[mgiglesias]

You do have a point. All of us ex-vWorker users had to "put up" with the UI. Of course Freelancer is way better in that aspect. In terms of UX you have a better product than vWorker. However so do pretty much all other platforms. It isn't hard to offer something better than a "horrendous interface"

Regarding the feedback transition it indeed went smoothly, minor some glitches (for example one of our ongoing vWorker projects took two months to appear on Freelancer) The reputation, though, was greatly destroyed. To move from a long lasting #1 ranking to be in Level 10 (or whatever, can't remember which one) and from within that level to be placed in the 10s of thousands is not a fair move.

This is purely coming as a vWorker user, it has nothing to do with my business. I do understand that were existing users with an ongoing reputation on Freelancer, so displacing them because of an acquisition is also unfair.

But to offer "a badge" and "one month free membership", after which you have to pay monthly to keep your subscription is the reason why I personally know the majority of the top 100 workers from vWorker moved away from the forced switch.

They, and I, felt aggravated by a sudden and very harsh shutdown. Now this is not freelancer fault, I'd guess, but vWorker. They should have given a more friendly approach to the whole process, other than a "Goodbye folks I'm happy with the acquisition" and a "Email support at freelancer" from now on.

Most of the people I know (including me) from vWorker took our business INTO vWorker. I did not get most of my work through the platform, but I did move my clients into it. We did that because despite the awful UX there was a feeling of being a part of something that worked. You obviously have the numbers so you can probably see that was the case. And I can go as far as saying that probably 80% of vWorker business was handled by the top 20% of workers. So helping that 20% be happy about the transition would probably have helped the process.

This is, once again, my personal feeling as an ex vWorker. I do hope all those ex vWorker users that are part of Freelancer stay there and are happy with their decision.

And kudos to you matt for nerding it up and answer all these comments.

[mattbarrie]

You don't have to pay for membership. Free accounts have a 10% commission, versus 15% for vworker. Our paid commissions drop this as far as 3%.

You were happy moving your clients in to pay 15%?

[mgiglesias]

We paid 12.5% on private projects, 10% on DP.

Free accounts on Freelancer do pay 10% commission. But that's not the only difference. According to your own page (http://www.freelancer.com/membership/) free accounts only offer you 10 bids PER MONTH, 20 skills, 5 portfolio entries (why would you limit a freelancer ability to showcase his quality?)

So yes, I was happy. I personally feel I rather have someone charging me more and provide me a personal service, than pay less and have to pay more to be able to bid. Meritocracy is what should drive your limits upwards, not money.