The bidding system - how to go about winning a research order?

This is a question for writers who have worked for services that use a bidding system.

1. So, I recently got an account on a certain website where you bid for customers' orders. I have only been Custom Writing for two-and-a-half months and for a very low income. How do I go about landing an order? There are at least 20 bids for every order, so, quite obviously, there is at least one established writer bidding for each order. Any experience-informed suggestions?

2. (related question from my writing colleague).

"I am working for a company that, according to my extensive research, is located in the US and not a scam. The issue is that I'm required to look at a project board and bid on the essays I'd like to write. I'm bidding what I believe are fairly standard rates for writers in the US (about $8 to $10 dollars per page for undergraduate work and $11 or $12 for graduate work), but only winning 1 in 10 of the projects. I'm writing less than 5 pages a week.

What is the best way to increase my success rate? Are my bids actually too high to win more work? I don't want to work for peanuts, but I need to win more projects. I've applied with, and been accepted by, several other companies, but they seem to have either no work, or what they do have isn't something I can write (e.g., an engineering dissertation).

FYI: English is my native language, I am a US citizen, and I have a master's degree in a social science field."

If your account has been set up recently you should focus on orders that are "easy" and are not due too soon.

If you've got a degree in the social sciences, I'd suggest you improve your present level of expertise - by trying to write in as many areas of social sciences as possible. It will also be appropriate to try your hands in other fields. However, you should work only on those projects you're sure you're good at.

Working with companies requires a lot of patience. The most important thing is your reputation. Once you develop it, client will come to you and your work will increase. However, if you are too worried to earn more at this stage, I am afraid to say that instead of the clients coming to you, you might be faced with a lot of revisions.

But how does that help?
Just in case you thought it, I was not implying that I'm a novice writer. So, complicated or urgent orders is not a problem.

Ok - I thought you are a newly set up writer at the company. I believe if you are a new writer, a company is not willing to give you a difficult and urgent order; they want to make sure you are capable of delivering an easy order first.

On the other hand, if there are 20 bids on a single order then it means there are not enough orders for every writer...

It is clear that the tenders will be managed very closely and have little information. I do not know much about this stuff but I have made ​​in the contractor's cousin.

Am I shooting myself in the foot by bidding too low?

Hi everyone. I did a search for other threads like this one but couldn't find any with the kind of information I'm looking for.

I am new to this business and I've been writing for a company which seems legitimate, as far as my experience and research show. Generally I've been bidding about $12 a page per project, and after several hours of research on a frustratingly vague assignment with no writing done, I'm starting to wonder if I'm undercharging. (There is also the possibility that I'm being too much of a perfectionist about writing these papers.) I have no idea how much this company charges customers or how much their other writers usually charge per page, and I'm afraid that if I raise my bids, they won't give me work anymore.

Any insights or advice from those of you who have been at this longer than I have? Thanks. :)

I would say that yes, you are bidding a little too low, but bids vary by company, by due-date, and also by order. I would advise against using a flat rate. Probably the best thing for you to do would be to nicely contact your company's reps and ask them if they think your bids are realistic. Good luck.

I am not sure about how it works at other companies but at the companies where I worked, bidding did not translate to the writer giving an amount for the order he wishes to take. In some instances, the bid just tells the company that you are interested in the topic and would like to be considered for it. It has nothing to do with your bid amount as the price has been preset for the order. Rather, it has everything to do with your qualifications like the length of time you have worked for the company, your reliability in submitting on time, your capacity to create repeat clients, and some other considerations. The company did try to have the writers submit price bids for a time but it did not work out and they reverted to the old "bidding" system. I would not bid too low for these papers though. If you can see what the other bids are on the paper, try to aim for a mid-range cost. That will probably give you a better chance because the client will still have to review your credentials before approving a winning bid and having the paper assigned.

Try to be the first bidder on the paper. Coming within the top 5 bidsmplacedngives you a better chance of being considered for the assignment. If you are the first bidder, then bid low enough so that nobody will want to bid below your quoted price. If there are already other bids, average the amount and use a mid range price for your bid. That way you give a fair bid for yourself and the student. Mid range bids tend to be considered more for the assignment than those priced too high or too low. The client still equates cost with quality hence the midrange preference.

The bidding system is like playing Russian Roulette. You never know when you will be assigned a paper to work on. There is no set formula for winning a bid. It all depends upon how the client will perceive your credentials when reading your bid. Are your skills aligned with the required writing skill of the paper? How long have you been working with the company? What is your approval rating like? These are all high considerations for the students who want a writer that they believe can deliver the requirements they are paying for.

I never wrote for any company that used a bidding system, but I imagine that the best and most experienced writers typically bid higher than the worst and least experienced writers. The implications for customers should be obvious.