New system aimed primarily at matching newer sellers with buyers
So now it seems I have to wait two hours before I can bid for a job. This is extremely unfair. Not only do experienced creatives/designers have to compete with an unfair playing field, ie people offered to do a job for £10 when it is clearly worth £100, we are now not allowed to bid for jobs as soon as they appear on PPH. What kind of system is this?!
Awful. Unfair. Unprofessional. Discriminatory.
Regards
C. Howe
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my spam box is full now.... see, this is basic for any webmaster and interent business owner, if your IP that you send the emails from gets downvoted and classed as spam, it will be blacklisted and your business will get a bad name across big boys like yahoo, Google, etc.... but Obv, PPH doesn't know that or they simply do not care anymore!! shame, just a shame.... PPH could have been the one and only place for all of us but they're gone for good.... RIP peopleperhour.
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Yea! I just got invited to build links for a company ... anybody who DOES that kind of work want it?
Hey I'm a computer programmer. Why don't I set-up a new site that allows us to bid on stuff we can't do and then outsource is BACK to PPH to someone who can. So I'll bid on all the SEO stuff that I get invited to, then TRADE that to the lawyers on PPH who keeps getting invited to programming gigs. WHO will trade that to the SEO expert who keeps getting legal gigs.
What shall we call our new exchange site? People F*cked Per Hour? Or People Screwed Per Hour.
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Here's a thought inspired by a recent conversation.....
One advert placed on two freelancing sites.
Site 1: Blocks most freelancers from bidding for first two hours. Result, a handful of bids from people who are not the top in their field and, possibly, have no relevant skills or experience. The client is left wondering why they bothered to load up their job on this site.
Site 2: No restrictions on which freelancers can bid on the work. Freelancers of varying skill levels, experience and price get to bid and the Client decides who to award the work to.
So which site is going to successfully match client with freelancer? Generally speaking, it's going to be Site 2. Site 1 (it's PPH, of course) is more likely NOT to match up clients with possible freelancers.
So what's going to happen...
Clients are going to see that one site is much better at meeting their needs than another. Clients will then concentrate their work through the site that works for them. We're already seeing this - just look at how many jobs PPH has on its books right now. Hardly engenders confidence in their ability to link you with a client does it?
I would suggest that PPH scrubs this ridiculous job barring system they have implemented but I suspect I'm wasting my breath. PPH seems Hell bent on self destruction. Strangely enough, that was the opinion of a client I recently spoke to.
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To all those who have enquired - I'm sure PPH wouldn't want me to name any of their competitors so I suggest you try searching on Google. To paraphrase the BBC: "Other freelancing sites are available."
I am sad that things have come to the point when other people tell me how ridiculous PPH's processes have become.
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Whoop! Finally I have been invited to apply for a job I have the skills for. However, not only is the pay pants I have the option to use the new video feature which will make me "Get ahead of the competition by recording a customised video that explains to the Buyer why you are a perfect fit for this Job. Remember that Proposals with a customised video have 3x more chances to get accepted". So 3 x more chances of being accepted eh? sorry I'll take my chances of rejection rather succumb to this humiliating and utterly pointless exercise. Clearly how I will come across on video relates to how I well I write, in reality its about as relevant as the invites for Arabic translation jobs I keep getting. This could well be the final nail in the PPH coffin, can't wait for Maven to be up and running and try a site without any BS.
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I have reviewed the first 15 pages of all jobs (mixture of them I mean). There is no "single" job I could bid on. Even 1 job. I have 10 skills in my skill list, related to graphics and web design. And there is no single job I could send proposal for.
Day by day I love this white rectangle more on proposals. Is this funny or something? Are we here to work or we are at war? What is this? Is this a freelancing website? What do they mean by this? What is their aim? Their answers to people (including me) tries to show that there is something wrong with their new algorithm and they are trying to fix this. Isn't there anyone out there to fix this?! I think one of the freelancing coders is enough to debug PPH codes! Why don't they call one? Are their coders unable to debug this mess? Was this buggy code necessary AT ALL???
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I agree Faryad. Virtually none of the jobs I was invited to bid on were any use.
I've just sent the following to support:
How do I unsubscribe from the: Julian, you have been selected to bid first for the Job....XXX
These jobs are no use to me whatsoever. I am not going to bid for them. Can your developers put in a button at the bottom so I can unsubscribe from these useless timewasting emails please?
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I agree too. I'm sure most have more than one income stream, but if you don't, then do! It means a bit of juggling and time spent on digging around for new markets regularly, but it pays off at time like this.
Be interesting to see what the results are of this two-hour-block thing, especially the effect on clients looking for providers. Are they pee'd off? Are they going elsewhere? The list of jobs is certainly dwindling.
*gloom*
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For us Mac users, you should know that you CAN'T capture a video for a job. So not only is this annoying, but it actually does not work. Yet, I have videos on my portfolio. ... but you can't use them in a bid.
What's worse is that only if I sell enough work on PPH, do I get below the 15% fee. So if I get $1,000 of work in a month, the fee drops to less than the other sites. But if I only get $400 of work ... eeks. It's the same or higher. So at some point, too much restriction makes it UNprofitable to stay on PPH. And this is what I am thinking right now. If I need to spend an extra hour waiting or opening jobs that I can bid on, the cost of sales to get a gig begins to become too much.
I can spend that extra time on another site. And it actually may be better for me to buy bids on other sites, than to fight the PPH system. I can't take jobs at 15% when other sites are at 10% or less. So, for me, PPH only makes sense when I can get at least $500-$1000 of work. This new system is just becoming a waste of time.
I don't do any work on Freelance.com cause it's a total scam. Nor do I do any work on O'Desk because the jobs pay too little and they charge 10%. PPH WAS good when I made over $400 because the interface was OK and I got work quickly. But now ... the cost is time is too high if I can get enough work to defeat the 15% fee.
I really hate to leave PPH, but if this system is still in place tomorrow, I think I am going to forget my remaining bids and wait two weeks.
If enough of us stop bidding, maybe it will change. Only the truly desperate can live with conditions like this.
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hello
this system is utter nonsense,i couldn't get any work..as i can't send my proposals for many posts, please remove this system. already many people looking for an alternative if you can't sort this out , i'm afraid you will certainly loose lot of active users.
you need to developed lot of filters, lot people posting the jobs and asking for samples , after receiving the samples they are canceling the job post..
jason
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@ Eric & Karen
Thanks for your input. I agree about the time management aspect, which is critical to successful freelancing - if you spend too much time pitching for jobs it reduces your income.
You're not supposed to mention competitior sites, but I don't think support are even bothering with this thread any more. you (or anybody else) may want to contact me at infoatbrightgreenprdotcodotuk.
eL seems OK but pays in dollars and lots of low quality jobs
f.co.uk which is the offshoot of f.com again dollars why a scam please? OD I understand, I'm about to OD on PPH's crackpot emails.
Incidentally, I got a reply to my asking to turn off the You have been Selected notifications from PPH customer support:
Hello Julian
Thank you for your message.
I'm very sorry to hear about this. We certainly don't mean to spam your mailbox with notifications, and do deeply regret that this has been the case in some instances.
Unfortunately, these emails can't be stopped completely because we believe that these emails are important for the users to receive, however I have now removed you from our mailing list and henceforth you won't receive any promotional emails from us.
I hope this helps.
Please let me know if I can help you with anything else.
Thanks
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I've noticed that now, some jobs that I qualify for, are NOT blocked. Although I am not getting invited to them. So maybe the blockage is not applied to all jobs. Also, the people who are invited tend to have the LOWEST rate. Like $9-$17 per hour.
As a test, I guess I could set my rate to $1 and see if I get invited into more jobs.
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I agree with most comments already made here. Fortunately I already have private clients and clients on alternative platforms, otherwise it would be quite depressing. I haven't bid on anything in the last week or so and I can't see me bidding on anything in the future if the current restrictions remain in place. Not only is it time consuming, it's actually tedious looking for something that a) it's possible to bid on and b) worth bidding on.
I'd be interested to hear the views of clients (buyers), particularly within the European time zones. Do they post a job expecting an almost immediate response from potential candidates only to be faced with an almost apathetic response? Up until the recent changes, I'd noticed a marked improvement in the number of jobs posted and had thought that there was some proactive work going on to bring the jobs to the site. Since the changes, there has been not only a serious decline in the number of jobs posted but also a decline in the number of bids for each job.
I have been amused by the tales here of the job matching algorithm results, although I have to say most people seem to have been offered much more glamorous possibilities than I have been. My favorite by far - the lady who, as a secretary/proofreader, was matched with a construction building job. As far as I go, my favorite job match was a cleaning job that was only 200 miles away from my location. There's nothing like reading that sort of email for putting 30+ years of experience into perspective and focussing attention elsewhere.
I've just completed a repeat project and I honestly think that it will be the last invoice I raise through PPH. I'm not interested in the direction that they seem to be going in: the redesign of the website, the emphasis on social media and the expansion of their audience. They've introduced all the new features without the experience or manpower to manage it. For me, it's the classic case of throw money at it and it'll work, gone wrong. They've found themselves in an uncontrollable, expensive situation and rather than take the unorthodox but praiseworthy route of admittance, they're backpedalling either in the hope of saving face or investors. My money is on the latter.
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I'm getting these "You're perfect for X, you should send a proposal emails" every morning, sometimes twice three times a day. Whilst I like the idea there's work out there for me it seems unfair that it's blocked off to the rest of the community for 2 hours. I've been on this website over a year now, and whist it's not a primary source of income it's a great way to build my portfolio. I feel they're definitely over-complicating this whole "Send a proposal" thing.
Just keep it how it was half a year ago or at least level the playing field for veterans of this website.
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It seems like PPH doesn't give a damn to their users anymore!
On last 5th june daily digest's subject was "Akash 302 New Jobs were posted" and today on 5th july its, "126 new Jobs were posted" lol! I hope PPH's financial department will come back soon from their vacation!I made 6k in my first 4months of pph! Used to love this platform a lot! But I don't think its worth enough to spend my time anymore in a marketplace where they never listen to their freelancers!
I wouldn't mind for 2hours of blocking if you guys at least send me some relevant job invitation! I'm tired of all these spamming! In last 1 month I got 1, Yes "ONLY ONE" invitation which was really relevant to my skills.
This isn't how ridiculous a Company should be! Not fair at all! -
This is awful read my profile.
I updated my portfolio one since joining in 2009, I don't get any work as I ask for "too much"????????.Plus this is not my main place for work or money. I'm a painter. If some one came to me with a low balling price for my painting, my work, first off I would be gravely insulted. Then they would be asked to leave or be ejected from my studio, period.
Re read this sounds like I am annoyed. Business is business.
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I've managed to stop their bloody spam like invitation emails and now I can't stop their emails that they send to eveyone who posted on this thread as soon as someone posts something new!!! FFS, PPH..... Get lost... you are getting so annoying its unreal!
Our privacy is important to us and I don't know a single person who is not intolerant toward spaming. You are getting to close to the red line now!! becareful as you are only a hair line away from it and I can assure you that this won't END GOOD for you and your company if you carry on the way you are...
and I can assure you that your meaning less and generic "Sorry" emails or replies that you tend to send when someone complains won't have any affect when you cross that red line!
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http://www.peopleperhour.com/job/website-blog-521765
I was actually identified as a perfect fit for this job and am not being allowed to bid on it thanks to the "primary skills" error message. Please fix this immediately, everyone's losing out here.
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Latest response from customer support below -
Hello Chris
Thank you for your message.
We really understand your concern, however we did like to let you know that our developers are working hard on this feature to make it more efficient. We have received feedback from many users and we have forwarded them to our Manager to review them. You'll soon see a positive change on our site.
Thank you very much.
Please let me know if I can help you with anything else.
Thanks
Sivakesh
PPH Customer Support
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