Does anybody please know anything about how www.Elance.com works?
By blimb
@grkelly (1206)
Malta
July 17, 2010 10:04am CST
I would appreciate if anyone who has worked on this site can give me a better idea on how it works because i am very inetersted. thanks in advance
4 responses
@jackall77 (41)
• United States
17 Jul 10
Sure! elance is a middleman connecting people that work from home with companies that want work done with little strings attached and usually for less than they could get in other places. This doesnt mean that you wont get paid well. On the contrary, you name your price and keep searching until you find someone willing to pay you what you deserve. In the meantime you make your profile look great showing all of your qualifications and you take tests or self rate your skills so that they can find you during searches in the areas of work you know how to do. It is a free service but if you want the opportunity to connect with more clients then you can pay a fee for more connects. My recomendation is to read everything you can get your hands on, they have a lot of information on it that helps you then go onto other profiles and look at how they have things done so that you can have a hint on how you should have yours. Good luck! :-)
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
18 Jul 10
Thank you for your reply. It helped boost my confidence in the site. I would like to give it a go. They seem to pay rather well. What is still not clear to me is the bidding system...for example they say 'less than $500 budget', so I may bid say that i will do the job for $300 in th hope that I get chosen right?
Also I have not yet understood the fees that are applicable. Even if you choose the free package, there are 6% service fees and some 2.75% credit card or paypal fees.... do you know how these get charged maybe from your own experience... ex. is it 6% for every job completed?
Thanks in advance for your time and help :)
@jackall77 (41)
• United States
18 Jul 10
Your right! 300 would be a good bet! I recomend that you bid low in the begining because they dont like approving those that have no income history with elance because it shows that you have no experience with it. But after you have a couple of bucks under your belt, feel free to up your fees!
I think the best way to calculate the fees are to think that its always 10% of all your earnings, meaning between the fee elance takes out and what paypal charges it will never be more than $1 of every 10 you make. Its actually less then that but its a good way to calculate it quickly when you are looking to break even on a job.
@RACNicole (13)
• United States
19 Jul 10
A few things about working through Elance:
1. You cannot make over 10 bids without paying subscription fees.
2. Arbitration can cost up to $133 when it's normally free at other services.
3. Arbitration can take up to 21 days and delay payment.
4. You'll have to work at least 80 hours before Elance will guarantee your payment(s).
@cheatedaphrodite (810)
• Philippines
17 Jul 10
Yeah, Elance is great and there are lots of works that are available or you can find here. All you need is to make your profile look good so buyers would be interested in hiring you. I actually have an account here and I am currently working with one buyer from this site and I am also working for another site better than Elance. Happy job hunting!
@grkelly (1206)
• Malta
18 Jul 10
Thanks for your comment. Would you be so kind as to explain to me regarding the fees applicable, because there is a 6% service fee and 2.75% cc/paypal fees... are these charged on each job/task completed?
Also, I think that the cheaper you try to bid the better right...the more probability you have to be selected for the job, especially once you are a newcomer.
@sjlskl (3382)
• Singapore
18 Jul 10
Elance function something like ebay where you have to auction(tender) for the job. The employer will then look through all the proposal before selecting a particular person for the job. I have tried bidding quite a number of jobs without much success. I have given up since.
