What happens after I award a project to a service provider through Elance?

1. After you have chosen a bid through Elance and the service provider accepts your selection, the service provider will submit business terms to you in the form of milestones, deliverables and payment terms.  The project requirements, milestones and payment terms should be clear before work begins to avoid any miscommunication or delays.

2. From your Buyer Activity page, click on the 'View Business Terms' link to accept/modify/decline those milestones.

3. Once you accept the business terms, the following will become available in Buyer Activity:

   * Service Provider's Email Address.
   * Private Message Board (PMB). This allows you to keep an accurate, online record of your
      communication and deliverables with the service provider throughout the project.
   * Work Space. Buyer and Service Provider can upload and share large files.

NOTE: If a project is not awarded, Elance will delete uploaded files attached to Project Descriptions, Bid Comments, PMB and Work Space after 6 months. If a project is awarded, uploaded files will not be deleted.

4. Send Payment and Leave Feedback

   * After completing the project, it is important to rate your experience with the service provider by clicking the Leave
      Feedback icon from Buyer Activity. Feedback ratings help qualified providers build strong reputations on Elance.
   * When the service provider sends you an invoice through Elance, we will notify you via email. You should then pay
      the provider according to whatever terms you agreed upon before the project began.

Elance generates revenue by collecting a small percentage (6.75% to 8.75% depending on your level of earnings) of the billings service providers generate using our Payment Service.  Close to half of this amount goes to payment processors such as credit card companies and banks, when Elance collects payment from the employer and transfers the money into your account.  

When registering with Elance both buyer and service providers have agreed to use the Elance Payment Service to enable Elance to collect the fee for the services we provide.  If a service provider asks you to go outside the Elance Payment Service to negotiate lower pricing please immediately report the violation.