Hi everyone, not sure if you've heard, but Collis has just announced some exciting news concerning a new product from Envato. It's called Microlancer and it will be a new way for freelancers to connect with buyers who are interested in getting small-scale creative jobs done simply, transparently, safely and quickly. We have built a platform which allows buyers to easily explore a world of different services they can buy, such as logo customization, photo retouching and many more.

Here is a link to the whole post plus a video from Collis
http://enva.to/Vt3zgP

Thanks for your time! - Josh

Interesting concept. I assume it has to be very basic tasks because most freelance jobs are like snowflakes. The skeptic in me definitely worries that it will be another outbid the industry site. Those seem to be prevalent on the internet.

Thanks for posting about this here. I posted a comment on the blog, but I'll repeat it here:

"I like the video as a way to introduce the new service � very effective way to get your message out to us.

There�s a lot of potential here, but I�d like to know more about the mechanics of the provider getting paid and the buyer dealing with any issues with the work.

In some ways I think this might be like the buyer and seller feedback system on eBay where you try to avoid buyers not paying even though the work was as requested or freelancers not delivering what the buyer asked for.
Another site tried something similar a while back and discontinued it because they didn�t address the above issues."

The other site was iStock and BuyRequest was the attempt they made at addressing this market. Some of their problems were in the implementation, but some were perhaps inherent in the issues of client and freelancer interaction.                                                 As a potential freelancer in this system, how would I avoid situations where I do work and the buyer backs out or doesn't pay?

Glad you liked the video, I liked it too � Collis is super animated in it hehe. We�re not quite ready to reveal all the details about payment and dispute resolution yet. But a few quick points:
* We will take payment for jobs upfront from the buyer, before the freelancer has started any work and will hold it until successful completion of the job as agreed by both parties.
* We have a robust dispute resolution system planned.
* We�re still working on how the feedback system will work.
Great feedback!