How to Identify Bad Freelance Buyers by their Offers
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I think that even when you read only a freelance job offer’s text, you can learn much about the client. Here are my simple tips (in my opinion) how you can identify bad freelance buyers to stay away from them:
1. Mr. ‘I want new Windows. 800 USD max’
It’s always funny to find such kind of buyers, but it won’t be so funny if you get the job, because he or she is a person that haven’t any idea about technology, but in meantime he/she thinks that the technology is not enough good for them. If you work for that kind of client you’ll have to spend many hours teaching him. Do you think he will be able to understand your working progress and to pay you correctly?
2. Mr. ‘I hate to pay’
You can see offers like: I’ll give the job to the coder that bid less. Such kind of offers can be written by a buyer that cares only to pay little. Reason for that can be that he underestimate freelance work and think it can be done by everybody. It also means that if you work for him, but in meantime he find other freelancer that could work for less money he’ll give the job to him.
3. Mr. ‘Whoever you are, I don’t trust you’
I’ve seen offers like: ‘I’ll pay for the job in micro-payments by $1 per day’. If you use paypal, it takes $0,30 for every transaction. First, you’ll lose money. Second, you’ll have to spend time convincing your client that you are correct to him.
4. Mr. ‘I can cheat you’
If you find unclear or very short project requirements documentation, but in meantime the buyer spends hours chatting with you. I think, it’s possible after finishing the job, you’ll receive a message like ‘Job is not 100% finished. You need to finish 1), 2), … n) to be paid. 1), 2), … could be a new features.
5. Mr. ‘I’m better than you’
You can find offers about finishing project that other freelancer had been working on it and If you see requirements like: ‘Class methods must be alphabetical ordered‘ and ‘You’ll have to be 8 hours a day online‘. It could mean that the buyer is technical experts on his or her staff, but he will follow every line of code written by you. It’s not so bad, but it could be annoying.
I hope you’ve found something useful in the information above or at least to spend more time reading job offers, before bidding for project.
