Buyer Guide
Contents
ABOUT ELANCE
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POSTING PROJECTS
1
SELECTING SERVICE PROVIDERS
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Registering with Elance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Describing a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Editing a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Browsing Providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Inviting Providers to Submit Bids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Communicating with the Provider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
WORKING WITH THE SERVICE PROVIDER
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PAYING FOR SERVICES
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SUPPORT
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Choosing a Bid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Receiving Bids and Evaluating Proposals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Awarding the Project and Negotiating the Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Receiving Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Communicating with the Provider privately (after bid acceptance) . . . . . .14 Receiving the Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Cancelling an Awarded Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Receiving Invoices from Providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Making Payment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Providing Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Elance Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Elance Customer Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
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ABOUT ELANCE Š 1999-2006 Elance Incorporated. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Elance Incorporated. The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Elance Incorporated. The software mentioned in this series is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license. Contact the software manufacturer directly for terms of software licenses for any software mentioned in this document not originating from Elance Incorporated. Elance and the Elance logos are the trademarks of Elance Incorporated in the U.S. and other countries.
ABOUT ELANCE
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C T I O N
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POSTING PROJECTS Registering with Elance To post projects on Elance, simply click on the Post Your Project button . If you already have an account, you may sign in with your existing Username and password. If not, you will first register with Elance and create an account. To register: 1
Click If you’re new to Elance, please click here link.
2
Enter your contact information, then click Continue.
You must enter a Username, password, email address, first and last name and phone number.
SECTION 1: POSTING PROJECTS
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Describing a Project 1
Select the category and subcategory that best describe your project and skill set of the providers you want to bid on your project.
subcategory
When you post a project in a subcategory, it will be viewed by all providers in the category. There is no need to post the project in multiple subcategories. 2
Enter a title and description for your project. Project descriptions should include specific information about the work needed and some background on your company and the project, including the size of the project and estimated start and finish dates.
To assist you in describing your project, there are project description templates in the following categories: (1) administrative support, (2) graphic design and art, (3) legal, (4) management and finance, (5) sales and marketing, (6) software and technology, (7) training and development, (8) website development, and (9) writing and translation. To use a project description template, click Use the Description Assistant to populate your description below. Fill out the form and click Update when you are finished.
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You may upload files (maximum 3 MB) that you think will help clarify the project description and enable providers to understand your project and prepare more thorough, relevant quotes.
At this stage, project titles, descriptions and file attachments posted will be visible to providers and searchable on Elance. Please use discretion when including private information. After you award the project, your workspace becomes private. 4
Set your project preferences, including the maximum number of days you would like it to be available for bidding, the approximate start date after selecting a bid and the budget range for your project. If you choose a budget range higher than US $2000, you will automatically set your payment type to escrow.
5
Select a contract type. For the type of quotes you will receive, choose between hourly or fixed price.
6
Set your payment type. Choose between standard and escrow payments. Escrow is recommended for organizing your payment schedule and minimizing financial risk. If you are a US-based employer, escrow also allows you to choose US federal tax form 1099 to be filed.
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7
Set your communication preferences. Allowing providers to contact you via the Elance Private Message Board may help you receive higher quality proposals because it enables them to ask clarifying questions before placing a bid.
8
Specify a level for your project, Select or Basic, then click Continue.
9
On the Buyer Verification page, enter your credit card information, name and billing address. Check the box to authenticate your credit card, which validates that you are the card owner and enables you to pay service providers with your credit card, then click Continue. You only need to do this for your first project posting on Elance. You will not be asked on subsequent postings.
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Elance requires first time buyers to supply their credit card information to establish their account and verify they are 18 years or older. There is no charge for posting your project and no obligation to accept any of the proposals you receive. Your credit card information remains private, and you control if, when and how much to pay a service provider.
your project information on the Project Preview page. To edit your project, click the Make Changes link. To save your project as a draft and post it later, click Save & Post Later. To post your project, click Post Project Now.
10 Review
You will receive an email confirmation that your project has been successfully posted in the marketplace, and you can expect to receive bids within a few hours. To review bids and manage your projects, simply follow the instructions in the email and go to My Elance Buyer Activity. 11 If
you have saved your project as a draft, click My Elance Buyer Activity Draft Projects. Click on the project title, and follow steps 2-8 of this section.
When posting projects on Elance, you must abide by the rules defined in the site policies, or your project will be deleted from Elance. See Elance’s site policy.
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Editing a Project Once you have posted a project, you cannot edit the original text. However, you can add more text and file attachments. To add to your project: 1
Click My Elance
Buyer Activity.
2
Click on the project title.
3
Click on the Add to Project button.
4
On the Add to Description page, enter additional project information, attach files and click the Submit Update button.
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SELECTING SERVICE PROVIDERS Browsing Providers You may access service providers by browsing provider profiles in the marketplace or by inviting service providers to bid on your project. Note: this is not required when you post a project following the steps in Section 1. To browse provider profiles: 1
Click Search in the navigation bar.
2
Click on the Providers tab. You can browse providers by: Scrolling through the providers.
3
Click on your selected category.
4
Click the provider name to view their services description, or to look at a provider’s portfolio, click the View Portfolio link.
Typing in key words to narrow your search. Using filters to view providers that meet your criteria. Clicking a category link.
SECTION 2: SELECTING SERVICE PROVIDERS
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Inviting Providers to Submit Bids To invite service providers to bid on your project: 1
Click on the checkbox located to the left of the service provider’s username. You may invite up to 15 providers per project.
2
When you have finished selecting providers, click the Invite Selected Providers to Bid button.
3
Select the project for which you would like to receive bids and click Continue. Each service provider you invite will receive an email invitation to bid on your project. If you are creating a new project, you may choose to either limit the bids you receive to only the providers you have selected or receive bids from any service provider. You are limited to 15 invitations per project.
If you post a project at the Select level and invite a service provider who is not a Select member, they will not be able to bid on your project or communicate with you. Service providers who are registered as Select members have a gold circle Select icon next to their provider listing.
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Communicating with the Provider After you post your project, a provider may open a Private Message Board (PMB) with you to discuss the project in more detail. When this happens, you will receive an email notification and a message board icon will appear next to the bid in My Elance Buyer Activity. To respond to the provider’s PMB questions, you can: • Reply to the email notification by following the instructions in the email. Your response will be automatically posted to the PMB on Elance. • Post your message directly on Elance. To post your message on Elance: 1 Click My Elance Buyer Activity. 2
Click the message board icon in the right column labeled Private Message.
3
In the message dialog box, enter your reply and click Post Message.
If you have pop-up blockers, the PMB dailog box may not appear. Please disable your pop-up blockers.
You may also open a PMB with any provider to interview them or discuss your project in more detail. To initiate a discussion with a provider: 1 Click My Elance Buyer Activity. 2
Click on the project name or on the number of bids received.
3
In the Bids Received tab, click on the PMB icon the provider with whom you want to communicate.
4
In the message dialog box, enter your message and click Post Message.
next to the name of
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WORKING WITH THE SERVICE PROVIDER Choosing a Bid Receiving Bids & Evaluating Proposals If a provider bids on your project, the following will occur: • You will receive an email notification about receiving a bid • The project’s status in My Elance
Buyer Activity will be “Bidding Open”
Before you accept a bid, you have the opportunity to compare the bids and review bid details, project milestones and project agreements from the provider. To review bids: 1 Click My Elance
Buyer Activity.
2
Click on the project name or on the number of bids received.
3
If you did not choose escrow as a payment type when you posted the project, service providers can bid choosing escrow as their payment type. If you do choose a service provider whose bid indicates escrow, the project will be awarded with escrow as the payment type.
4
To sort bids by the provider location or bid amount, click on the Location link or Bid Amount link in the Bids Received tab.
5
You may also filter bids by feedback ratings or number of reviews received. Select the feedback rating and number of reviews you want to see using the drop down menus, then click Filter Bids.
SECTION 3: WORKING
WITH THE
SERVICE PROVIDER
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To narrow down your selection of bids to a shorter list of providers you have already reviewed, click the Shortlist link on the left-hand side of the bids you are most interested in. The bids you have selected will now appear under the Shortlist tab.
7
Review the provider’s comments and time to deliver the project after the bid is accepted.
8
Review the provider’s service description by clicking on their username. This may include information about services offered, a summary of their feedback reviews, ratings and reported earnings, contact details, company history, standard business terms, education and credentials.
9
View the provider’s portfolio by clicking on the Portfolio link next to their username.
10 View
the provider’s detailed feedback, reviews and earnings in the last six months or total time by clicking on the statistics in the appropriate column.
11 Use
the Private Message Board to ask providers your interview questions.
12 To
decline a bid, click the Decline Bid link on the left-hand side of the bid you are not interested in. On the Decline Bid Preview page, select a reason for declining the bid from the drop down menu, then click Decline. The provider will receive a notification that you have declined their bid, and the bid will move from the Bids Received tab to the Declined Bids tab.
13 Some
providers may need you to clarify your project description with them before they place a bid amount. When this happens, they will open a Private Message Board with you, and you will see their bid status as a “Pre Bid.” Once you clarify, the provider can type in a bid amount, and the status will change to “Placed Bid.”
14 If
the bidding time period has ended, you can extend it one time to allow more bidders to bid on your project or allow existing bidders to submit revised bid amounts.
To extend bidding: 1 Click My Elance Buyer Activity. 2 Click on the project name or on the number of bids received. ELANCE BUYER GUIDE
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3
Click the Extend Bidding button.
4
Enter the number of days to extend the bidding (between 1-21 only) and the reason for the extension, then click Submit.
5
You may cancel a project if none of the bidders meet your requirements, or you cannot proceed at this time.
To cancel a project: 1
Click My Elance
Buyer Activity.
2
Click on the project name or on the number of bids received.
3
Click the Cancel Project button.
4
Enter the reason for cancelling the project, then click Submit.
Awarding the Project and Negotiating the Terms To accept the bid and award the project to a provider: 1 Click My Elance Buyer Activity. 2
Click on the project name or on the number of bids received.
3
Click the Choose Bid button next to the bid you want to award.
4
On the Choose Bid Preview page, review the provider name, bid amount and bid ID number, then click Submit.
Elance requires service providers to invoice buyers via the Elance Billing and Payment system. By clicking the Submit button, you agree to only pay invoices you receive from Elance.
Once you have accepted a bid, you will be notified by email when the provider accepts and submits the business terms or declines the project, usually within 48 hours. When your project has been accepted by the provider, the status will read “Waiting for Response� on the Buyer Activity page. To review the business terms: 1 Click My Elance Buyer Activity. 2
Click View Business Terms next to the project name. ELANCE BUYER GUIDE
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3
Review the business terms supplied by the provider, including the bid details, project milestones and project agreement.
4
Choose if you would like to accept, modify or decline the terms. To modify, click on the Modify button, then edit the milestones, delivery dates and/or scheduled payment amounts. This will continue until both parties accept the terms.
5
If you wish to further revise the submitted business terms, click the Private Message Board icon to negotiate terms in more detail. Your service provider will be notified by email, and can then accept, modify or decline the revised terms. You will be notified by email of the service provider’s decision. Elance recommends that you always note changes in project scope on the Private Message Board.
6
Once both parties accept the business terms, the project status will read “Project Accepted” under My Elance Buyer Activity.
This signals the project has been fully awarded, and the following will occur: • The provider will be notified that you accepted the bid. • The provider’s email address will appear next to the provider’s name in My Elance Buyer Activity. State acceptance and satisfactory completion after every milestone delivered on the PMB. Do not release payment of a milestone until you have reviewed and accepted it. State all objective comments on the PMB if a milestone is not delivered to your satisfaction.
Receiving Services Communicating with the Provider Privately (after project award) Once you have awarded the project, you may contact the provider directly to discuss the project and begin tracking work. You can communicate in the following ways: • Via Elance, through the Elance Private Message Board (required in order to keep a written record of communication) • Directly via email, phone, Instant Messenger, etc. (always transcribe key elements of the discussion to the Private Message Board to maintain a record) ELANCE BUYER GUIDE
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Receiving the Work When the project is completed, you may receive your files or work product via the Elance Private Message Board. 1
Click My Elance
Buyer Activity.
Click the Private Message Board icon next to the appropriate project. 3 Download your work files and save them however you choose. 2
Elance recommends that you state acceptance and satisfactory completion after every milestone on the Private Message Board. This standard business practice ensures that the service is being delivered to both parties’ expectations and prevents miscommunication.
You may also receive files (up to 50 MB in size) from your service provider via the Elance Workspace. 1 Click My Elance Buyer Activity. 2
Click on the Workspace icon
next to the appropriate project.
3
Click on the Shared folder.
4
Select the file you want to download, then click Download.
ď Ą
5
Use the Private Message Board to alert your provider with your comments on the Workspace files.
Messages exchanged in the Elance Workspace are not archived. Elance recommends that you continue to use the Private Message Board for all official communication.
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Cancelling an Awarded Project If you decide to cancel your project, post the reason(s) on your Private Message Board with the provider. Note any breach-of-contract reasons on the PMB, and ask the provider to complete the Fee Adjustment form on their version of My Elance. If they do not reply, send an email to investigations@elance.com.
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PAYING FOR SERVICES Receiving Invoices from Providers If you have a Standard Payment project, when a service provider completes a milestone, you will receive an email notification that you have been invoiced by the service provider. If you have an Escrow Payment project, when a service provider completes a milestone, you will receive an email notification that they have requested funding and/or release of that payment milestone. To receive an invoice: 1 Click My Elance Buyer Activity. 2
Click on the New Invoice icon
next to the appropriate project.
Making Payment To make a payment on a Standard Payment project, if you have not yet authenticated your credit card (the process to verify that you are the correct card holder), follow steps 1-2. Otherwise, go to step 3. To make a payment: 1 Click My Elance
Buyer Activity
Account.
2
Click the Authenticate link next to the credit card you want to use and follow the instructions.
3
Click My Elance
4
Click on the Payment icon
5
On the Quick Payment form, enter the payment amount and select a payment method, then click Continue.
6
Review your payment details on the Payment Preview page.
7
Check the box to authorize payment, enter your password, then click Submit.
Buyer Activity.
next to the appropriate project.
Buyers in certain countries can pay a service provider with a credit card through Elance. All buyers must have an authenticated credit card to pay a service provider via the Elance site. SECTION 4: PAYING
FOR
SERVICES
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To make a payment on an Escrow Project, you need to: • Fund the escrow account for the project • Release the milestone payment from the project's escrow account to the service provider To fund the escrow amount for the project, if you have not yet authenticated your credit card, follow steps 1-2. Otherwise, go to step 3. 1
Click My Elance
2
Click the Authenticate link next to the credit card you want to use and follow the instructions.
3
Click My Elance
4
Click the Payment icon
5
Scroll down to the bottom of the Business Terms page to view the milestones. You will see a list of milestones, delivery dates, payment amounts and the funding and release status of each milestone.
6
Click the checkbox in the Fund Milestone column next to one or more milestones you want to fund.
7
Click the Fund button. You will be asked to authorize a charge to your credit card or Elance account balance and move the funds into the project’s escrow account.
Buyer Activity
Account.
Buyer Activity.
next to the appropriate project.
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8
Review the funding details on the Escrow Funding Approval page.
9
Select the payment method and click Continue. the details on the Escrow Funding Preview page. Click the box to verify that you have read Elance’s Billing and Payment Service policy and authorize your escrow funding. Enter your password, and click Submit.
10 Review
To release milestone payments from the project's escrow account: 1 Click My Elance Buyer Activity. 2
Click the Payment icon
next to the appropriate project. ELANCE BUYER GUIDE
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3
Scroll down to the bottom of the Business Terms page to view the milestones. You will see a list of milestones, delivery dates, payment amounts and the funding and release status of each milestone.
4
Click the checkbox in the Release Payment column next to one or more milestones for which you want to release payment. You may only release payment on a milestone that has been funded.
5
Click the Release button.
6
Review the milestone release details on the Escrow Release Preview page. Make sure you have reviewed the milestone(s) that the provider has completed, and you fully accept the services provided.
7
Check the box to release the selected milestone(s) and provide payment to the provider, enter your password, then click Submit.
8
If you are disputing the deliverable, use your PMB to communicate details of the dispute with your service provider. If they are not responding, click on the Mediation link below the Fund button.
Providing Feedback
Once you have made payment to a provider, you may submit feedback on the services received via the Elance Private Message Board. To submit feedback: 1 Click My Elance Buyer Activity. 2
Click the Leave Feedback
icon next to the appropriate project.
3
On the Leave Feedback page, enter your feedback rating for the provider and any comments about your experience, then click Preview.
4
Review your feedback on the Feedback Preview page, then click Submit.
Once feedback has been submitted, it cannot be changed. Please review your ratings and comments carefully before clicking Submit. Elance recommends that you try to resolve any disputes with a provider before submitting feedback. ELANCE BUYER GUIDE
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SUPPORT
Getting Help Additional information about using Elance may be obtained in the following ways: • Elance Online Help • Elance Customer Service
Elance Help 1
Click Help in the navigation bar.
2
Click Find Answers. • Browse the top FAQs for answers to the most frequently asked questions
Elance Customer Service If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Elance Customer Service as follows: Email: http://www.elance.com/service Phone: (Mon-Fri, 7am - 5pm Pacific Time): 1-877-4-ELANCE (1-877-435-2623) Online Help: http://www.elance.com/help
S E C T I O N 5: S U P P O R T
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