Why is this? I can count 10+ writers off the top of my head who produced poor quality work for me and managed to have perfect itrader ratings. Itrader is worthless if you ask me. It is about time someone left negative feedback for bad writers.
Really sad to hear that Ray, but you can test a new writer by getting one or two write-ups initially. Relax!!! And about iTrader; well, did you leave any negative feedback for BAD writers? A writer may perform best in one niche and poor in other. Seems like you got a hold of wrong writers rather than bad who thought of trying their hand on your given topics. If they are having positive iTraders, they must be doing good for some if not all. On a friendly note, either go for referrals or try new writers with one or two articles in the beginning. All the best!
What is the point of getting writeups? They give you something thats not theirs, and the output is so ridiculously different ...
You mean; you ask them for unique work and they come up with something stolen? Writing bad and giving copied content are altogether different issues IMO Anyway, there are many providers who are tried by many buyers and proved excellent.
May be you should start it then maybe other's will follow . Itrade is helpful , but you shouldn't hire them just based on itrade . you should look at some other things too like - comments in his/her service thread. - his/her portfolio.
What's iTraders? As a writer, I've never heard of it. I had to go look it up just now. I wouldn't rely on rating systems. I've seen those rating systems on Guru and other job bidding sites. I don't really care for bidding like that, but the rating system doesn't leave room for people to give an honest opinion. Everyone tries to wait out the other, because each can give the other a poor review, whether it should have been or not. So if one gives a perfect positive, the other feels relieved and just gives the other guy a perfect positive, instead of a more accurate answer. You'll have to stand your ground. If it was poor quality, or stolen quality or whatever it is, you need to not pay for the work, and give a negative rating. Explain why you gave the rating, nicely, in the review part. On what Asterix said, ask to see a portfolio, but make sure you can track back and see if those pieces actually have that person's name on it published online. I've seen some people try to get away with stealing content for their portfolio, and no one checks. They don't have to have their name on every piece, but at least have one on a piece or two in what they show you. I tend to show off my magazine and newspaper articles even when I'm sending sample content, just because the articles have my name on it, they know I can write.
I still remember a funny yet weird situation when a provider tried to bribe me with 100 social bookmarks FREE for one of my websites and asked me to give him A+++ .. lol.... Honestly speaking, I preferred not to give any rating to giving him a negative one. Because I knew he DID work well for many and my negative feedback could spoil his repute. I simply DISCONTINUED! It is NOT tough at all to check whether the writer is bad or good. Mere 100 words written by him says all what he is up to.
It doesn't matter. They just make a new account and erase the one with any negative feedback whatsoever. Guys, seriously avoid those bidding sites unless you want crap. You CAN find a diamond in all that garbage but not until you have paid for and deleted tons of terrible "content". I had a lot of work once and hired a very nice lady from GAF to help me out. I sent her 20 examples of how I wanted some stuff formatted and she COULD NOT figure it out....then expected me to pay her for the 10 articles she sent me. She called me a thief and every name in the book. I told her I deleted her stuff and she was more than welcome to check. I encouraged her to post her articles on many other sites instead. The worst part is I see her on GAF a lot winning tons of jobs....what the hell....
Ray- I am sorry you received stolen content. I've been contracted by people here and did not even realize there was itrader until recently. Because I did not post a thread, I can't leave feedback for them. They haven't asked or worried about it. It was just something I thought I should do. It probably depends on what price range you're in as to the quality of work you receive. People who've done this a while have a track record you can find on the internet. too. People who dive in to make a quick buck don't. Perhaps you could ask for references? And boy, there are some seriously bad experiences you guys have had. One thing that might help is to be very clear up front. I am writing a "hiring article" for a new website. Once it's up and available, I'll post a link because it might help you figure out what things to ask so you find the right person.
Maybe I missed something, but I don't think the OP is talking about bidding sites like you're mentioning. They're talking about hiring writers on the forum - iTrader is the buyer/seller rating system here. And in that case, they can't just create a new account to erase negative ratings. We're pretty good at catching duplicate accounts and deleting them quickly.
Practically everyone will not leave negative feedback or call someone out due to the risk of "rocking the boat," or to appear like the bad guy on the block, while many will post positive feedback, but unfortunately most have poor taste and or are inexperienced. I don't know, but maybe this is what you are seeing??? Does, this make this iTrader "worthless"? *shrugs shoulders*
Oh! I assumed iTrader was a bidding site! Sorry about that. I'm new to these forums and haven't checked that area out yet! Thanks for the info so I don't sound like a total idiot haha.
I did not receive stolen content, I received content that was outrageously poor English. I don´t know how these poor DP writers manage to get the good itrader ratings they do. You never see a feedback that reads ¨poor grammar, terrible spelling - do not recommend¨ or something like that. It´s always ¨excellent writer - best of the best!¨or something. Reading the comments in their threads are worse. The writer I hired had tons of great comments, including from one guy that said he was the ¨best on DP¨yet he gave me this for writing: What is tattoo? A tattoo is a process by inserting an ink into your skin, and it is usually using noodle. Since thousands years, tattoo has been used for religious purpose. Nowadays, you can find tattoo comes in various shapes, depends on what type of image that we want to. Most people, especially Americans like to wear tattoo.
Ray, it looks as though you need to hire a native English writer; by co-incidence I've just published a pro-native-English-writing post on the site in my sig.
Well keep a few things in mind when looking at iTrader: 1. Many people won't give negative iTrader, because they're afraid the other person will give them a negative rating in return. They'd rather just not leave anything. 2. Many of the people here hiring these writers aren't native English speakers themselves, so they don't always know that the flow of the writing is terrible, grammar is atrocious, etc. They just know that they got a good deal, got the work on time, and that it includes the keyword phrases they requested. When hiring a writer from a site like DP, you have to look at more than that. Look at their own professional site (they really should have one, although some still don't). Look at their public portfolio, or request private portfolio pieces. Ideally, you want to look at published pieces on a client site with their byline (not available obviously if they're strictly a ghostwriter - that's why I tend to suggest writers publish bylined work for a content network, reputable niche site - like Work.com for business content writers, or guest posts on a reputable blog in their niche). This lets you know they're actually the writer (not just a copy/paste job into an email or PM). If they can't give you that, don't be afraid to ask for referrals to past clients. Then you can get that client's feedback and perhaps even view the specific work done for that client (letting you weigh their opinions versus the actual work done). The real benefit of looking at iTrader at all is to get a feel for who the writer has worked with. Do they seem to only do work for clients here who aren't native English speakers? (gives a new dimension to their reviews) Do they work with higher-profile / well-respected clients on the forum, or mostly new members? Sometimes the iTrader reviews will also even give you a rough idea of the type of project they've done, allowing you to see if the feedback is relevant to the job you're hiring for.
Why worry about i-trader? If I had received something like that I would not have accepted it. I don't think there is anything wrong with asking a writer to re-write or re-work something or letting them know that they are not suited for your needs.
This has to be true because a few days back I found a "trustedwriter" from India registered on those bidding places just the day after I signed up here and several other major forums. Of course I know I have not chosen a unique nick name, but it's irratating because I'm not from India, I never bid on such sites and trying to figure out what is him/her cooking backstage. Ray, it's really sad but Chillingbreeze's advice is fair when it comes to leave iTrader reputation, as you can also learn next time from everyone's suggestions posted here.
I feel for you Ray P. I got something very similar from GAF. The bidders name was bblacaba or something. Extremely nice person but the English was horrendous. She gave me 5 articles that I assumed I'd be able to use somehwere or pass on to a client I had with some touching up. It was easier for me to just rewrite them myself. Some of them end up being comedy pieces that belong on Engrish.com
Well, I think that you can pretty much find those who can't write with an email exchange. A halting style in an email is not a good sign. Neither is getting an emal with an overabundance of ....... and !!!!!!.