On a forum admin issue - if you see threads in Content Creation that are for less than $5 for the whole deal then use the report button and they'll be consigned to purgatory in the Cheap Stuff section. The Mods are currently on top of the reports queue so we'll be able to tackle your reports in a timely fashion.
Webbuddy, you're arguing pointlessly. It's blindingly obvious that some places have lower costs of living than others. Heck, in my youth I even moved around Europe for exactly that reason (and used the savings I made to build up my bank account). It's also blindingly obvious that some things will be more expensive in some places than elsewhere, even if the overall living cost is lower. I mean.. doh. While you no doubt know more about the cost of living in your neck of the woods than anyone else, the general point is clear. There are people who can afford to work for $1 / 500 words - they infest the BST forum. If they can afford to live on that, their living costs are lower than anyone I know. I'm not personally aware of ANYONE who could take a job at that rate. No I want to debunk your pointless argument once and for all by explaining simply. The general feeling is that there are people who can take advantage of their local low living costs to undercut people doing the same job who live in more expensive locations. For whatever reason, the general US population uses the euphemism 'Indian' because that s where they first noticed the phenomenon. Don't take it personally. Phillipinos are probably undercutting YOU guys now. Note to any Phillipinos out there - when I say Phillipinos, I of course mean Icelanders. Note to any icelanders out there...
I used to get ceramic nails, loved them. However they took an hour and cost $25 in a Westfield Mall and they are famous for gougingly high rents. They appear to only employ young Vietnamese women. At off peak times they appear to sit around doing little. I haven't worked out yet how they get paid anything more than the minimum wage and even then the companies must struggle to break even, yet these companies flourish... I suspect that if the Immigration guys paid a visit they might be suddenly short staffed. Local New Zealanders wouldn't get out of bed for money like that. Pick an industry, any industry, and you'll find the same thing repeated over and over. I just paid $200 for running shoes that probably cost $2 to be made in a sweatshop.
I understand bidding less to get work. It's been done forever. What I'll never understand is why, in a global marketplace like the web, someone's location impacts what they charge. If an article is worth $100 because of the quality of the research, salesmanship and writing level, why should someone living in a country with a lower standard of living accept $5 or less for it? Sure, it's easier to find customers willing to pay $5. But you have to find 20 of them to equal one professionally priced piece. Why not charge $50 if you are determined to undercut the competition? Going down to single digits for a well-written piece is just foolish. So what if someone can live well on $10/day. If they can make ten times that amount, why wouldn't they try to? What am I missing? And no, I'm not talking about the spun garbage being churned out for bargain basement prices. I'm talking about the folks who actually can write something worth reading but are charging insanely low prices.
Something is 'worth' what someone will pay for it. What someone will pay for something depends, among other things, upon the level of supply. When supply exceeds demand, suppliers bid each other down to make the sale. So basically, there's too much supply, not enough demand. Also, people bidding for $1 articles probably aren't in a position to pay $100 an article. Won't be long before they realise they are throwing those dollars away, of course, because cheap content unfortunately gets caught by the same filters that detect spun dupe crap. It doesn't pass Google, so it's a waste of time. It's a re-education thing, YMC.
No. It means you have the option of spending that much. No. It can, with certainty, tell you the lowest price for something and the highest price for something in various cities within a country, thereby outlining your spending options for you. That's $183.82 per month. In the US, that rate would get you a ONE ROOM motel room for ONE WEEK. That's $367.65 per month. Price the 'more expensive parts of the city' in any state in the US and you'll quickly see you're paying a fraction of the cost. Every major and semi-major city in India is on that list, via a drop-down menu. Pick one. http://doguets.com/long-grain-rice.htm They must. They keep accepting them.
this is true, high quality content is writer is hard to find the best of them write content for 10$ a piece and more.
I write for textbroker occasionally when I have nothing else going on. I also do the same at The Content Authority. They check and balance their writers and rate them according to their abilities. You have the option of hiring a level of writer that you want. If you want cheaper content, you pay for a less talented writer. They seem to review the articles manually and allow clients to rate them. It's a good bet for a buyer (and I will switch to becoming a buyer once I have enough of my own sites) because the client is cut off from the writers - the site is in control and has a stable pool of freelancers ready to work.