oDesk hourly rates?

1. 76

   ForTheInterimposted 9 years ago

   Is anyone else here using oDesk?  I've recently signed up, and have lucked out with three 'interviews' so far.  But I'm confused by the number of people willing to go for jobs for ridiculously low rates.
   
   For example - a full time (40hr/week), hourly job, for $1/hour.  I understand in other countries, the cost of living is much lower, but is it really low enough that this doesn't seem like one is being completely taken advantage of?  Do people find a way around only working one job at a time, and make up the hourly wage difference by working multiple jobs at once?
   
   I'm up late trying to find an alternate income until I can find a job in a new city, but perhaps getting unreasonably frustrated.

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   1. 56

      free4indiaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Don't think that cost of living in very low all over India.  In India also the cost of living is high in many cities, but when people do not have work, they are forced to work at cheaper rates.  In India also, it is the rich who mainly get benefited.

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   2. 0

      directsaurabhposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi, online freelancing work can be a good source of income for teams. It cannot replace on the site job for individuals. Regarding low wage rates I would say that at starting you need to bid less. After creation of strong profile you can bid more. It will take around 1-2 month to make a good profile over there. Actually many people think that they have lot of experience of job and can do freelancing work. But the fact is that concept of freelancing needs huge patience. You cannot generate huge income in starting. When I did some projects of publishing as a freelancer that time I was not paid for 1 month. Many project publishers ask for free trial and get their work done without paying. You can check out more freelancing website at my hubs and website. Thanks and God bless

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   3. 63

      Lady_Eposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      When you apply for jobs at Odesk, you are prompted to fill in the amount you are asking for. (when applying directly to the person advertising - using the online form).
      
      No one can work fof $1/hour - it's not even minimum wage.

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2. 80

   lrohnerposted 9 years ago

   I've never heard of oDesk. Have used Guru and eLance, but not too much. I have full-time freelancing friends that say it is really frustrating trying to go up against the guys from India who will work for $1.00 to $2.00 per hour. They have said that the only way to beat them is to go up for jobs they can't compete against -- like jobs that require a good grasp of the English language.

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   1. 56

      free4indiaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      It is true that US people cannot compete with Indians... but looks like Philippines people are giving even Indians a run for their money.  They are ready to jobs even less than 50 cents per hour!
      
      Do you think all US jobs will go to out of US leaving the ordinary US people poorer.

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      1. 0

         Ryan Kettposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         No I dont, there is a point where 'protectionism' kicks in; much like the world saw after WWII.
         
         Every one of those Indians is making a western person richer. Less jobs yes, some people poorer yes, but the economy? No. Money moves in circles....... most western goods have been produced in the third world e.g. vietnam, cambodia, bangledesh for decades.
         
         India will get to the point where it cannot compete for certain tenders, but will then begin to outsource work itself to those third world countries. We are of course see India becoming more developed, but India will effectively begin to do the same thing. American companies might produce Nike trainers in Bangledesh, but is then selling those trainers worldwide. Nike effectively just becomes an agent for trainers.
         
         If I produced something, lets say high quality mugs, and they were costing me $1 per mug to produce in the UK; and my primary market was Europe. If I could produce those mugs in China and export them directly to my European markets for 50 cents per mug, then I am making more money myself. Where does that money go? It would go into UK pension funds, western stock markets, pay my at mortgage at a western bank; and be spent in UK shops. I am overseeing production of a good in China, which reaches Europe without me ever seeing it, and then taking most of the profit. That profit is coming to me, that is not money that I have spend. If I sell for $2 per mug.... and the retailer sells for $3 a mug, and the end user pays $4 a mug (very nice mugs), I am seeing $1.50 per mug and giving 50cents per mug to China. I am just moving money around and taking a slice.
         
         I am taking the same amount of money from Europe, they are paying the same price for the product. My employees lose out, but somebody else in the west is getting my extra 50 cents. The chinese are taking 50 cents a mug out of the UK economy, but what are they then going to do with it? Buy the latest machinery from the UK to continue to compete? Build Olympic stadiums using UK architects? What are those Architects going to do with their fees? Go on holiday to Australia and the USA? Money always moves in circles, and the wider that circle the better. I believe that there is enough to go around.
         
         Do you believe that Americans are becoming poorer because I am being paid by Google Adsense? I dont; because Adwords are sold to people in the UK and worldwide; and shares in Google are owned worldwide; and google employ people worldwide. Global people spend, global people profit.
         
         If you write 100 hubs on here, and write 100 articles on oDesk for $100. Are you taking $100 from people in the west? I doubt it. HubPages is an American owned company, they will probably make that $100 back from 40% of your impressions. The purchaser might be western, he might make $200 back from worldwide adsense clicks, purchased by people worldwide; including Indians. Google are taking around 21.5% of your click money in commission, again from global advertisers.
         
         Its all good if you ask me..... let that money keep moving around in circles. This is a global financial crisis, which will be fixed in the long run by global money cycles.

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         1. 56

            free4indiaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I don't know how Rich you are but what I talking about is super rich of all countries being richer leaving out the ordinary people.
            
            Here is a hub I wrote and say what you think...
            http://hubpages.com/hub/US-people-will-get-poorer
            
            In the above example, $100 work, it is true to that the employer who gives out $100 work is benefited and so is the Indian guy who is going to get the work benefited, but what about the US guy who was supposed to write that $100 work if his Indian counterpart had not taken it off?
            
            When he has to pay his monthly bills, he cannot talk to his shop keepers and building owner about global economy improving... if he wants to eat out... or buy food he just needs to pay...

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            1. 56

               free4indiaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I am not saying Indian who is getting paid is any better.  If in US a Medical Transcriptionist gets paid around $10-$15 per hour (that comes to around $15*Rs.50= Rs. 750/-), his Indian counter part gets Rs.750/- for a whole 8-10 hours of work !
               
               So it is Rich people of US getting Richer and Rich people of India or any other country also getting Richer.  Ordinary people are just going to suffer.  The impact will hit more on US ordinary people first and later on other countries...

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      2. 77

         emievilposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I'm from the Philippines and I don't know about the 50 cents per hour. But I'm not surprised because for a lot of places here, that's more than the minimum wage.
         
         And no, I don't think all US jobs will go out of the US. I work in eLance (haven't tried oDesk actually), and I see some clients specifically stating that they need native English speakers or people from English-speaking countries such as the US, Canada, Australia and the UK.

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         1. 56

            free4indiaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Sorry I don't mean your country only, but then there are people from all countries including India Here is an example profile on Odesk who is doing @0.50 cents/hr (this profile rate can be changed)
            
            http://www.odesk.com/users/Freelance-Wr … 2#overview
            
            But then... when one is without a job and sitting at home... some feel it is better to have a low paying job... not their fault...

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3. 76

   ForTheInterimposted 9 years ago

   It is quite frustrating - so far I've seemed to have more success in the same way, by going for jobs that need specific skills.  I'm also thinking it would be quite handy if I had a stronger background in Web Design!
   
   Back to brain storming new hubs, and refreshing the job listings!

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4. 0

   Ryan Kettposted 9 years ago

   What you need to ask is..... who are the people hiring them? Mostly people like you or me. And why are they hiring them?
   
   You could build 200 pages of blog overnight for $100. Reject work which is sub standard, do a bit of tweeking and editing yourself, bang in a couple of extra adsense keywords. And your done.
   
   Adsense looks like it is going to stop accepting people from India, China, and probably more of the non-developed nations. So those writers do not have the same opportunity as you.
   
   If you were to buy the domain thairecipes.com today..... you could have a fully functional wordpress blog by tomorrow. Obviously you have quality issues, but surely odesk has the ability to reject work?
   
   You are looking from the wrong perspective; dont grumble at being undercut, exploit the situation. Thats my take anyway. Somewhere along the line, I will look at outsourcing some content for a couple of niches that I have my eye on.... both niches that I would not enjoy writing myself.

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5. 97

   Susana Sposted 9 years ago

   I looked at Odesk a while back and was no way going to work for what they're offering. I think Elance is better. Still have people trying to get something for not very much, but a lot of the jobs are offering reasonable rates.

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   1. 77

      emievilposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      eLance has a minimum amount (like $50). It's not the same in oDesk?

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      1. 97

         Susana Sposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Not sure if there is a minimum, but I saw people that were bidding to write articles at $1 each. Living in the UK I can't afford to do that!

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      2. 56

         free4indiaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         No min on Odesk

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6. 61

   Rehma Jamshedposted 9 years ago

   Thank GOD for this forum. I joined odesk a few months sgo. I was astonished at the rates at which some people were willing to work e.g. 100 articles for $1 (and that too in 1 day). Give me a break!!!!!!!
   
   Some were just willing to work for free?!!!I have totally given up at ODesk :-(

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7. 76

   ForTheInterimposted 9 years ago

   Ryan - I too was wondering about it from the prespective of a buyer.  If you have 100 people apply for your job, and half of them are willing to take less than $3/hr for pay, it would be hard to pay someone $8/hr for the same job.   I've had similar thoughts about outsourcing website content.   
   
   I have managed to secure my first paid oDesk job, and for an hourly rate which I'm happy with as a starting oDesk user (and above Canada's minimum wage).   
   
   I may look more seriously at Edesk though - if they have a minimum, they're probably more likely to have employers happy to pay wages I would be willing to work for.

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8. 0

   pgrundyposted 9 years ago

   I use Elance mostly, and I'm pretty picky there. I only work for people who put money up front. I want at least 3 cents a word. And certain 'red flags' will cause me to drop a bid on a job or drop a job in a heartbest.
   
   I wrote a hub this summer about how to use these freelance boards. If you're interested you can read it:
   
   http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Make-Mon … Job-Boards

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9. 89

   Len Cannonposted 9 years ago

   I've used it before and it is pretty much worthless for Americans.  A lot of Indian/Pakistani writers are more than happy to work for 25 cents for a hundred words, making it impossible for US writers looking to make a reasonable amount get work.
   
   I have actually had EXCELLENT success with textbroker, however and get regular orders from clients for 40+ dollar articles.

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10. 82

    Sufidreamerposted 9 years ago

    Hi, ForTheInterim.
    
    I started out on oDesk and it can work if you are prepared to stick at it. Make sure that your profile is filled out, you take the relevant tests and you have a strong portfolio.
    
    Firstly, you need time - it takes over six months to creep your rate up to a reasonable amount. Until then, it is all about applying at fairly low rates and building up an excellent reputation.
    
    Secondly, you need to develop a niche - I started academic and technical writing, and people will pay good money for that.
    
    I don't apply for work on there any more, but I do receive the odd assignment from employers, at over $20 per hour or the fixed rate equivalent.
    
    As with any writing gig, it is a long slog but it can work

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    1. 76

       ForTheInterimposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for the tips Sufidreamer   One job started and a couple interviews in so I'm finding encouragement enough to stick with oDesk for now.  I'll do as you say - start with a low rate, hopefully building my experience and profile enough to 'earn' a higher rate eventually.
       
       I looked into eLance, but right now I don't want to spend $10/month for the possibility of landing a job, and their restrictions seem quite strict if you don't pay this $10.   However -- I do see the site as being higher quality in the work offered and provided overall.  With oDesk you seem to have to search a lot harder for decent jobs, but they certainly are there.

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11. 53

    abhyakposted 6 years ago

    I checked Odesk 15 days ago. I saw one contractors want 500 bookmarks in high PR bookmarking sites (should different IPs of each site) at $5.
    
    It make me to step out from Odesk. Really impossible work.

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12. 88

    Express10posted 6 years ago

    I would also recommend only applying for projects that require native English speakers or using teams. Another option once you have your foot in the door with clients who have a lot of projects is to wow them. You may be invited to work on their new (well paying) projects before they post them to the public.
    
    It would be nice if there was a minimum on ODesk that could not be bypassed. I have seen some cheapskates bypass the minimum by actually posting that the project pays a dollar or even less and they actually say that they just have to post that they're paying more to get the ad some views. As a writer, you should bypass the low paying projects.

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13. 88

    craftybirdposted 6 years ago

    I've been working on oDesk for a couple years now and I've had good experiences and bad ones. You really have to sift through all the employers who are just looking for cheap work. You can find great employers who are looking for high quality workers at a reasonable rate.
    
    Saying that, I don't think you'll find work that pays more than minimum wage (if you do, good on you!). The most I've been paid is $9/hour for writing work. But I don't mind working for this amount because I don't have to commute and I can work around my baby's schedule. I also tend to work at a set rate than an hourly rate, because I can usually churn the work out fast without them breathing down my neck with the oDesk team app.

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14. 54

    Dr Andersposted 3 years ago

    Not worth it and should be boycotted! It corrupts quality in sooo many ways.
    
    I am not sure what rates the other branches go for (from what i gather very low).
    But within the Development world, oDesk is really destroying/corrupting the market with lower and lower standards. That slowly radiates to also the upper layers of this branch.
    
    To be frank... Its pretty much a feeding frenzy of desperate people that sell themselves for slave prices. And a minimum of 100 applications within the first few seconds of a new posted job.
    
    For a employer, you have to go through so many incompetent people.
    It could make one cry if not properly prepared.....
    
    Be prepared for:
    Freelancers taking tons of oDesk tests with outstanding scores, only to find out that there are a ton of websites that are designed to give all the answers (example: odesk-tests.com).
    Having a crazy amounts of 3th world developers with a portfolio filled with products that isn't even there's to claim or products that is impossible to back trace.
    Once you get one that is decent enough, you almost always (you have to be lucky) find one huge malfunction with this person....
    
    In short, its hard for a employer to choose for someone with western prices... if the shadow of "possible" good ones with next to nothing prices is so high. They usually give up looking for mr/mrs right and go for someone "looks good" instead of "is good"....

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