How to Protect Yourself as a Freelancer

If you’re considering submitting a project proposal on a job site like Elance.com, you might be feeling a little nervous. As an employee, it can be difficult to determine if a buyer is honest and will pay you for work that takes up a lot of your time. Learning how to view buyers on freelance sites will help you worry less about them.

Feedback

See what customers have to say. If he or she has used freelancers before, those freelancers can leave reviews about how quickly buyers pay for jobs and how well they communicate with them. Buyer feedback numbers are a good way to determine if you should work with them. Often buyers don’t have reviews, so you have to find other ways to view them. On the other hand, sites like Elance make it easy to find buyers who haven’t paid for projects in the past. They put a red cross next to the username for everyone to see.

Check out their Website for Directions

When project publishers create projects, they often leave their website URL as a guide. You can use it to learn more about your customers. Does the website look like the real website, with phone numbers, addresses and email addresses? Is there a buyer’s name on the website? Google that name and see what you find. If a scam report or suspicious result includes the name of the website or owner’s name, you may want to be careful.

Ask for Half Up Front or Escrow

If the buyer has nothing to hide but good intentions, he shouldn’t mind paying half upfront or entrusting the full cost to a trust company. In fact, this is recommended by most buyers to ensure that the terms are fair and that the item they are getting is of good quality. If a customer doesn’t want their money held or half-advanced, you probably don’t want to work with them.

Sample Customization

Be wary of buyers asking for completely custom samples, which they will keep to consider you for the job. It’s enough for him or her to look at your previous work and some of the projects you’ve worked on. Many posters create projects and request unique samples from each service provider. If 19 people bid, the customer only got 19 free items, so why pay for one item?

Conclusion

When working as a freelancer, it’s important to protect yourself and your work from dishonest buyers. Reviewing buyers on freelance sites can help you make better choices and reduce risk. Checking reviews, checking buyers’ sites, requesting prepayment or escrow, and carefully providing full custom samples will increase your chances of working with honest and legitimate clients.

FAQs

1. How important is feedback in evaluating buyers?

Feedback provides valuable insight into buyers’ previous interactions with Freelancers and the reliability of their payments.

2. Can buyers be trusted without any feedback?

While it’s more challenging to rate buyers without feedback, other methods like checking websites and asking for prepayment can help in this situation.

3. Why is it important to check buyer websites?

Checking a buyer’s website can reveal important information about their legitimacy, contact information, and potential red flags.

4. What is hosting and why is it recommended?

Escrow is a financial arrangement where payments are held by a third party until the project is completed. It ensures fairness and protects the interests of freelancers and buyers.

5. Why should freelancers be careful about providing fully customized samples?

Asking for fully customized samples without proper compensation can lead to exploitation, where customers are given free work with no intention of being hired.