How not to get cheated as a freelancer?

Hey guys, i have started selling ebooks, scripts, im related services on fiverr.com and making around $100 a month. Many a times i come across people who say that they would like to hire me as a full time article writer but i just don't pay attention to them cause there are lots of scammers who would take my article and charge a refund on paypal and i could lose money because of this.

Don't you think that a person with a stolen credit card could purchase articles from several freelancers and get away with it? If that's the case how would you protect yourself?

On getafreelancer.com they have an escrow system called milestone. If there is a dispute the mods charge a nominal fee to solve the dispute. Both parties give their side of the story along with the supporting evidence and it gets resolved.

Yeah, your best bet is to go through some sort of escrow service, like freelancer! Oh and don't use PayPal!

I have been cheated few times on freelancer... and yeah u should not use paypal

scriptlance has a escrow service as well. i think all of the major freelance sites has this feature.

main rule, always ask for half in advance, and rest upon complition

Just don't use paypal.

Use moneybookers.

I want to use something else where people can't chargeback. May be i'll look into moneybookers, but i think they will want me to fill in my credit card details, which is something i don't have.

Bross said:

Just don't use paypal.

Use moneybookers.

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Just wondering ... why not use PayPal?

Hey guys, just joined moneybookers and i don't think i need to add any bank information to it. Now just need to figure out, how to receive payments from buyers.

MB works just fine as PP do but my advice would be to use any of major freelancing website and never work without escrow or what ever name being used.

Jason_parker700 said:

Hey guys, just joined moneybookers and i don't think i need to add any bank information to it. Now just need to figure out, how to receive payments from buyers.

Click to expand...

it is operating like paypal, you need to send them documents to verify your account and of course you can't accept payments from paypal (so if somebody hire you and he/she doesn't have moneybookers (chances are big), he/she can't pay you), that's why an escrow service like GAF is a better choice, if you'd like to work as a freelancer
moreover with them you can apply for a Payoneer prepaid debit card, so you'll never have to deal with paypal morons again
btw you can apply for a Payoneer card with moneybookers as well

Sure i can start working at gaf, but people say that the pay is very less for every type of job over there.

its all depend on the quality of your work and your clients, I have noticed at elance people are willing to pay more than they are at GAF so try that one as well

I use GAF for data entry stuff... I would never have someone write an article for
me when I can write one in 15 minutes.

try odesk ...you could even get a payoneer debit card sent to your doorstep for free..
just follow the instructions on registering part.

escrow is the way to go 100%

I buy articles all the time, and not doing escrow is the biggest mistake I see a lot of freelancers make. They leave their ass out in the wind with that one.

Also, look for providers who look like they know what they want. "I need 50 articles rewritten" is a buyer who's either out to scam or looking for a disaster. Usually you'll be doing correction after correction with those ones.

Suggestion would be to take on a few small jobs, regardless of what they pay, get a 5 star rating, and then you'll be in better shape to go after the bigger bids.

In my experience:

GAF doesn't pay the most, however people with higher rating could probably make better amounts once they find the right clients. Lots of competition but also lots of garbage writers.

ODesk is more software people trying to write on the side, there may be an opportunity there.

Elance is mostly full of "writers" who either want to write a book, or wrote a book and it didn't sell. They think they're better / know better than you because they read popular blogs. I think they all wear turtlenecks and/or scarfs. As a buyer, those people irritate me. Don't come off as one of those and you'll do well.

Guru is ok, however like odesk more about software.