Work Safely
When searching for work and reviewing a job posted on Elance, it is important to consider the following:
- Does the client have a good ratio of awarded jobs (compared to the total number of jobs they have posted)? By limiting your proposals to clients with high award ratios, you’ll lessen the chances of using your Connects for clients that may not be serious about hiring a provider.
- Has the client made payments to providers in the past? This is often a good indication of their track record in paying providers.
- Where is the client located? Efficient communications are critical to the success of any job, and location can often result in missed expectations due to time zone differences and language barriers.
- Has the client included enough specifics to create a thorough proposal? If not, you may request further clarification through the Public Message Board, which will not require the use of Connects.
- You may consider avoiding jobs that use language intended to lower the job’s cost. Submit a proposal amount for what you feel the job is worth and disregard promises of future work or descriptions of how “easy” a job may be for someone who “knows what they are doing”. Disrespectful job descriptions may be an indication of a difficult client.
As a provider, you are not obligated to begin work until the first milestone has been funded by the client. Once funds are in Escrow, the money cannot be returned to the client unless one of the release conditions in the Escrow Terms of Service is satisfied. This gives you the peace of mind of knowing that if you submit your deliverables on time and to the client’s satisfaction, you will receive your payments.
Never request to receive payments outside of Elance, and never agree if a client asks you to do so. This is against Elance policies and is a source of payment fraud and scams. Please report the violation to Elance.
For more details regarding Elance Escrow, please click here.
When working with a client remotely, it is important that you communicate using the tools provided by Elance. Workrooms, Status Reports, Elance Call, and Elance Chat are designed to facilitate communication. By responding promptly and clearly, you’ll create a trail of communications that ensures all expectations are met and can be used for future reference. Only communications on Elance is considered when assisting with a dispute over work performed.
If you use other forms of communication besides the Private Message Board, be sure to log a summary of the events to the PMB throughout the job so that both parties can refer to it at any time.
