When you’re able to be first in line for projects you’re excited about, you’re more likely to land the work you want. With boosted proposals, you can bid additional Connects on your proposal, entering it into an auction for a boosted slot at the top of the client’s list.
With this feature, an auction is used to determine which proposals are boosted.
- Freelancers who bid the highest number of Connects will have their proposal in the top four slots, marked “Boosted,” with a blue lightning bolt.
- Proposals can be boosted until the auction closes, which happens seven days after the job is posted or when the client hires, whichever comes first.
- Find. You see a job post that is a great match for your skills and experience.
- Decide. If you really value the job, you can bid to boost your proposal. It’s always optional and clients will still receive your proposal if you don’t boost it. The bid table shows what other freelancers are bidding to help you decide.
- Bid. Set the maximum number of Connects you’re willing to spend to win one of the top spots as a boosted proposal. This bid cost will be in addition to the regular requirement of Connects to submit a proposal.
- See auction results. If you’ve bid more than other freelancers, we’ll highlight your proposal to the client by putting it in the top four slots and adding a “Boosted” icon with a blue lightning bolt. If you are outbid, the label and blue lightning bolt will be removed from your proposal and your proposal will be moved down the list.
The auction is closed after seven days or upon first hire, whichever comes first, and you can’t boost a proposal on the same job post after that.
When you boost a proposal, you are immediately charged the Connects needed to submit the proposal, plus the amount you bid to boost it. These will show up as two separate charges in your Connects History: the cost for the proposal and the cost to boost. When the auction closes, your full auction bid is refunded and you are charged the correct amount.
If you are in a boosted spot when the auction closes:
- You are charged the smallest bid among the top four spots. This means you pay the same amount of Connects that the last place bidder paid.
If you are not in a boosted spot when the auction closes:
- You’ll be refunded the full amount you boosted if you never occupied a boosted slot or if you occupied one, but did not receive any eligible interactions from the client while boosted.
- You’ll be charged exactly what you bid if your proposal occupied a boosted slot at some point and received an eligible interaction from the client while boosted.
Eligible interactions mean the client:
- Opened your proposal
- Sent you an offer
- Shortlisted your proposal
- Messaged you
- Archived your proposal
- Declined your proposal
Important: If you are owed a refund of Connects, you will be refunded for the entire amount you bid, then charged the correct amount. You can always check your Connects by going to Reports > Connects History.
Example: The proposal you’re interested in costs 6 Connects. You bid an additional 4 to boost.
It worked! You won the top spot in the auction and the client messages you. The smallest bid was only 2 Connects
You are only required to pay 2 Connects for the boost instead of 4. Your Connects history will show a charge of 6 (the proposal requirement), a charge of 4 (your boost), then a refund of 4 (your boost) and a charge of 2 (what you ended up owing).
| IF | THEN |
|---|---|
| You bid to boost your proposal, but it isn’t enough to make the top four boosted slots. | You are refunded the amount of Connects used to boost the proposal. Your proposal is still shown to the client, just not in the top four spots. |
| You bid enough Connects to earn a top spot and receive an eligible interaction but are knocked out of the top spots before the auction closes. | You are charged the full amount you bid, plus the amount to submit a proposal. Your proposal is still shown to the client after being knocked out of the top four spots. |
| You bid enough Connects to earn a top spot and don’t receive an eligible interaction, but are knocked out of the top spots before the auction closes. | You receive a refund for the Connects you used to boost the proposal, but are still charged for the amount to submit a proposal. Your proposal is still shown to the client after being knocked out of the top four spots. |
| You bid enough to earn a boosted spot in the list at auction close | Regardless of whether you had an eligible interaction, you will be charged the fourth place bid, meaning you will be refunded the difference in Connects (if any) between your bid and the fourth place bid. Your Connects charge shows up as a full refund of your original bid, then a charge of what you actually owe. |
- Find the Boost your proposal (optional) section at the bottom of your proposal. Note: You will not see this option on jobs whose auctions have already closed.
- Add the number of Connects you’d like to bid and select Boost
- Choose Send for (your total bid) Connects
To see if your proposal is still boosted:
- Go to Find Work and select Proposals
- View your submitted proposals
PRO TIP:
Make sure you’re confident about what you bid. If you withdraw your proposal after you bid with a boost, you can’t submit it again (with or without boosting). It’s also important to know that when you withdraw a proposal that you’ve boosted, we’ll remove your proposal from the client’s list, but auction charges will still be applied as if you had not withdrawn.
Note:
To help measure if the boosted proposals feature is helpful to users, a small number of job posts will be randomly selected as “boosted proposal placebo jobs.” This means that when freelancers boost their proposal, the client won’t receive any boosts on this job post and the freelancer’s Connects are not taken. Learn more about boosted proposal placebo auctions.
Frequently Asked Questions
All boosted proposal auctions run for up to seven days or until the client makes their first hire. If the auction is closed but the job is still open, then the boost option will not be available. You can still submit a proposal regularly.
Yes, the client will still receive your proposal to review. It just will appear in the list of proposals below the boosted proposals.
This is the total number of proposals that can be boosted for the job post. For example, there are four slots available, meaning the top four bidders at any time will appear at the top of the list.
If during the auction you are outbid, your proposal will no longer be shown as boosted (it will still be visible, just lower on the list). Also, if you are outbid and your boosted proposal didn’t lead to an eligible interaction, we’ll only charge you the standard number of Connects required to submit a proposal. If it led to an eligible interaction with the client while you were boosted, you will be charged the Connects you bid.
Eligible interactions include:
- The client opens your proposal
- The client sends an offer to you
- The client shortlists your proposal
- The client messages you
- The client archives your proposal
- The client declines your proposal
You will only be charged Connects if your proposal ends up in a boosted slot at the conclusion of the auction, or if the client interacts with your proposal during the auction process.
We will initially charge the amount of Connects that you bid plus the amount listed on the job post. Once the auction is closed (after seven days or after the first hire), we will issue any eligible refunds. Please allow 24 hours for refunds to appear in your Connects History.
Example 1:
A job post lists 4 Connects necessary to submit a proposal. You bid 5 additional Connects to boost your proposal to a promoted one, meaning you spent 9 Connects total. Unfortunately, you don’t win a promoted slot because others have bid more. We’ll refund the 5 additional Connects that you bid to boost your proposal, and the client will still receive your proposal (it just won’t be promoted). You’ll only pay 4 Connects, the original cost of the proposal. It will appear in your Connects History as a charge of 4 (required) and 5 (to boost), then a refund of 5.
Example 2:
You bid 10 Connects to boost your proposal and the next highest bids are 8, 7 and 6. All four of you will only pay 6 Connects to have your proposal promoted, meaning you’ll be refunded the extra Connects you bid (4). It will appear in your Connects History as a charge of 10 (to boost), then a refund of 10, then a charge of 6 (what you owed in the end).
Example 3:
A job needed 5 Connects to apply. You bid an additional 6 Connects to boost your proposal. Your boost was successful and resulted in a top spot where the client saw your proposal and sent you a message. Later, someone else outbid you, knocking you out of the boosted proposal spot. You’ll be charged the full amount of the job, plus the full amount you bid (totaling 11 Connects), because it led to an eligible interaction. It will display in your Connects History as a charge of 5 (required) and 6 (to boost).
We designed this feature to help you make the most out of your Connects. If you are owed a refund of Connects, you will be refunded for the entire amount you bid, then charged the correct amount. You can always check your Connects by going to Reports > Connects History.
Refunds are issued if:
- You didn’t bid enough to make the top four spots at all. You’ll be refunded the amount of Connects you boosted, but not the amount of Connects it cost to submit a proposal.
- You earned a boosted spot temporarily, but the client never interacted with your proposal and you were bumped out of the boosted spot before the auction closed. You’ll be refunded the amount of Connects you boosted, but not the amount of Connects it cost to submit a proposal.
- Your bid was above the fourth highest bidder. We’ll only charge you the lowest of the top four bidders and refund the rest. For example, you bid 10 Connects and the next highest bids are 8, 7 and 6. All four of you will only pay 6 Connects to have your proposal promoted. Your Connects refund will display as a refund of the full amount you bid to boost (10) and then a charge of what you owe in the end (6).
- You bid for a job that we end up removing due to a Terms of Service violation. You’ll be refunded both the boosted Connects and the cost of submitting the proposal.
Like with any auction, a high bid increases your chances to win. But it’s good to consider the value of the job to you, and carefully review the post to make sure you are a great match. Only bid as many Connects as you are comfortable spending.
Yes. We’ve included a note that is visible to clients so they know freelancers use additional Connects to have their proposal in a top spot with the “Boosted” icon.
If your bid is high enough and your proposal is boosted to a top spot, the client will see a blue lightning bolt icon with “Boosted” adjacent to your name. Your proposal will be in the top four proposals shown to the client.
Boosted proposals will be pinned to the top of the client’s Proposal Manager, meaning they see the boosted proposals first. All other proposals will be located below.
Boosted and unboosted proposals that are withdrawn are removed from the client’s list so they can no longer see them. If you withdraw a boosted proposal, you can’t submit it again (with or without boosting) and you will still be charged as if you had not withdrawn.
No, you’ll only be able to boost your proposal once for any particular job, even if you’re outbid. If you submit your proposal without boosting it, you won’t be able to boost it later.
You can see what others are currently bidding in real-time with the bid table. The refresh button will refresh the table and let you see if any new bids have been successsfully placed.
When two bids come in at the same amount, the bid that came in first wins the higher spot.