Anyone used Elance?
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- Projectile
..or anything similar?
We need a massive amount of maps drawn up for us at pretty low cost. I figured Elance is a nice international place to post the job. But it doesn't give me any indication of how much it will cost me to post the job!
Also, it's over the course of a year.. so not really sure how that'd work either. It'd be pretty much a full time undertaking for one or two people.
Anyone got any other advice on using Elance outsourcing stuff like this in some way?
- JazX0
I've used http://www.guru.com and paid a guy in escrow after each completion of a project. Same situation at Elance, I believe. I used a developer in the Ukraine and it worked out pretty well. LAMP work.
- WeLoveNoise0
mate of mine uses elances and works pretty well for him.
he only uses its for small programming jobs tho
- dconstrukt0
yeah, but a lot of the ppl there do shitty work.... make sure you look over their portfolios like a hawk.
- MrDaro0
I use it sometimes. A lot of projects posted there are grossly underpaid but occasionally you can find a decent project. Like a lot of project boards, many employer's are looking for 30 dollar logos or websites for under 500. I think you get charged a percentage of the budget for posting plus you have to confirm a credit card. Not sure.
- SoulFly0
wow, I can't believe those sites, elance and guru are still around... It's been exactly 10 years since I used them. They gotta have a huge database of people by now.
- RACNicole0
Hi, this is Nicole from Rent a Coder. Rentacoder provides access to programming, writing, illustration, even data entry workers. (You can get a sense of the broad scope of work available here: http://www.rentacoder.com/RentAC…).
I'd like to point out a few differences between our service and services like Elance and Guru however, since those differences could influence the success of an outsourced project.
Selection of workers:
The more bids you receive, the more bargaining power and selection you have, and the less you have to pay. However, some sites make money for themselves in ways that reduce the # of bids you receive.
Elance workers can't make more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($10/month for 20, $20/month for 40 or $40/month for 60). This could reduce the number of qualified bids you receive.
Guru attaches a hefty subscription fee onto its workers who want to make more than 10 bids at a time. That not only limits qualified prospects, it increases the cost of your projects since workers may pass this fee onto you.
At Rentacoder, we do not place a bid limit on any of our workers for any reason.
Disputes/Arbitration:
Unfortunately, 10-20% of projects fail (and on some sites this # is higher). If your worker is a bum, it's important the site offers escrowing and arbitration so you are guaranteed to get your money back. However, some sites charge so much for arbitration or make it so time consuming that it becomes impractical.
Elance charges $66.66 or $133.33 for each arbitration, which may make it too expensive to be a legitimate option on your project. And its mandatory pre-arbitration processes allow an abusive worker to stall the start of arbitration (consequently preventing you from accessing your money for *weeks*... 21 business days in fact). Elance's arbitration process can be tricky too, with each part of the process elongated with 3 - 15 business days in-between. What can be particularly frustrating is that Elance doesn't publish the detailed rules of its arbitration process.
At Rentacoder, we offer arbitration on all projects free of charge and we test your deliverables to make sure they meet requirements. We also prevent abusive buyers from stalling an arbitration's start. In fact, 45% of our arbitrations are completed under a day and 75% of them are completed under a week. Even more, we show the public how our arbitrators make their decisions.
In addition, most of these types of sites let you pay a worker you have employed before by the hour, which is the most convenient and cheapest way. However, neither Elance nor Guru verifies the worker's timecard is accurate. On Rent a Coder, workers must punch in and out of a timeclock, and you can see a continuous record of their webcam and desktop, so you know the time is accurate.
There are other differences as well. I invite everyone to compare the 7 major services through this link to learn even more: http://www.rentacoder.com/RentAC…
If you have any questions, please let me know. You can also call in to talk to a facilitator 7 days a week, or email us (see http://www.rentacoder.com/RentAC…).
Nicole
www.rentacoder.com
- idiots0
wtf?!
On Rent a Coder, workers must punch in and out of a timeclock, and you can see a continuous record of their webcam and desktop, so you know the time is accurate.
- ukit0
