Has anyone used People Per Hour?

[stayathomegardener]

DD 17 has recently signed up as a photo editor and has had two jobs, good feedback and paid but I see a fair few reviews on line that say it is a scam.
Would be interested to know if anyone uses it successfully.

I've used it for years...it's not a scam.

People per hour itself, i.e. the website etc isn't a scam as it's been around for years. But like Ebay, some of the people using it may be fraudsters, scammers or incompetents. It's just a matter of "buyer beware", in terms of properly checking out the service providers, being crystal clear as to the terms and scope of the work involved, and generally being wary of something being too good to be true. Just like you'd do with Ebay to avoid being conned.

I used it twice. One time great fantastic result well woth the money, it was 3d rendering for my project. One time it was an edditing job and woman essentially ripped me off, I selected second to highest bit because she claimed to have experience in my sector which is a niche. She did poorly, really messed up the content of text and I had to do a lot if work repairing what she did. So yeah its hit and miss really.

She also was very late getting work back

I've used it a few times and it's been great.

Thank you for the responses.
Pretty much confirms my feelings, this will help DD continue with it with her eyes open.

Tell her that when she bids and puts her "deposit amount" down on the bid form that she should always put the amount for the full cost of her services.

I never put for eg. half the full cost as deposit because if the client can't access the money immediately, then I don't want to work for them.

If the client does not release the funds when she has completed the job, PPH will do it for her within 2 weeks.

Some clients try it on but in 7 years I've only met one of those....because I am careful about which jobs I bid for. I can smell a shyster out these days.

No it's not a scam. I have worked on there for years and have never had any problems with clients.

PPH has a more robust method for approving clients than other websites, I think they have to register a valid credit card to start advertising opportunities, and when you're bidding you can specify a percentage of the amount to be paid up front. This is held by PPH until the job is completed. If the client then refuses to pay, and you've actually done the work they asked for, the amount held as an upfront payment is released to you. So when working for a new client I usually ask for at least 75% to be paid upfront so I'm not risking as much.

Other sites like Freelancer and Odesk are MUCH worse for dodgy clients.

People per hour itself, i.e. the website etc isn't a scam as it's been around for years. But like Ebay, some of the people using it may be fraudsters, scammers or incompetents. It's just a matter of "buyer beware", in terms of properly checking out the service providers, being crystal clear as to the terms and scope of the work involved, and generally being wary of something being too good to be true. Just like you'd do with Ebay to avoid being conned.

This. We use it without issues mostly but you need to be clear what you expect/can offer and keep all correspondence via the website messaging system as this covers your ass much better.

What PP ^^ said. A friend of mine gets a lot of work from this. His golden rule: don't go 'offboard'. Sometimes clients ask you to send work through to their email address rather than through the site, but you have no recourse then if they say they won't pay as there's no record of it.

Your daughter sounds very pro-active at 17. Good on her! Hope it works out well.

The rates are incredibly low. People are willing to work for less than the minimum wage. I almost signed up but realised I'd never accept any work or be offered any when comparing my minimum hourly fee with others.

Some of the rates are very low but it depends on the client and the job. There are a few very cheap contractors from places like Kenya or Bangladesh who are prepared to work for less than UK minimum wage but in my experience on PPH not all clients are interested in a "cheap" job. My main niche is web content writing - most of my clients are based in the UK and want content written which is grammatically correct, properly researched and tailored to a UK audience. You're not going to get that from someone earning £4 an hour or less in Pakistan, and they know that. So they pay a premium for a UK worker.

Also don't get distracted by the hourly rate - most of my jobs are bid for or negotiated on a "per job" basis instead depending on the time it will take me to complete. I can write content on familiar topics far more quickly than complex topics so charge accordingly. Remember too that the PPH website is largely about reputation, and many people find it advantageous to do a few wee jobs at a lower rate than usual to get started and start building a portfolio of feedback.

I have been on PPH for years (since they started) and I am now one of their top 350 sellers. I think they are great - but you really need to know what you are doing.

Always get all the money in Escrow before starting, be prepared to wait for a couple of days for money to enter your bank account after you ask them for it, specify in advance the number of rewrites you will do and don't work with them off the site - unless you have built a really good relationship with them.

Once you have built a reputation you can charge pretty good rates. I work on a basis of £35 per hour and i started at £10. But I almost always charge per project which often takes me less than one hour anyway - so I end up with even more than that.

But never deliver late without negotiating first. it is the fastest way to a bad rep.