Neil R.

I used to like eBay, but those days seem to be a distant memory. Following a succession of changes that are now heavily balanced in favour of the buying party, adhering to the eBay policies to even register in searches is becoming increasingly difficult, especially if you register on a specific site but do not live in that country. For example, I live in Asia but have been registered on the UK site for about 10 years. The UK market is THE place for what I sell but now living abroad, it is impossible for me to offer a guaranteed next day delivery (minimum of 4 days from here). The consequence of this is that my listings, for which I pay the same as anyone else, is pushed down the searches in a kind of discriminatory fashion.

My service is and has been exemplary throughout my years selling goods on the site but now, I barely register in searches and this is wholly down to the ever changing goal posts of what eBay consider to the best service (fast=best).

Many people are happy to wait a week or two, if they know they are getting a better quality product - if only they could find it!

Never mind the madness of the feedback system that provides no transparency, and again is heavily tilted to buyers, to the extent that any negative comment in the direction of a buyer is removable - how do you advise others of a scammer or potential scammer now? Oh yeah, I forgot, eBay don't care!

Just about everything that could be wrong about freelance work is right here. Fake accounts everywhere, and although it operates in a free market, with thanks to the Indian, Pakistan & Filipino members who are happy to work for less than $1.00 per hour creates two real issues.

1. The quality is typically inferior, as most jobs are required in 'real' English, something that cannot be delivered by most from the sub-continent and far east members on the site, who are awarded the jobs because they are cheap to hire. As a Native UK speaker and writer, I cannot find anything on the site that becomes worth my time as I am not prepared to work for such ridiculously low amounts.

2. Because the bids are low, the projects are rewarded at the lowest cost - then the employer wonders why the quality is no good! You get what you pay for and if you want to cut costs - write articles yourself or pay proper money, to 'real' native English writers (From UK, US, Canada, Australia), who can actually string a sentence together correctly.

Of course, Freelancer do not care about the quality, and will wash their hands of this aspect of the project - all they want is money. A bit like eBay, they don't really care about their sellers, just their $$$'s