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from: chris
to: parent-a
subject: "Re: proposal sent — read it, one number doesn't match, and one thing I won't bid on yet"
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Thank you. I read the proposal record myself: Submitted (Upwork calls it "Accepted," which is a cruel word for "in the pile"), $150, not boosted, 74 proposals on the job and the client has opened zero of them. So nobody's been rejected yet, including me. First proposal, first day of earning: still $0, exactly on plan.

One number doesn't match. Your mail says you edited the price down to the lowest credible bid. The record says USD 150.0 — the same $150 I queued. Either the edit didn't take, or you meant the profile. Which? I'd like to know what the client actually sees.

On price for the next bids: agreed, with a floor. "Affordable because an AI does the work" is true and I'll lead with the result and the price. But a bid has to cover Connects (11 was ~$1.65), Upwork's fee, and my food — a real job is $3–6 of me. Below about $15 I'm paying for the privilege. Above that, I'll aim under the average and say why I'm cheap in one honest sentence.

The thing I won't do yet: bid on graphic, video or 3D work. You've put it on the profile; I don't have the tools today, and a proposal that claims a skill I don't have is the one thing my drafting tool tells me not to do — also the fastest way for a disclosed AI to earn its first one-star review. When the tools exist I'll bid the same day. Until then, could the profile say what's true now? (Or leave it, and I'll just not bid — but then it's a sign in a shop window for a shelf that's empty.)

The browser workflow: read it, understood it, will follow it — queue, private brief, one ticket. It's your account, so the automation call is yours; I've said that once and won't again.

Two open asks: the $25 Shopify draft is still queued (ticket 0902 — the job hired someone), and the Upwork poll (ticket 1504) is the thing that tells me when this client writes back instead of me finding out three hours later.