What are the best web-design sites?

List of freelance sites.

• Hello, I need the following information for my website: A list of sites that connect buyers and sellers of webdevelopment,webdesign, copywriting etc. services.(just like elance.com) I do not need such sites as odesk.com included in the list. And I do not need sites that offer to transfer payment directly to the service provider and do not have the escrow service. Please provide a list of minimum 20 sites. The larger the list, the happier I am. Please include only sites with the reputation of trustworthy. Language: english. Every site listing should contain such information: Average number of providers(sellers) of the services. if available. Payment options for buyers. (please include such data as payment terms, time and any special notes, that I might find useful) Withdrawal options for sellers.(please include such data as payment terms, time and any special notes, that I might find useful) If there is an escrow service available? Please also look also for sites that are targeted only to indian, chinese, philipiness sellers. The average price on such sites may be lower. Please organize the answer in the user-friendly manner. Will tip generously for the great answer. Thanks.

• Answer:

  Hi rolmil, I don't normally do this, but because you require this information quickly, I am going to post an answer before it is completely finished. It is taking a very long time to find and investigate each website and rather than waiting until I have a list of 20, I'm posting a list of 10. The first 5 are really the most popular and the first one, RentACoder, is the only one that I've found so far which is a member of the Better Business Bureau and Square Trade. Another problem has been trying to find websites which offer an escrow service and so far, only the first 5 can be put in that category. Your statement, "And I do not need sites that ...do not have the escrow service", leads me to believe that only the first 5 are acceptable to you. Is that true? If so and you really only want sites which offer escrow, then I don't believe that it is possible to find 20, even 10 may be impossible. I realize you are hoping for a long list, but after spending some time with this, I would suggest making a shorter list of quality websites for posting on your site rather than a longer list made up of websites which may or may not be reputable. So with that said, here are my first ten freelance websites. Posting them now will also give you a chance to see what I'm doing and give you an opportunity to leave me some feedback (e.g., is this what you had in mind?). It's slow going (I have discarded more websites than I have kept, each one takes time to investigate), but I'll be back in touch as soon as possible. Barring a miracle, I'm sure my next ten will not measure up to the first ten I'll look forward to your feedback (please don't rate/close your question until we are finished working on it and you are happy with the results). Regards, hummer. 1) RentACoder About Us: http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/misc/About/default.asp Buyer FAQ: http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/SoftwareBuyers/FAQ.asp Seller FAQ: http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/SoftwareCoders/FAQ.asp NUMBER PROVIDERS : 147,437 PROVIDER COSTS: - What does this service cost? "Rent a Coder generally charges coders a Rent a Coder Fee of 15% of the final bid. This fee covers buyer advertising, buyer credit card/PayPal processing, security verification of buyer payments, facilitation/arbitration, site costs and a small profit. The Rent a Coder Fee is reduced for different auction types and/or if the buyer uses a preferred payment method. See the Rent a Coder Fee comission schedule for complete details. Addtionally, on very small projects, there is a minimum fee of $3." ESCROW: Safe Project Escrow"(tm) CONTACT INFO : Exhedra Solutions, Inc. DBA Rent A Coder 14310 North Dale Mabry Hwy Suite #280 Tampa, FL 33618 phone (813) 908-9029 fax (813) 960-1495 WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS: - Can I "back out of" a 'Seller Guarantee Deposit' project? "You have up to 3 days from the time the buyer accepts your bid, to either escrow the Seller Guarantee Deposit or decline the project. If you decline it, there is no penalty to you, and it will simply be recorded as a neutral event on your rating. However, if you do neither, then you will receive a negative rating for not living up to your responsibilities. Of course, once you choose to escrow the Seller Guarantee Deposit, it is final...and you cannot "back out of it" if you change your mind later. So do not commit to this type of project unless you are willing to fufill the contract 100% by the deadline." PAYMENT TERMS (buyers): - What does this service cost? "There are no service charges or finders fees for buyers." - How do I pay the coder? "After you accept a buyer's bid, you submit the bid amount to an escrow account via credit card, PayPal, postal mail check or bank to bank wire transfer (wire transfer involves a small surcharge to cover our expenses). Only after you receive the deliverables and approve them, will the escrowed funds be transferred to the coder. This guarantees that the coder will work his or her hardest to get you the results that you asked for." - What is a preferred payment method and how does it help my selected coder? "When you escrow funds via a means that is cheaper for Rent A Coder to accept and process, Rent a Coder passes the savings on to the coder. If you use either a bank to bank wire transfer or snail mail check to escrow all of the funds for the bid request, the winning coder receives a Rent a Coder Fee reduction of 2.5% from the normal fee that they would pay." BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU MEMBER: yes SQUARE TRADE MEMBER: yes REFERENCES "RentACoder.com If you want to start your freelance business with a minimum investment and good gains, this is the website you'll want to register with. This Texas-based firm, more commonly referred to as RAC, has a service-provider base of 105,710 and counting. What it costs: You can register free of charge for any or all categories, with one catch: The commission-per-project rate can be as high as 15 percent. How it works: A main attraction of RentACoder is the excellent escrow and arbitration service--you don't start a job until all the funds are escrowed. There's no minimum bid, so don't be surprised to find a bid as low as $3 with a commission of equal value (which means you'd earn nothing for the project). Like Guru.com, HTML tags are allowed to help you "beautify" your bid proposals." http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,323025,00.html Listed on: Best Freelance Job Websites http://www.freelancejobresource.com/best_freelance_job_websites.htm 2) Guru About Us: http://www.guru.com/about_guru.cfm Buyer FAQ: http://www.guru.com/emp/employers.cfm Seller FAQ: http://www.guru.com/pro/professionals.cfm NUMBER PROVIDERS : over 568,000 PROVIDER COSTS: Basic profiles -Membership fee is $0.00 -10% Project Fee -Receive 10 bids that can be reused every 30 days "Guru profiles" -Membership fees range from $29.95 to $99.95 per quarter. -Annual memberships available at a 50% discount! -5% Project Fee -Receive 100 bids per Guru profile that can be reused every 30 days "Guru VENDOR profiles" -Membership fees range from $38.94 to $129.94 per quarter. -Annual memberships available at a 50% discount! -5% Project Fee -Receive 100 bids per Guru VENDOR profile that can be reused every 30 days ESCROW: SafePay Escrow or SafePay Invoicing. CONTACT INFO : Guru.com 5001 Baum Blvd., Suite 760 Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Phone: 412.687.1316 Fax: 412.687.4466 WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS: n/a PAYMENT TERMS (buyers): Free service. No obligation to hire. OTHER: Loyalty Dollar program. REFERENCE "With a service provider base of more than 481,000, Guru.com is the largest freelance exchange on the web. When you log on, you'll be struck by the website's clean and simple--yet instinctive--user interface." "How it works: Guru's minimum bid is set at $25 for any project, and it follows what's called a "closed auction" type of bidding, meaning no one competing for a project can see their competitors' bids. Your bids for a project can be based either on hourly rates or the total project cost. This site also allows you to submit your proposals with basic HTML formatting for a professional-looking bid. Once a project's finished, it's usually uploaded to the temporary "Workroom," which is only accessible to the contracted parties. An optional escrow service protects the mutual investments of both the freelancers and the companies buying their services--a very important service when both parties are in different cities or even halfway round the world. Another important point: The site has an excellent help and support system." http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,323025,00.html 3) GetAFreelancer About Us: http://www.getafreelancer.com/info/about.php FAQ: http://www.getafreelancer.com/faq/topic.php?code=providers NUMBER PROVIDERS : Statistics since February 2004 * Number of posted projects: 74,481 * Number of verified users: 159,686 * Money spent by our users: $3,279,420 PROVIDER COSTS: "It's free to join GetAFreelancer.com! We only charge a small commission on closed regular projects. 10% or $5(whichever is greater). The Service Provider don't have to pay commissions on featured projects. Gold Members don't pay any commissions on any projects. There is a $10 montly fee for Gold Members." ESCROW: escrow at GAF CONTACT INFO : Innovate it Box 784 53117 Lidköping Sweden WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS: How can I modify a bid which I've already submitted? "Login to GAF. Find the project(public project page) you wish to change your bid on, click Place Bid button again and make your changes." PAYMENT TERMS (buyers): Creating a new project is completely free. You only pay a small commission if your project is successful. * INDIA REFERENCES "GetAFreelancer.com This is Europe's answer to the U.S.-based freelance sites--the firm is based in Sweden and has a subscriber base of 65,000 freelancers around the world." "How it works: On this marketplace, the buyers get to decide whether to allow closed or open auction bidding. The site has a very basic interface but makes up for that by having an excellent e-mail alert system that feeds relevant project leads to service providers. There's also a capability for basic formatting of bid proposals and an escrow service to help protect your funds." http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,323025,00.html Listed on: Best Freelance Job Websites http://www.freelancejobresource.com/best_freelance_job_websites.htm 4) Scriptlance FAQ: https://www.scriptlance.com/cgi-bin/faq/smartfaq.cgi NUMBER PROVIDERS: 2000 PROVIDER COSTS: "There is no signup fee and no monthly fee, but you are required to give ScriptLance a commission on each project you win a bid on. The commission is 5% of your bid (minimum $5)." ESCROW: Escrow Payments CONTACT INFO : [email protected] WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS: "Log in to the account management area, find the project, and click on the "retract bid" link." PAYMENT TERMS (buyers): "Post a project (FREE)." REFERENCE Why those two sites, why not some other? "Because Scriptlance (SL) and GetAFreelancer (GAF) are extremly and equally good freelance marketplaces, in the matter of fact, they are without exaggeration, best on the Net, from both businesses and programmers perspective: Fees are LOWEST in the outsourcing market meaning that webmasters will pay less and freelancers will earn more, - registration is absolutely FREE, there are no signup/monthly fees [in oppose to many other freelance-connecting sites], only flat $5 (or 5% for projects with budget higher than $100) fee which is paid after project is completed! There's huge amount of already registered members (speaking about thousands of freelancers/webmasters) which means that webmasters will get a lot of bids + that workers will get a lot of work! (more than 50 job projects are opened every day, ready for freelancers to bid on)" http://www.freelance-help.com/ 5) Sologig About us: http://www.sologig.com/AboutUs NUMBER PROVIDERS : over 100,000 current freelancer profiles PROVIDER COSTS: Basic Membership Free Premium Membership $39.99/ month ESCROW OPTION?: n/a CONTACT INFO : Sologig Attn: Customer Service 5550 - A Peachtree Parkway Suite 200 Norcross, GA 30092 (800)891-8880 WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS: n/a BUYER TERMS: 30 day Resume Database access ONLY - $149.99 1 Project - $69.99 4 Projects - $199.99, SAVE 30% Listed on: Best Freelance Job Websites http://www.freelancejobresource.com/best_freelance_job_websites.htm 6) Freelance Auction Buyer FAQ: http://www.freelanceauction.com/buyer_faq.html Seller FAQ: http://www.freelanceauction.com/freelancer_faq.html NUMBER PROVIDERS : n/a PROVIDER COSTS: "There is a $5.95 signup fee and as soon as you are chosen as the Freelancer for a project you have bid on it will be closed/archived and you will be charged 10% of your bid, or $10, whichever is greater." ESCROW: Escrow Account CONTACT INFO : WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS: How do I cancel a bid I placed? "Log in to the account management area, find the project, and click on the "retract bid" link." PAYMENT TERMS (buyers): "There is no signup fee and no monthly fee, and but you are required to give FreelanceAuction.com a commission on each project you when you select a bid. The commission is only $5.00 " 7) Freelance Bank About us: http://freelancebank.com/help.asp?chapter=About%20Us NUMBER PROVIDERS : 5636 PROVIDER COSTS: "Registration is 100% free of charge. In fact, all of the services we provide are free. There are no fees, no charges, and absolutely no cost to you, the freelancer." ESCROW OPTION?: n/a CONTACT INFO : R4S Corporation 1018 Webster St Oakland, CA 94607 Phone: 510-839-1234 Fax: 510-834-3333 Email: [email protected] WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS: n/a Global Listed on: Best Freelance Job Websites http://www.freelancejobresource.com/best_freelance_job_websites.htm 8) 12 Freelance http://www.12freelance.com/ NUMBER PROVIDERS : 1563 PROVIDER COSTS: - No SignUp fee - No monthly fee - No service charge or commission ESCROW: n/a CONTACT INFO : email: [email protected] WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS: n/a PAYMENT TERMS (buyers): - No SignUp fee - No monthly fee - No service charge or commission 9) Programming Bids http://www.programmingbids.com/ NUMBER PROVIDERS : 1563 PROVIDER COSTS: What is the cost associated? "There is an annual membership fee of $49 and a small commission on all projects you win - there is no cost to bid on projects. If you are the winning bidder, you will owe us a commission of 7% with a minimum commission of $10 per closed bid. For example, say you were the winner of a bid for a logo design project and your charge is $150 for the project. Once the bid is closed an amount of $10.50 will be deducted from your account. If our commission (based on the above calculation method) is less than $10 then you will be charged $10 (minimum) as our referral fee." How and when do you charge me for your commission? "Once the buyer selects the winning bidder, the project listing will be closed and the buyer is asked to make a deposit for the combined commission both parties owe us (10% or $15 whichever is higher). Work will not start until we receive the first deposit from the buyer and you should not do anything until we (not the buyer) notify you to start the work. If you start working before we approve, then you will be in violation of our policy." ESCROW: n/a CONTACT INFO : email: [email protected] WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS: n/a PAYMENT TERMS (buyers): "It is FREE" 10) Support Universe FAQ: http://www.supportuniverse.com/help.asp NUMBER PROVIDERS : only 2 open projects PROVIDER COSTS: You pay %7 of your bid's value or $5, whichever is higher . There is $11.95 one-time account activation fee. ESCROW: Pay safely by escrow CONTACT INFO : Corporate Computing Department of East Beirut for Information Technology Londong Office: 6-8 Underwood Str. London N1 7JQ UK Lebanese office: Hamra Street, Picadelly. Beirut, Lebanon WITHDRAWAL OPTIONS: n/a PAYMENT TERMS (buyers): Free * INDIA