Elance Fees

A lot has been said lately about the increase in Elance fees and how difficult it will make it for writers and translators to do business with them. I figured that since the new memberships come with a certain (small) number of "connects," I would go ahead and use them for projects that sent me an invitation. I've used them all for the month and I seriously doubt I will ever buy more. The amount they provide every month will probably be enough for my purposes.

But, the Elance fees that I've been the most concerned about are the over $50 in fees that have been taken from me for a job that was never paid for by the buyer. I sent several invoices, at the request of the buyer, and he never paid any of them. Of course, Elance still charged me the commission. Since I wouldn't pay Elance directly for the privilege of being stolen from, they took it out of the next few projects. But, today they actually refunded those fees! I am extremely pleased that, though it took weeks, they have refunded all of the fees I was charged for that nightmare of a project. This is the first time in a long time that I've been happy with Elance. They can act in a fair manner if you take the time to pursue matters with them.