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Working as independent freelancer vs working as a seller within a Marketplace Debate



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Working as independent freelancer vs working as a seller within a Marketplace

Are you a freelancer who worked independently beside working as a seller on marketplace like SEOLads?

If yes, please can your share your experience and which one is getting you more business or revenues?

Please share your thoughts and experience!

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Beverly
Mostly, I have worked within a Marketplace type setting as a freelancer, even when I was writing full time for Hubpages - that's still a Marketplace except in that situation the goal was to publish good content that people wanted to read and the buyer was the site who purchased content. There was always good traffic to my published hubs, even when I didn't advertise.

Working inside a Marketplace is different than independent freelancing in some noticeable ways. Just to start things off, the communication style is differently. Almost all Marketplaces have Terms of Service that forbid outside contact and for good reason. An independent freelancer might have no qualms against adding a client on Skype for a meet and greet and this might work for their personsonal style. But working inside a Marketplace, you won't have that option.

The advantage of working within a Marketplace is how your money is protected as a seller, your funds are taken from buyer and held in escrow until the work is done. As an independent, the client can easily refuse to pay the balance and you're just out of luck unless you plan on taking them to court (and good luck with that if they're in another legal jurisdiction).

Now, with that being said, there are many freelancers who work on their own, no safety net, no Marketplace to fall back on. And, they do just fine. It will all depend on the individual as to which style of freelancing works best as some people are real go-getters, self motivated and no problem going out to find clients while others are more unsure of their marketing skills but have no problem actually doing the work once started. For this latter type of freelancer, a Marketplace is ideal as you can bid on Want to Buys and find clients that are coming to the site for work.



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Lynne
Yes I think the safety net of working in a Marketplace is nice. I have seen how so many people just don't pay people for products or services if they receive things before they have paid, or how people are so slack with paying on time.

Working in a marketplace would definitely cut this risk down big time.



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augusta
Well,for now I work as an individual freelancer. I make all the decision and don't need to conform to any policies or rules. I think this is the whole essence of working alone.



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hitmeasap
I've been working independently as a freelancer for a few years now, along side my business on a marketplace. Especially SEOClerks since I'm crazy about it. I love every single aspect of SEOClerks and will start providing services here again, shortly. They have been sold out for a while now, so I really need to find a way to start providing services here again.

That said, I do generate more income from my independent business, but it's always a larger risk as I won't be able to lean back at SEOClerks or the support in case something happens with a client of mine. So in terms of risks, I'd say it's much safer to work on SEOClerks compared to be working independently. I also find it more ?convenient to find clients using SEOClerks as you can not only create your service listing. You can also bid on WTB's and use the WTT section, which isn't a direct option when you work independently..

I would love to go from my independent work to a full commitment here on SEOClerks instead, but I haven't found a possible way of doing that yet.. But when I do, I will make sure I do it.


Best Regards,
hitmeasap



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anwebservices
Yeah same as me. I worked as independent freelancer too, then i tried few freelancing marketplaces in the past like elance.com and some others. After all i tried, i give up everything and now work only on Seoclerks marketplace because i feel so comfortable here.

At first i worked independent. Yeah what a freedom in many ways. Somehow less competition and not paying fees to anyone. BUT it was a lot harder to get jobs from my own website(s) for many reasons. Most of the people thought my customer's reviews are written by me, so there is no instant trust until they test me. Other then that, problem is with protection from fraudulent buyers who disputed me on PayPal just to get work done for $0... Protection was much lower then in marketplace. Few times i were risking to get banned by PayPal....

Then i was doing bit of both, independent and on marketplace. But after realizing everything and summarizing advantages and disadvantages i thought it's better to be part of some trustful marketplace even in large competition. I still get more jobs to do and earning more money after all expenses.

BTW again after all marketplaces i tried, i have to say that i personally LOVE Seoclerks and having best experience after all i tried so far, so i am glad to be part of this awesome marketplace Working as independent freelancer vs working as a seller within a Marketplace



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Lynne
I've heard some very negative things about Elance recently and how they have gone right down. I have never been there myself just what I heard. Apparently they have changed names 3 times and also changed ownership. Previously they were ok, but now their reputation is not good.



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anwebservices
Well i was working at Elance like 7-8 years ago. It was not so bad but with overcrowding competition prices of services dropped drastically (like up to 500%) and i just give it up as back then i didn't want to develop whole websites for $80 - $150 including custom coding (PHP, HTML, MySql) and web design (it takes days and nights to do), so i believe much of quality freelancers quit Elance in last few years.



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EliteWriter
I definitely prefer working as a seller in a marketplace. I feel safer and much more protected and even though I have to pay the fee, and be obliged to not provide personal contact details, I feel better off nonetheless because at least I get to benefit from all the buyers who can see my services here, along with the payment protection, which is very important to me. I get most of my work from SeoClerks and it has been this way for the past year. I am happy that way and am very busy as it is. I do not need anything else.



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anwebservices
Nice to know that i didn't make wrong decision for working in marketplace, and payment protection as well as seller protection is very important and it works good here at Seoclerks



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EliteWriter
Yes it certainly does. I have had hundreds of orders and I only recall 2 particular occasions when there was going to be a problem and I was protected and helped in a very professional and efficient manner. SeoClerks is the best at this.



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Everett
You certainly did not make the wrong decision. You may think that being an independent freelancer, outside of marketplaces would save you money, but what about overhead costs, and costs you're not aware of? Marketplaces take a commission from sales, this provides you with a platform to sell your products or services on.

If you were to develop your own website, overhead costs can be quite large. You have to pay for your domain, hosting, advertising (business cards, tshirts, etc) payment provider fees, and a lot more fees associated with being an independent freelancer. This marketplace only takes 20% commission, however it offers the option to keep 100% of the sales price for your own clients, seems very nifty.



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MasterA
I do both. I work independently and use marketplaces in order to earn the most revenue. I mainly use forums to advertise my services as an independent seller and it has got some good results. The key is to build reputation on forums so buyers would trust you. It is harder to provide buyers with reviews from external sources as people may not trust you as it can easily be fake reviews. Therefore, building reputation on forum is very important and after being on a few large webmaster and admin forums for a while, I managed to get regular sales there. Both are quite good in generating revenue but I think it is easier to get repeat customers on forums because there are less restrictions there.



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ajlancer
Hi Anweb thanks for your excellent question. First of all I would like to say as as a whole I am successful freelancer over some years. And I am working both ways as independent freelancing and working as seller on marketplace. Though, I feel more comfort to do work on marketplace like SEOclerks. And last 5 years I am working here and feel very independent to me. Besides, I have few blogs sites and I am working for social promotion service too outside of SEOclerks but, not on any marketplace. And I am getting huge response from there and feel very well and earning much revenue. So, I like both but, feeling is different.

Thanks by Ajlancer



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Barida
I'm a freelancer that can work both in a seller marketplace as well as working on my own. I have come to develop that versatility to look for clients wherever they exist. The reason is that it is a faster way to make my online presence known. I can confidently work on both situations and feel okay.



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Corzhens
I may not be the right person you are referring to because I am freelancing only on my free time particularly after my work in the office. But I guess I can share some experience about providing content. A writer earns too little and they deserve more. Since there are too many writers wanting to earn so the sites that pay have the option to pay them lower. There are takers so that situation persists.



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Kakashi2020
I think that working in a market place brings more opportunities but it also has its drawbacks like lower prices.



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