Bad buyers or untrustworthy mediators?
There are many different opinions about outsourcing itself, its pros and cons and its consequences for the development of labor market. As for me, outsourcing is one of the best ways for buyers to get their work done properly saving quite a bit of money, while for different teleworkers to earn their living. The main problem seems to lie in the quality of services provided by different mediators. It’s the rules and conditions of their sites that allow both buyers and coders to cheat each other.
Very often mediators take money only for the fact that they help buyers and coders find each other and transfer money. But this scheme works only when both sides are honest and reliable.
Let’s talk about http://www.getafreelancer.com/, for instance. There is no obligatory escrow deposit on this side. Each time you have to discuss the conditions of payment by yourself and a buyer may answer: “I am sorry, I don’t do escrows” (by the way, it’s a real answer I’ve got recently). What does it mean? It means that when you decide to do some work without any escrow deposit, you should realize that you may never get your money at all.
There is no arbitration process as well. So you can apply to nowhere when you are dissatisfied with something: “According to our terms of service we do not arbitrate, but can give recommendations. If there’s a dispute it should be solved between buyer and provider.” So should I be happy while getting a piece of good advice instead of money?
June 13th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Hi - very interesting blog; I can sense some frustration about online marketplaces!
Just to let you know that we have very recently launched the first version of our marketplace www.PAperHour.com in case you are interested in trying it out; we are improving the site on a daily basis and do offer mandatory \’escrow\’ deposit for Buyers and arbitrate in case of any problems.
Hope you find it useful!