The Importance Of Quoting Realistically On Freelance Job Sites

It is really very unfortunate that I see a lot of freelancers on freelance job sites, quoting completely unrealistic amounts, simply because they want to bag the jobs posted there at any cost, even though they know that the amount they have quoted is not in line with the time and effort that it will take them to actually complete the job.
This is in many ways a very dangerous trend, if I can use such an extreme word, since it creates a false impression in the minds of clients on these freelance sites, who end up assuming that they can get away with just about any budgetary expectation, no matter how far-fetched it may be.
As a hardworking freelancer it is your duty to make sure that you quote realistically, based on a number of factors such as the market you work in, your cost of living, the kind of rate that you have worked at in the past, and so on.
So for instance, if you quote $50 for a job which you know is worth at least $200, with the additional knowledge that you have a $100 payment coming up at the same time when the $50 for this job will get credited to your checking account, clearly you are being outright foolish since the compensation you will receive will not even allow you to pay for an upcoming expense of a very small nature.
Remember that even if jobs on freelance sites seem to require no additional investment from your end as such, the time and the effort that you put in are both significant investments. Time in particular is a major investment since it is an aspect of life which will never come back to you once it is gone… think about today’s date and the achievements you have either made or not made within it. While you will get another chance to attain the objectives you failed to achieve, that particular date and the time you had on that day will never come back in your life again.
Thinking this way helps you to assign the much-needed premium value to time, whereby you in turn are motivated from within to quote realistically on freelance job sites. Unless you have a driving force within you that compels you to quote realistically, success in life in terms of quality compensation will probably continue to elude you for a long time to come.