Freelance job marketplace sites.

Hi,
was wondering if anyone here used sites such as Elance to bid for freelance work.. if so, how'd it go?
Elance in particular seems a bit pricy and there doesn't seem to be many other reliable project bidding sites around. Is bidding for work online the way of the future?
Could there be a better business model than the one Elance uses to attract buyers and sellers?

cheers.

Hi Jonathon,

It's an interesting point and it's somthing I have looked at too. The site I have looked at are rentACoder.com and Bullhorn, but the general impression I got was that the bidding limits were so low that it just wouldn't make sense to take part... I get the feeling that these sites are used more by people who for some reason have to evade the 'main-stream' either because they can't get employment, or because they aren't allowed. The other likelyhood is that these jobs are picked up by individuals in, er, 'low-income geographies' (where $100 can amount to 6 months salary). Now that's a really bad thing to say, but looking at the $$sums offered by the clients, it looks like they are out on an exploitation mish.

Here is an example of a bid request released by RentACoder today - consider the size of the project and then look at what $$ they are offering.

But hey, I'm no freelancing guru, so maybe somebody else can paint a clearer picture of what's going on here!! I am also interested to see what this thread returns....

Hope your studies are going well

Christo



---------- excuze the big cuttenpaste-------

Project Type: Small Business Project ($100 - $500)

Max Bid: 250
Categories: C++ / C,Visual Basic,Network

Description: We are developing a high end Patient Information Management package for the Indian and Asian market. One of the value added services is an Instant Messenger client (currently written in VC++) that operates both in an intranet environment (ie Polyclinics with multiple physicians on the LAN) as well as with global intranet users at a specific domain (similar to the MSN network). Our portal 'indiahealth.com' is scheduled to go online in June. We have talked to a number of software outsource contractors who are only interested in charging us an exorbitant price for a rather simple functionality. In addition to this we are implementing a 'digital conference room' which is basically an IRC server with limited and specific channels where doctors of various specialties can get together online and discuss academic and clinical topics. We need to write an IRC client that is highly specific and targets only our server. We have a running start in this endeavor, since we have acquired some freeware source code, which requires a great deal of customization. Our 11 member team is severely burdened by the current workload, and I am considering outsourcing the project. If you choose to, you would be responsible for accomplishing the following tasks: 1. Refine the Messenger and allow it to communicate with a server on the Internet to provide similar functionality as MSN Messenger: a. Contacts List (partially implemented - LAN only, Internet connectivity is a high priority) b. File Transfer (partially implemented - moderate priority) c. Voice Chat - (this is low priority but we have some source code) d. Proxy Support (allow the client to connect to the net from behind a firewall using SOCKS proxy v.5 - high priority) 2. Develop a server application to support the client (we don't really know where to start. Obviously we have to ensure robustness at high loads) 3. Develop and Customize an IRC client to communicate with our IRC server irc.umicorp.com (203.192.203.147 - not globally available) I must be honest and inform you in advance that your pay would not be significant, but definitely respectable and negotiable. Should the project meet with its expected level of success, your reward would reflect that. Let me know what you think. Sincerely, Dr. S.M. Udoshi CEO Udoshi Medical Informatics

Submitted on 3/3/2002 10:04:15 AM and accessed 59 times.

Bidding Ends: 3/14/2002 11:00:00 PM

Hi Chris,
I see what you mean about the "exploitation" part! $500 is a joke for that job!

I took a look around rentacoder .. even found web site jobs where the bids were $4 (four) !!
Lots of uni kids posting their school projects there too...
Elance seemed to have much more realistic bids, didn't see any job where the average bid was less than $500.. On the subject of low income geographies take a look at the top ten developers at rentacoder, 5 usa, 3 India, 1 Pakistan, 1 Greece... I suppose compared to the States and Europe even Australia can be defined as "low income" given the current exchange rate, perhaps our fiscal policy is good after all

cheers.

PS .. studies going well, start a course today which theorizes about the possible existence of intelligent life in outer space

Elance has a great system, I have been with them since they first opened their doors, yes you do get the low paid jobs but you also get the choice over whether you bid on them or not, and the idea behind the fee for using the service is to keep out college students trying to make a quick buck and lower the value of the service, which in my opinion works very well.

Just my tuppence worth.