I don't use them much, although I have a few great clients from PPH.

What never stop to amaze me is ads like this one http://www.peopleperhour.com/job/custom-ecommerce-website-229695

 

And a few people have bid, that is the trouble.

 

What the ****?

£300 and 3 days.

 

It would take more than 3 days to properly plan that job...

Just submitted my proposal. I feel it can be done in half the time and half the money. I mean, how difficult can it be to create a FULLY INTEGRATED ADMIN AREA. USER FRIENDLY (it's in uppercase as that's how to sell a project to a designer/developer) for example? I could go on being sarcastic but the tone is wasted on the internet...

 

One of the big concerns here is, as Teodora has stated, people are bidding on it. It's a shame as there might be quite a few genuine people with talent bidding who need the exposure but they're getting shafted, in my opinion.

 

@MMMedia - it's actually $300, so £198 for 3 days - "bargain"

I like the ones where they ask for all of the above plus an AWARD WINNING logo. Seriously, what planet do these people live on??

@MMMedia, yes, that's what I was thinking, when I red it - the whole planning and research will take more than that. Also if you notice (and this is one of my favourites), their requirements are within the lines of ''Make me a site like this''.

 

@4li4s well, yes, I could probably do it tonight lol just need to press a few buttons, that's all, how long would it take?

 

There are quite a few ads on PPH like this one, maybe 90%, good jobs are very few.

Elance is terrible for this... there are tons of job postings listed as "less than $10/hour" or "Under $200" for huge projects with tight deadlines. The job poster also always seems really confident in ideas of replicating social networks, I have the next facebook, I need a site exactly like Youtube but better, this e-commerce site will be huge, it's going to be the next big thing! But I'm only paying you $200. Oh, and I need it tomorrow. Web design doesn't take very long anyways, and you'll get a tonne of referalls from me if you do a good job.

 

I don't think a lot of people understand the value of website design and development, and the work that goes into it, which can be frusturating. Don't even bother with those clients.

@Teodora - I've never used the site before but if 90% or so are similar to this, then I understand why! I had a look at Elance, but the amount of people that outbid quality designers and developers who just seem to be on a conveyor belt, is unreal.

 

Great comments, wellerweb It makes sense not to deal with those type of clients in the first place. Unless they genuinely are people like Mark Zuckerberg or Matt Mullenweg. Damn. I wished I replied to that email now

In regards to out-bidders, this is why I really don't spend much time on Elance. I haven't been on People Per Hour much, but Elance is based around the lowest bidder, which really shouldn't be the number one priority when having a website developed.

 

When you apply for a job, it tells you the lowest and highest bid. You aren't allowed to have links in proposals, so you can't direct them to your profile or website to see the quality of your work. Essentialy, prospective clients see my 'bid' (even the word, bid, makes it a lowest-price game) alongside another for $150 and figure that I must be high-balling them even when I'm bidding way under a reasonable price.

 

I've had job posters turn down a $300 bid for a 5-10 page website and listed the reason for denial as "unrealisticly high price". They had their price range as "under $500" as well!

In our early days we used PPH to find freelancers to help us (I know, I know but we weren't aware of how bad it was/is), we got burnt a lot. Full of shysters.

 

As they say, you pay peanuts...

I've completed a number of projects via PPH and I've been fortunate in that I was only semi-burnt once. That experience taught me to be very clear about the contract - define the requirements and keep the requirements spec up front all the time, be precise about your own t&c's. I don't win many bids on pph (I don't make many bids) but out of the 4 I have won, 3 of the experiences were good for both parties. From 1, I have received 6 referrals 4 of which converted.

 

PPH could be a good marketplace, here are my suggestions for using it:

1. don't under bid in hopes of winning the bid - estimate on your terms, if you don't win it you haven't actually lost
2. be prepared to spend the time to look for jobs - there are about 10-20% that are realistic and switched on
3. provide lots of feedback to the owners, maybe they'll change some of the terms to discourage unrealistic listings

I used to use PPH a fair bit but then i noticed after sending so many proposals the clients were all pulling out the day before ending. I gave up after that.

Wow even the high budget work is very unrealistic. Not to mention the scope of work documents are vague, your asking for trouble using this site.

 

I'm not sure how skilled some of the developers on there are, but many seem to be outsourcing the work to other developers after winning the job. Very messy if you ask me.

Wow, that is truly amazing (and depressing.) Maybe they just for got a couple of 0's

 

It just goes to show the importance of an iron clad contract, ideally with a kill-fee. Personally, I would never take a second glance at this one, unless I wanted a good laugh (or a good cry) but there are some less obvious, and more dangerous ones out there and I find the whole bidding site idea undermines the process as it isn't just about price.

I find it a bit insulting, the fact that some people are willing to pay next to nothing to hire a developer who needs to pay bills. It's not an easy straight-forward industry were in and websites like this do the opposite of educating people on the benefits of going that extra mile.

 

Unfortunately in the current climate some people have no choice, I'm quite fortunate that my workload is still very strong but I could see how these offers would be tempting to some.

The reality is if you're any good at your trade (and don't live in India) you avoid sites like PPH like the plague.