Am I being unreasonable?

He is asking too much for what he's willing to pay.

However, you said you just looked over the project "again". Did you have the specifics before you agreed to take the job? If so, then I'd say stick to your agreement on this one -- but learn something for next time.

If he added requirements after you agreed; then that's a different story.

Rose

You are not being unreasonable if he did not mention how much he is willing to pay for the project before you agreed to do it.

But if he clearly stated how much he can afford to pay for articles and you accept the project anyways; that is a different story.

A lot of people don't realize that they need to pay more if they want quality.

You already agreed to it.

It's your fault, not his.

It would take me 2 hours to do the articles, just suck it up and raise your price on the next job.

I would just tell him it is not your specialty or the post didn't have enough info for you to realize that "additional research is needed" to produce the articles. If he would like you to write them still you will need some extra money for the time. It was not your fault the post didn't have full details of what he needed.

The fact that you would even consider writing so cheaply blows my mind.

How can you ever expect to make a living?

Likewise...

How can you ever expect to communicate the value you bring to a person's business (and their bottom line) - IF your perceived value is so low?

Something to think about.

I know a lot of article writers think $10 is pushing the boundaries of what people will pay.

However...

People will pay whatever you ask - when (and only when) you can fully articulate what your work will help them achieve.

In other words...

"Without me, you're leaving hundreds, thousands... even millions of dollars on the table."

Play a bigger game.

And leave the bottom feeding clients to people who don't know their worth.

Mark

Yes and no.

It's unreasonable for you to write at that rate.

It's not unreasonable to ask for more money.

Chances are you're going to get dropped. Look at it this way: you can spend your day writing about garage doors or take an hour to mow your neighbor's grass. Either way, you'll make about $20 for your time. I'd argue that the fringe benefits of mowing grass (exercise, fresh air) outweigh the benefits of hammering away at the keyboard.

Whether it's too specialized, I could write about anything if you paid me enough. Garage doors seems rather elementary. For $2.80, that's the kind of article that would look something like this...

"Unless you've been living under a rock, you're aware that garage doors come in all sorts of colors! While some garage owners prefer to paint their doors red, you'd be surprised how many paint theirs blue! The truth is it doesn't really matter... what matters is that you're happy with it!

When you decide to paint your garage door, you might have some questions. "What color will I choose? Does it match my house? What will my neighbors think?" If you want to come off as quiet and conservative, try egg-shell white! Looking to attract attention? Electric pink is sure to bring out the wild child in you! If you're feeling really crazy, buy several cans of paint and start splashing! After all, it's your garage and no one can tell you what to do with it!

When it comes to matching the color of your house, follow these steps:

1. Find a spot on your house that isn't seen very often.

2. Rip off a piece of siding.

3. Bring the piece of siding to the hardware store so they can match the color.

4. Let's get painting!

The truth is, it's not hard to color match. It just takes a bit of patience and an eye for detail!

Believe it or not, humans are social animals. We care about what others think! While painting a Star Wars battle scene on your garage door seems like a good idea, you might start a rivalry with your Trekkie neighbor. To avoid petty squabbles, choose neutral colors like white, beige, and cream. On the other hand, you don't want to come off as submissive. An angry red or threatening brown will be sure to scare off would-be burglars. Be careful with black! This might lead people to believe you worship Satan, inspiring the ire of local church groups.

Whether you paint your garage door white, black, or in between, what matters is that you like the color you choose. There's nothing worse than painting your garage door, staring at it listlessly, pining for what it is not. And remember: there's always turpentine."

I wrote that in about ten minutes on my lunch break. If you extend the contractions, you'll be able to pad the word count and sell it. I don't mind.

-Tim

A good reputation can very quickly be destroyed on the web, bad words can spread like wild fire. Its just one of those things in this case.

Not the end of the world, we have all done it, just try to spend some more time to assess the situation before agreeing to anything on your next project.

R.S

If you already had all of the information about the task before you took it on then I would say you should have known about it.

However, if the full description was delivered after you had agreed then that isn't fair on you.

Perhaps put this one down to experience.

Keep your word. Integrity is the most important.

You are being unreasonable if you agreed to those obligations.

If not, then you aren't.

Either way, if he can only afford to pay $3 per article, it's highly unlikely he'll be willing to pay more

I mean, did you agree last night to his terms? If so...yeah, you're being unreasonable.

Depends on what you agreed on. If you made the deal sound sweet by offering a low price then you should keep that deal. Even if you figured out that it's going to cost you in the long run. Sometimes taking a small loss, will save your reputation and will teach you a lesson in the long run.

Keep your word and protect your reputation

Next time be careful before accepting any project. I know friend writing blogs for $2.8 is really a waste of time. You have to bear a lot of pressure and have to websearch a lot to get the real content. In short, these article writing jobs on elance actually suck blood a lot

I don't think you are being unreasonable at all. There is certainly a limit when it comes to the quality that a certain level of pricing will give you. That should just be an expectation that the client has, and it's perfectly understandable for you to ask for more money for more highly researched content. As long as you do it tactfully there should hopefully be no issue.

If the quality of your articles are good then you are way under paid. If you are new to elance you may have to suck it up in exchange for a positive review. Positive review can go a long way to getting you more work that you can charge more for.

Ignore everyone who said you're not being unreasonable.

Heed the advice of everyone who said you should honor your
commitment and fulfill the order.

To that, I would add one more comment. DO NOT succumb
to the temptation to do a shoddy job because you don't think
it's worth your time. Do the absolute very best you can.

The measure of a man's character is the things he does when
he doesn't have to. Do the job right, walk away feeling good about
yourself, put the articles in your portfolio and use them as examples
of why you should be paid more by the next buyer.

Look at it this way... this buyer is paying you to build your portfolio.

It's all about attitude.

Just to let everyone know what I've done and let you know more about the situation I was in. We are under a current agreement for $3 per 500 word article. He messaged me at what was a reasonable time in the US, however here in the UK I was fast asleep. I replied the next morning explaining that I couldn't do it for that money etc. and said I'd still do 3x500 articles but that was it and I wasn't comfortable writing about them really. I don't know why I said earlier that I agreed on the night. I didn't. I still haven't got a reply. I'll do these to the best of my ability but I know NOTHING about this topic and he has a list of the areas I'm willing to write about. This wasn't one of them.

well, i will keep my word first i think , we r working in a "words" 50% virtual where words are precious. maybe you should be more clear about what was asking to be done before closing the deal at the curent price ?! keep up , but ask precisions regarding the demand . cheers

I think you should complete the job and then look at raising the price you charge.

Writing unique articles by hand are never usually worth the effort. You would spend around 20 minutes writing the actual article and another 5-10 minutes looking through it for improvements and spelling errors. So 30 minutes for an article and 2 in an hour which works out at $5.60(£3.65) an hour. Since you reside in the UK the minimum wage is £6.31 per hour, although this is not a proper job, even doing this part time isn't at all worth it. You may as well go to job center to find a proper job, even paying income tax is worth this low slave rate.

What you should be doing instead is looking into money making methods such as email marketing and using other people who would accept these rates to further your own gain!

If you are giving him good quality works, I don't feel that you are being unreasonable. In fact I feel that you should increase your price so that you will be able to price out those cheapo customers who are looking for $10 worth of values but only willing to pay $1 for it.

Unfortunately you've agreed to do it now so I'd just get on with it if I were you, just remember for next time that you need to up your prices.

See it as a lesson learned!

It was not your fault the post didn't have full details of what he needed.

In the end its your decision, changing your mind it happens.

It's not unreasonable. That is a ridiculously small amount of money. That being said, for me personally, I would probably just do them and make sure to not make the same mistake again. I, too, make the mistake often of thinking I can just bang something out and it's no biggie, only later to realize I am making about $1-$2 per hour for my work. But if I agree to it I do it because I said I would. Not sure if that is the right thing to do or if it is self sabotage but that's just me.

On a completely different note: even though clients send you requests for articles with lots of specifics -- doesn't mean it's always best to use them all. Not if the articles are for the end user.

If I were writing about garage doors I'd talk about what a relief it was to have a garage door that lifts easily and quietly, about how nice it makes the house look to get rid of the shabby, tacky garage door and replace it with a new one in a color that coordinates nicely with the house.

The specifics and mechanics would only be mentioned to support how it helps the customer. I say that because some of the information I received on my first articles was overwhelming -- but the truth is -- it would have been overwhelming to the reader, as well. This obviously isn't the case if you're writing for engineers, etc. But most homeowners want to hear that the garage doors will work well, look great, and last a long time.

Rose

Hello OP, with all of the above, it's whatever you want it to be. If you think you are being unreasonable then you are, if not, then you're not. If you can add value to your client then maybe you wouldn't be arguing about the price - what is certain, is the value of this experience certainly won't be forgotten. Only you know whether this task [event] is congruent with your beliefs - do what you have to do, learn from it, move on and be more wise the next time round. I'm sure that your integrity is much more important and valuable that a Fist full of Dollars! Good Luck.

Hi,
I totally agree with Rose. Good advice!
Geri Richmond

I think It's very unreasonable of your Client to expect you to write those articles for that very small amount of money!

Raise your Prices asap and don't ok any more requests until you are Compos Mentis!

This is a one-sided deal you got here. This is the worst case scenario that a writer would be in to think you are not fond of the things you write for the the number of words he require is no joke.

But since you agreed to do this, might as well accomplish it and learn from this experience.


Next time, evaluate yourself and put a price on your work (justifiable of course).