3 Painful Features for Freelancers on Freelancing Websites

I’ve been a freelancer for more than 14 years on online freelancing markets.

If I were to create a freelance bidding website, I would be adding features which are essentials to make things simpler than more problems.

If you are from management department of any freelancing site, take my ideas, add in your platform to bring some solid values. And, do remove nonsense features from your platform.

1. Bidding Proposals Garbage

There is no limit on number of proposals. From idividuals to companies, rushing on projects.

It is real pain to go through 50+ or 100+ proposals for a project or for even a simple task or urgent issue you need to be resolved.

Are you posting project to hire someone reliable for your problem or are you falling into hiring problem again?

And, what if someone you hired doesn’t deliver and waste your all time?

Repeat the pain of finding again!

Ideal Solution:

Add a limit like 15 or 30 on proposals so bidders cannot post any bid after limit is crossed on a project.

Whoever comes first, gets in for evaluation by client.

Give client an option to “reset proposals and accept more proposals”.

This feature should remove all proposals so other freelancers may bid and also put a negative penalty on all rejected bidders that they cannot bid again on this project.

2. Spam Copy/Paste Bidders:

Most of the time, bidders rush on project and paste their generic template without even reading or understanding client’s issue.

Ideal Solution:

Prevent bidding for at least five or ten minutes on opening project’s page so the bidder won’t be able to spam or copy/paste immediately.

Lock time can also be based on project’s cost range. The larger project, the more locked time.

This will give fresh breathe to serious workers who really care clients and put their best efforts on writing custom proposals which takes time.

3. Non-Verified Clients

A client can post project without even his email and payment verification.

It causes many fake, test or non-serious projects on daily basis.

If workers are charged on a membership fee, why not clients too? Let them be serious about their postings. Serious workers put their efforts in reading, understanding and making proposals for clients who disappear and never respond back.

This is really frustrating and a lot of time wastes. It also deducts worker’s balance from allowed bidding quota.

Ideal Solution:

A client should not be able to post any project if the account is not verified and a non-refundable security deposit must be taken for posting a project. If client doesn’t award work to any worker, he won’t get back security deposit.

This will force clients to be serious in picking workers, and don’t play around.