Elancer/ Script Lancer

[design@ews]

Does anyone have any experience using these services (or similar) and what did you think of them?

I am looking to try and get a few contracts from these services to try and update our portfolio but really don't want to get screwed as regards payment.

Thanks

 

[MichaelG]

I have used http://www.smarterwork.com/ before - they are good and they pay.

 

[Deleted member 3454]

I have used http://www.smarterwork.com/ before - they are good and they pay.

But they aren't taking on service providers at the moment, and haven't been for some time.

 

Do you mean Elance? I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole! I joined a few months ago and 'won' a couple of projects, but had placed competitive bids and wound up working for almost nothing. People who seek service providers on there (I think) simply seek out the lowest price without considering whether the writer/programmer/designer is right for their needs - which devalues the providers.

Also, a guy in the US (for whom I provided copy) screwed me over. He accused me of all kinds of things, then re-wrote my copy and refused to pay....... I just feel that Elance encourages people to view creative work as a commodity and not a joint project, which it really should be.

 

[MorethanWords]

I agree. So many of the bids you see on there offer peanuts pay. I personally would rather get paid what I'm worth and have fewer clients.

I've seen projects offered for £15 for 1000 word feature - which is absolutely criminal.

 

[DeveloperBloke]

unless you live in india, or can get the work done in india for peanuts, then elance is not profitable

 

[billhilton]

My experience has been slightly different, though I can appreciate the points made above. Also, I can only really speak with any sort of experience on the writing and translation section of Elance.

If you're careful, you can get work from Elance. Experienced buyers realise that this is one area where Asian offshore providers struggle to compete with western English speakers - because they can only very rarely manage a contemporary idiom. Indian English, in particular, has a very "fifties" flavour to it which can be a grate.

That hasn't stopped a lot of subcontinental providers signing up - presumably because they've seen their programming compatriots offer such superb service and do so well. One or two non-native English speakers have even taken to disguising themselves with US or UK addresses and western names.

So, as I've said, many buyers are wise to this, and also wise to the number of people on Elance who are simply no good. I've picked up around a dozen reasonable projects from Elance, mostly website rewrites. The trick is to bid only on projects where the buyer has good feedback and good experience. Also, leave SEO projects well alone. Quality of English often doesn't matter on these, so bid prices can be astonishingly low. Go for the projects that can only be done by someone who has been born into western culture.

Also, talk to buyers before you bid using the Elance PMB - it's a great way of sorting the good ones from the nutters, of whom, as Copyqueen as found, there are a few.

I've actually done some work for Elance itself. The people in charge there are well aware of the problems. While they're unwilling to impose quality control on Elance Marketplace (they make money hand over fist out of it) they have set up Elance Agency, which is supposed to offer services at set prices from approved providers - though as far as I can see it hasn't really taken off as they'd hoped.

 

[Coding Monkey]

Interesting, Bill.

I've never joined up to any of these networks because of the price issue. Some of my favourite online forums are programming based, where you can hire developers and the prices sent out at about $20 for something that would take a day to do.

I consider value to be the most important part of business now. Perhaps it's because it's the way my business operates, but it means I look for those with any sign of value to be more important than the price.

 

[tommy]

I have used scriptlance.com to get quite a bit of freelance work done through there.

I have built up a lot of contacts both in India and USA for my work.

But I do say in my T&C's, that I dont pay the first 10-15% until I am happy with the first draft work. This just covers my own back and then pay a percentage when finished and then the last percentage 1 month later incase of any bugs found in the product.

 

[jmds]

This is just a plug. I have just setup a new freelance developer website.

 

[Eagle]

Bidding for work just blows, big time.

Unless you're prepared to compete with kids that will do the work (often badly) for $5 then I wouldn't bother.