Showerthought: People keep bidding $5 on projects that take 3 hours

I was scrolling through a gig board yesterday and saw someone post a logo design job for $5. Three different people bid on it within 10 minutes. After doing taxes for a few freelancers, I know $5 after fees and time is literally less than minimum wage. Why are we racing to the bottom like this when a decent fast food meal costs more? Has anyone actually made a living off those super low bids or is it just burning time?

3 comments

3 Comments

flores.mark16d ago

My cousin tried the whole $5 logo thing for a month straight and made exactly $120 before giving up. He spent more on coffee fueling those late nights than he actually took home. I remember him telling me one client asked for 14 revisions on a $5 cartoon fish logo for their bait shop. Does anyone actually respect their own time when they bid that low?

mitchell.avery15d ago

Did @flores.mark's cousin ever try setting limits before they drained his soul?

michael_williams15d ago

That client asking for 14 revisions on a $5 fish logo is exactly the problem. Nobody hiring at that price respects the work, and honestly, the designer isn't respecting themselves either by accepting it. But here's what I always wonder about these low budget gigs - did your cousin ever compare how many hours he actually worked against what he earned per hour? Because I'd bet that $120 probably breaks down to like $1.50 an hour after all those revisions and the time spent just talking to people. It seems like the only way any of this works is if you treat it like a volume game where you spend maybe 10 minutes per logo and never ever accept revisions. But that feels impossible when the client thinks they own your soul for five bucks.