Comments on: ELance Debate (Continued)

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:48:00 +0000

Jennifer, it's always been my worry that I'd pay yet another premium (and now it sounds like a higher, more complicated one) and get access to just one more load of crap jobs. That ELance has a bid minimum is good, but that the employers are successful circumventing them bugs me.

I appreciate very much your firsthand experience you've shared here! It's now easier, thanks to you, Kathy and Devon, for folks to make more informed choices in where they locate work.

By: Devon Ellington

Devon Ellington — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:36:00 +0000

There's no reason to pay for listings when, with a little bit of creativity, you can not only find listings on your own, but create jobs with the companies for whom you'd like to work.

I'm not interesting in boring corporate crap. I create my own niches with companies that intrigue me.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:19:00 +0000

I think that these sites are constantly in danger of being overrun by bottom feeders–both buyers and sellers. The changes on Elance seem to be an attempt to screen this out as much as possible by raising the cost of doing business there. The thing is that the cost of doing business on Elance was already high, and there were still low-paying jobs and people willing to take those jobs. I think careful policing and regulation is probably a better solution than raising prices past sustainable levels for legit small businesses. Elance does have bid minimums, but they’re not very well enforced and buyers can get around them easily by posting for “bulk” work that pays a very small per-word or per-article price.