Five Things I Hate About Elance

Updated on: by Jess Weaver

Reasons I hate being a freelancer for ElanceElance was one of the first places I turned to when I started working from home as a freelancer. I landed a few gigs and even had a few long-term clients for about a year. However, just because something is good, doesn’t mean it will last forever.

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Elance has some great things going for it, but here are 5 things I cannot stand about Elance.

#1. Waiting for money

I’m not going to lie. I did a few social media updates and a blog post for a client and I’m still waiting on that money. This can be so very frustrating because I worked for that money and I want it now. Perhaps J.G. Wentworth can help me out. Just kidding. I’ll let you know when I’m 85 and Elance finally releases my money.

 

#2. Clients expect the world

No client on Elance (that I know of) wants to pay you what you’re worth. The quality of jobs have become very similar to oDesk. It’s amazing if you win a bid for a job and actually get paid what you’re worth. I’ve had to lower my overall price several times just to land a gig. That’s not cool!

 

#3. Foreign Jobs

There is SO much competition from foreign countries that landing a decent job on Elance can be really tough. This is one of my turn offs for oDesk as well. We literally cannot make $2 an hour in the United States in order to survive.

 

#4. The fees

I pay an extra $10 a month just so I can have extra “connects” to charge for jobs. In some instances, Elance charges me 4 “connect” just to apply for one job. If you see a job you’re qualified for, but are out of connects, then you’re out of luck. There is also a substantial fee to get paid through Elance.

 

#5. Feedback is bull

I have bent over backwards for several clients on Elance and only got 4/5 stars. Why is this so bad? Clients want to see that you have a five star rating. I mean, think about it. You would want to hire a freelancer with a 5 star rating over one who has 4 stars. The rating system on Elance is confusing, which results in clients perhaps giving you a lesser amount of stars than you deserve.

 

There I’ve said it. I’ve said five things I h-a-t-e about Elance. Of course, there are things I love too, which is why I continue to use it.

What are some things you hate about Elance or oDesk? Let us hear it. We’re all ears.

 

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Rebecca

July 11, 2015 at 6:27 pm

I agree…i went to Elance after seeing on Pinterest how you could make $2000 at least a month, but all I found was like this article listed Foreign jobs, and low,low, pay…some even say “unsure” as to how much they will pay you…I think perhaps the writers of these blogs stating how you can make a living on Elance are not posting real actual experience…If someone else has info to the contrary, please let me know, cause I would love to know if there’s really a way for a complete newbie to make a living on Elance.