

Elance-oDesk Rebrands As Upwork, Debuts Slack-Like Chat Platform - vdfs
http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/05/elance-odesk-rebrands-as-upwork-debuts-slack-like-chat-platform

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zerr
The main issue Elance/oDesk needs to fix - is to eliminate `the race to the
bottom` moment. Maybe set some minimum acceptable rates? (e.g. $50/hr)

If this is fixed, it will become attractive workplace for lot of qualified
engineers, including those on HN.

This will be a radical move, but it will also eliminate "bad" clients.

~~~
Kurtz79
Are there valid alternatives ?

What is the preferred platform for freelances looking for remote work at
decent rates, today ?

~~~
scrollaway
I'd recommend PPH:
[http://www.peopleperhour.com/](http://www.peopleperhour.com/)

It used to be pretty popular in the UK. I don't work freelance anymore but I
still check the site out once in a while, it's fairly high quality and I've
had several high-paying clients from there.

~~~
icpmacdo
Just so people know they also send an ungodly amount of spam so don't sign up
with your main email address.

~~~
scrollaway
Do you mean they sell their customers' emails or are you just talking about
their own marketing emails? Because they do send a lot of crap but I opted out
of those and haven't had issues since.

~~~
icpmacdo
Their own marketing emails, I opted out but they still send a fair amount to
me.

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k-mcgrady
I wish they'd focus on improving the market by weeding out poor contractors
and employers. The rating system doesn't work. If you're an employer you post
a job and have to wade through dozens of messages from outsourcing companies
who usually do a poor job. And if you're a contractor trying to get seen
through that pile is a nightmare - the only way to succeed to is to watch for
new job posts and immediately bid. If there are already a few bids you don't
have a chance.

~~~
melling
I've spent a bit of money (over $10k) on oDesk for my mobile app. I used a lot
of translators and some artists (Illustrator), and did the programming myself.

Everyone wants you to review them with 5 stars because anything less is bad
for business. The quality does greatly vary and so does the pricing. You can
get good deals and you can get burned. I once had someone using a keep-active
program so they could log more hours. Thankfully I looked close enough at the
screenshots to notice.

If anyone can recommend a great mobile designer on oDesk, I'd like to redesign
my iOS app: [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/h4-spanish-
lite/id388918463?...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/h4-spanish-
lite/id388918463?mt=8)

My account on oDesk is h4labs, not sure how to link to it.

~~~
djerry
You can invite me to the design project
[https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/users/_~015159f894bb70a226...](https://www.upwork.com/o/profiles/users/_~015159f894bb70a226/)

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EugeneOZ
They didn't even send email about this change, and now I see their "oDesk
Team" tool doesn't track time so I can't work. Good news everyone!

~~~
EugeneOZ
fixed now.

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father_of_two
They could just have rebranded themselves as "cheap" or "bottom" because
that's what those platforms promote. I appreciate the efforts they've tried to
improve the platform(s) but they're dealing with something no one was able to
fix yet: solve the lack of scalability of work-people matching.

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123qwe123qwe
I loved the new interface. There is already a cool review on UpWork here
[http://www.websiteplanet.com/review/upwork/](http://www.websiteplanet.com/review/upwork/)

I agree with most parts, not about price (nver liked odesk payment way)

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no1publicenemy
Elance-oDesk aka UpWork vs Freelancer.com and the race to the bottom and
dismal customer service but I think that when it comes to poor customer
service Freelancer.com shines through as the heavyweight champion in this
regard across the board.

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Brushfire
The "slack-killer" feature is nice, but I don't think this move does anything
to Slack's business. In other words, its just clickbait / PR nonsense.

Why do journalists feel the need to artificially position articles like this?

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sumedh
Took a quick look at Slack, what does upwork and Slack have in common, it
looks to me that they are operating in different markets.

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jspenke
I was wondering when they were going to get rid of the separation of sites.
Curious to see if the chat platform really makes any bit of difference.

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laurentsabbah
The live chat feature is a game-changer. We need things fast, tired of sending
an inquiry and getting an answer a day later when I usually already settled my
issue or found someone local ready to do it.

~~~
krakensden
I mean... really? You don't just say "this is my Skype, what's yours?" when
you start a contract?

~~~
laurentsabbah
I do, but it usually takes hours to get a reply back. With the chat feature,
when you see someone online, you can get their skype immediately.

