[Nextgrid]

You're not missing anything.

Beyond the fact it's a rat race, the other problem is that there's zero moderation nor penalty to weed out the monkeys who will bid unsustainable rates to every single job (regardless of their skillset - which is nonexistent btw but I digress), and then find a way to get a good rating despite delivering shit (if delivering anything at all). I've read stories of some freelancers withholding the deliverable until the client leaves a good rating.

It's difficult to compete by offering quality when every single task post is swarmed by these monkeys. For an unexperienced client they look like very good deals and the good rating makes them feel at ease. Of course, they'll end up disappointed, but at that point they'll either leave the platform for good, or not have any more time or money to pay someone better to try it again. In the end, everyone (but the monkeys) lose.

[muzani]

I'm not sure when the last time you used it was, but now they allow limited applications per person. Someone swarming won't get very far. A lot of people are quite high quality, and I feel the rating system does the trick. Downside is they rate you back, so if someone did a shit job and you say so, they'll do the same on you. If anyone has lots of high ratings, it's likely that their bad work isn't being rated.

You can choose to withhold payment until the deliverables are delivered. IMO the bigger risk is that a lot of people on there are doing it part time and slow or absent. I've had a few people who also choose to back out. The system works great for small tasks (make me a map marker feature), not so great for bigger tasks (make me an app).