People who want to get things done or need employees, which do not need to be onsite, now have the option to hire skilled workers using freelance marketplaces. The emergence of this option has made it easier for buyers to accomplish projects without having to screen a number of people face to face. A buyer needs only to look at a provider’s portfolio online and hiring can just be done instantly.

There are a number of good freelance marketplaces that a buyer can choose from. Perhaps the most important aspect that you should look at if you are planning to hire people is the fee that you are going to pay to the freelance marketplace site if you use its service. Most sites like Elance and oDesk have their own payment system. If you need to use these sites, you have to make sure that you follow their policies regarding payment. For example, oDesk will suspend your account permanently for disintermediation if they find out that you are using other payment methods outside their system.

Fees vary from one site to another. Freelancer charges $5 for you to post a listing and they will take 3 percent of whatever you pay the provider using their system. It is important to note that Freelancer offers a free job posting for new buyers. Elance takes 6.75 percent to 8.75 percent of what you pay to the provider and gets $10 as an activation fee for employer /buyer accounts. On the other hand, oDesk charges 10 percent of the amount you have agreed with the provider. Guru, meanwhile, has fees that vary depending on what payment method you use: employers/
buyers shoulder any fee if check, e-check or wire transfer is used and freelancers/providers pay the fees if Paypal or credit card is used.

The type of project or job that you would like to post will not really be a problem because the top freelance marketplaces mentioned above have an array of job categories covered. These categories often include software development, IT and networking, sales and marketing, writing and translation and administrative support.

The next thing that you should consider is how quickly you can hire someone for the project or assignment. The number of providers registered in a freelance marketplace site should be taken into great consideration. The more the providers who submit bids or proposal to your job posting, the more chances you get of hiring someone with the right credentials.

Although the number of providers is a good indicator of a successful and thriving site, this is not the only aspect that buyers should look at. You should take note how one freelance marketplace makes it easier for providers to earn money. Providers need security of their income just as
much as buyers need it. Some freelance marketplaces have guaranteed payments set for providers while others only have fixed-price projects where buyers have all the discretion to pay the provider or not. The more security the site could offer, the more trusted providers there are.

In the freelancing community, there are always risks that either the buyers or providers should take. Freelance marketplaces will do everything they can to protect their users so that their income can keep on flowing, but buyers, as well as providers, should also take responsibility in protecting themselves. When hiring providers, you should always take a closer look at their profiles. You should always search for their portfolio if there is one. Every freelance marketplace has its own feedback system. How feedback scores are computed may be similar, but each has its own loopholes that providers can use to hide negative feedbacks given to them.

Just like a real application process, buyers always have the opportunity to get to know the applicants or the bidders for their job posting in the form of an interview. You should always take this chance to gauge the skills and competencies of the providers. It is important that after you screened providers through their profile, you give them further tests that will further verify what is written on their profile. As previously mentioned, most freelance marketplaces give you a payment option where you have control on how to pay the provider. But even in some which automatically bill you, you should always have the right to dispute whatever has been billed but deemed as unsatisfactory.

WhichLance features all the major freelance marketplaces with the aim of helping buyers choose the right freelance marketplace. With the advice in this article in mind, we recommend you use our comparison tables or our search function to narrow the field of freelancing sites which most closely meet your needs.

Good luck with outsourcing your project to freelance workers!