income. You’ll no longer be able to earn money on Upwork. You won’t be able to make the same kind of money again, because there’s no other freelancing platform like Upwork that allows you to connect with clients around the world.
Plus, when people find out that your account was banned from Upwork permanently, they may not want to work with you even if they don’t know why it happened! If this is happening right now and you’re thinking about switching jobs or careers entirely because of an Upwork ban, we’re here for you.
We understand how painful and stressful it can be when something unexpected happens in life; we write our articles based on our own experiences with losing everything overnight (and then finding happiness again).
6. It Will Be Embarrassing
It will be embarrassing. A permanent ban from Upwork is not something that should ever be taken lightly. It’s embarrassing to tell others you were permanently banned from Upwork and even more humiliating if they find out that it was for something ridiculous like not having a verified Paypal account or listing your hourly rate as $200 but charging clients $250 per hour.
You don’t want to spend time explaining why you were banned, especially if the reason is irrelevant to your skill level or work ethic. A permanent ban can also affect how others perceive you as an expert in your field: Clients who are looking at hiring someone new may wonder whether they’re dealing with a skilled professional or just a spammer who couldn’t follow basic instructions.
And let’s not forget about how awkward it will feel when telling family and friends about the ban you’ll have no choice but to explain why getting paid $1-$3 per hour instead of $15-$25 per hour isn’t worth risking being removed from Upwork permanently (which is what happened after my first suspension).
7. You Only Have Yourself To Blame
The reality is that you only have yourself to blame. You’re the one who violated the terms of service, you’re the one who gave Upwork a reason to ban you, and you’re the one who did something wrong.
Every single person caught in an Upwork permanent ban can point their finger at someone else and say “but it wasn’t me. And while that may be true on some level (you might have gotten hacked), it’s not going to get your account reinstated or help your case with Upwork.
The fact is that when an Upwork employee reviews your profile and sees evidence of activity they don’t like (whether or not it was
- yours) they’ll automatically assume that:
- You’re lying about being hacked/scammed/phished;
- Your account must have been compromised somehow;
- You were involved in some sort of shady scheme or fraudulent behavior which caused either yourself or someone else financial harm
Getting positive client reviews on Upwork can significantly boost your freelance career. Discover 27 sample messages to ask your clients for a review on Upwork in our comprehensive guide: 27 Sample Messages to Ask Your Clients for a Review on Upwork.
8. Clients Won’t Hire You Again
This is a big one. If a client sees that you’re banned, they won’t want to hire you again. They don’t want to take the risk of getting banned themselves, and they have other options for finding freelancers who aren’t banned or might not get banned in the future.
You’ll have to accept lower rates and longer deadlines if clients do decide to work with you after your ban kicks in it’s just not worth taking on any job that doesn’t pay well enough or allow enough time for it.
9. You’ll Have To Network More And Harder Than Ever Before
Freelancers often rely on word-of-mouth referrals to find new clients, but when you get banned from Upwork, no one else can recommend you for gigs.
As a result, it’s harder for you to gain new clients and build up your freelance business in the first place which means that unless you’re already well established on Upwork with a large portfolio of work (or if your name is Kim Kardashian), you probably won’t be able to make ends meet as an independent contractor until someone hires you again.
10. You’re Done With Free Trials
If you’re not yet a paying customer, it’s time to think about what happens when your free trial is up. If you’ve been using Upwork as a way to get more clients and make more money, then being banned from Upwork will probably put an end to that.
If you want to keep growing your company, then it may be time for some serious soul searching. This isn’t just about whether or not you can afford the fees; it’s also about who can afford them. If all of your clients have been on Upwork for years and aren’t interested in paying any other way than through this platform, then maybe it’s time to start looking at other jobs or businesses altogether.
You could try freelancing on another site like Fiverr or Guru where they don’t ban people as often (or at all), but even these sites tend towards banning users who don’t follow their rules too closely and who knows how long those sites will last?
11. Your Projects Will Take More Time Than You Think It Should Take
When you are banned, you will have to spend more time than expected on projects. This is because when a project is complete, the client needs to approve it. Even with some of the best reviews, it can take days or weeks before they get around to approving your work.
This means that if you are banned, there is no way for them to pay you until they do. Now let’s say you were making $20 an hour and had three other clients waiting on their projects from you well now that entire $100 has gone down the drain and it will be months before any of those clients pay up!
12. Your Projects Will Cost More Than You Expect Them To Cost
You will be paying for the cost of conversion. The more people you have to talk to in your target audience, the greater the risk that one of them will steer you wrong or try to scam you out of money. That’s why every client has a conversion cost associated with it.
And this number is going to go up as your business grows: You’ll have more people contacting you, so there’s more chance that someone from your target market who isn’t interested in what you do will contact you anyway and ask questions that are irrelevant or too vague (and therefore require additional time).
Conversion costs can also increase because there are limited resources available for customer support on Upwork compared with larger platforms like Facebook and Twitter; when two customers interact with each other over these platforms, they don’t incur any extra costs beyond their subscription fees (which usually aren’t very high).
But as soon as Noah started talking about how much he was going to pay me per hour on Upwork versus how much I would charge him if he hired me directly through my website instead (which is where he’d be able to take advantage of all my freebies).
We were hit by an unexpected wave of demand from potential clients who wanted us both on board but couldn’t afford both at once so now everyone else who wants our services have had their prices bumped up significantly. Yes, it’s great having such an enthusiastic fanbase behind us but sometimes those same fans can get carried away.
Writing effective proposals is essential for freelancers. If you want to learn how to structure your proposals to increase your chances of success, check out our guide on How to Structure a Proposal When Writing as a Freelancer for valuable tips and examples.
13. You May Lose A Client For Forever For Something That’s Not Even Your Fault Or Beyond Your Control
Having a client permanently banned from Upwork is no joke, and it’s not a problem most people will have to deal with. But what if you’re unlucky enough to be one of the few who does? You may lose a client forever for something that’s not even your fault or beyond your control.
What if the client doesn’t pay you? What if the client doesn’t like the work you’ve done? What if the client doesn’t want to work with you? Even worse, what if you can’t find a new job because all employers are scared away by this permanent ban on your Upwork profile?
14. If You Keep Violating The Terms Of Service, You Might Not Be Able To Get Another Job On Upwork At All Again
If you’re still not convinced, here’s a sobering thought: if you keep violating the terms of service, you might not be able to get another job on Upwork at all again. There’s no telling how long a ban could last but it’s easy to imagine that once you’re blacklisted by Upwork for good, it’ll be nearly impossible to find legitimate work again.
Curious about the freelance writing lifestyle? Get insights into the experiences of a full-time freelance writer by reading our article: What It’s Like Working Full-Time as a Freelance Writer. Explore the challenges and rewards of the freelance writing journey firsthand.
Final Thoughts
Upwork is a great place to find work. You can make a lot of money on Upwork if you’re willing to put in the necessary effort. Do your homework and research, put together a quality profile and act like an adult when you get hired for jobs (it’s hard, but it’s worth it).
The only real danger with Upwork is that it gives people too much leeway in terms of what they can get away with and then those people run into trouble down the road because their actions have been logged by Upwork’s system forever. That being said, just follow the rules and stay within legal bounds while working on Upwork and you should be fine!
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources that you may find helpful:
Fiverr Review: Read a comprehensive review of Fiverr, a popular freelancing platform, to gain insights into its features, pros, and cons.
UpWork Freelancing: Your Guide to Finding Remote Freelance Jobs: Take a Skillshare class that provides a detailed guide to finding remote freelance jobs on UpWork, offering valuable tips and strategies for success.
How I Made $4,000 in My First Month on Elance: Discover the personal journey and insights of a freelancer who made $4,000 in their first month on Elance (now Upwork), including tips and lessons learned.
People Also Ask
What Are The Rules On Upwork?
The “Rules” section of Upwork’s site contains a list of actions that can result in a user being banned from the platform. These include:
- Requesting payment outside of Upwork’s escrow system (when you’re hired by a client)
What Is The Best Way To Avoid Being Banned From Upwork Permanently?
Don’t do anything that could get you banned from the site! That means reading through each site’s terms and conditions before accepting any project offers and paying your freelancer on time (or at all).
If those rules seem unfair or unreasonable, look elsewhere because they exist for good reason they’re put in place so everyone can be treated fairly. Although there are some cases where Upwork will reverse its decision after reviewing appeals, these aren’t guaranteed wins. Keep this advice in mind when using any freelancing platform today it might just help keep your account secure!
How do I create a compelling Upwork profile?
To create a compelling Upwork profile, focus on showcasing your skills, experience, and expertise. Highlight your relevant work samples, provide a clear and concise overview of your services, and ensure your profile is complete and well-structured.
How can I improve my proposal acceptance rate on Upwork?
To improve your proposal acceptance rate on Upwork, tailor your proposals to each client’s specific needs, demonstrate your understanding of the project, and showcase your relevant experience. Craft personalized and persuasive proposals that clearly communicate the value you can bring to the client.
What are some effective strategies for finding freelance jobs on Upwork?
Effective strategies for finding freelance jobs on Upwork include optimizing your profile for relevant keywords, setting up job alerts, regularly browsing job postings, networking with clients and freelancers, and leveraging your existing connections.
How does Upwork handle payment and invoicing?
Upwork provides a secure payment system where clients deposit funds into escrow before a project begins. Freelancers can track their work using Upwork’s time tracker or submit manual hours. Once the project is complete, freelancers submit their work for review, and upon approval, funds are released by the client.
How do I handle client disputes or conflicts on Upwork?
In the case of client disputes or conflicts on Upwork, it is recommended to first try and resolve the issue through open and clear communication. If the situation cannot be resolved, Upwork provides a dispute resolution process where they mediate between the freelancer and the client to find a fair resolution.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.
