[gregjor]

In any market, competition gets most fierce at the bottom. Upwork and Fiverr and so on sit at the bottom for the majority of freelancers using them. Those platforms encourage bidding prices down, competing against hundreds or thousands of people who can live on small money, terrible clients who expect something for nothing, and then taking a big cut off your earnings.

Instead of looking to reform or replace those platforms, or persuade the world to pay more, find your own clients and charge according to the value you add. Get off the low-end piecework treadmill. Plenty of freelancers make good money and maintain long-term relationships with customers who pay on time.