I was reading this thread here http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=122708 That was like deja-vu. Sometimes, I get clients who have been ripped off by some shady seo or linkbuilde andr on one or the other job sites, even though the reputed ones like rentacoder etc. has escrow features. Here is what happens. The buyer needs to get a job done. He puts up his job, along with the various conditions and selects a very low or low budget. The really capable and honest service providers, see the posting, check out the conditions and the budget, and it seems way low to them and they dont bother. In comes a scammer, sees the posting, thinks he has othing to lose and posts a ridiculously low bid. If the buyer falls for it, he tries to convince the buyer to send some upfront money, bypassing the escrow features of the job site. The buyer agrees and sends a part or the whole amount to the scammer and he gets ripped off straight away. Another scenario, a service provider sees the job listing, bids low, and convinces the buyer to send some upfront money bypassing the escrow features. The service provider starts the job but half away through the work he realises that he bid too low for it, and stops working on the project. In effect ripping the buyer. How to protect yourself. The best way to protect yourself is to do some market research, try to find out how much the job is likely going to cost. If you are going to outsource it to india, romania etc deduct 30% of whatever it costs in the USA, UK, Canada et al. Set the amount as your budget and than put up your project listing. Do not set any stringent pre-conditions, try to attract bids from good service providers, they will give you a very good idea of the criterias required. How to identify good and honest service providers. Almost all of the reputed freelance job sites provide some kind of rating mechanism, through which buyers can rate providers and vice versa. Look for atleast a 8/10 rating, read their past reviews. Also many times, I have found that there are new providers who are really good but donot have any rating. Here you have to judge for yourself. Ask them for proof of past works done, references etc. Donot hesitate, its your money on the table, not theirs. What to do, if a seemingly good and honest service provider asks for some advance. First verify their past works and credentials. Asks for their name, phone number, office address. Never send money through western union or some such thing, always insists on paying directly to their company bank account. If they are good, they are likely have a registered company. Ask them for a sample job (link building, in this case) first. And once you are satisfied with that, you can send them some advance. But it is best not to send the complete amount. How do I know all these ? I frequently buy services on job sites like rentacoder, scriptlance etc. And I speak from experience. I was also a freelancer way back in 2000 and now own a respectable company with 42 employees, providing SEO services. I think, it will also be a nice addition, if I post, the actual criterias a buyer should look for in their link campaigns, before buying a link building services. I mean "no links below PR4" kind of conditions are really dorky, and doesnot help much AFAIK. Or ambiguous conditions like "links only from related sites" for that matter.
So true. I will not say here, that I have rating on RAC something about 10/10, a little more than 100 rated jobs , more than 140 overall and cause of that bidding only on decent project (I know average american prices so not going to be paid at least 60% of what they get paid, no reason to freelance then, and also if I work for 1/3 of what they get paid I steal job from them too, don't want that) . My clients after some stage of job make a deal to pay me without escrow, after job is done of course to avoid RAC fees P.S. Hope to establish SEO company in year, my russian comrad
well i'm a freelancer from Romania and even i have the best reviews at link building on a freelance site i always asck clients to put the money in escrow and i get payed at the end it seems very corect for evryoane . Regards
w3bmaster, yea, I see your rankings on GAF, pretty cool About escrow, I mean when I working with person something like 6 monthes, I split projects in small parts and he pays me directly, via RAC, but like a bonus, so without escrow. I got paid a little more in this case, I even ask some funds to recover freelancer sites fee, if you do a good job every time, there is almost no reason for client to do that small favor to you. It's really hard to find decent worker, they know it.