Skills for Projects: FAQs

SkillsforProjects.com is an "Online Project & Skills Marketplace" where people and businesses (" Buyers") find and hire qualified professionals to get projects done without adding permanent headcount. Whether the Buyer is seeking skills unavailable in-house, or needs something done quickly, or has a complex Project that may span months, we have highly qualified service professionals (" Freelancers") interested in bidding for the job. Freelancers use this site to meet customers, provide solutions and get paid, via a safe Escrow service, for doing what they do best.

Please refer to the menu item "Fees" for the detail.

Featured Projects are highlighted on the site home page and therefore get more attention and hence more bids from Freelancers.

Browse Projects and then click on the Project Name. Beneath the Project Detail there is a List of Bids.

Browse Projects, click on the Project Name then click the VIEW PROJECT FORUM button just below the title of the Project. You can post on the Project Forum when logged in and then a button ADD MESSAGE will appear top right above the Project Forum messages.

You can use the Private Message System when logged in. There are two ways to post Private Messages ("PMs"). The My Control Panel menu Profile > Private Messages will open the PM  inbox with the SEND PM button. The alternative method is when viewing a Buyer or Freelancer profile a SEND PM button appears at the foot of the profile.

The Escrow service makes transactions safe and protects both Buyer and Freelancer. The Buyer deposits the fee to be held securely in a trust account for the Freelancer so that work can begin in the knowledge that the fees are already available. When the Freelancer delivers the work to satisfy the requirement, Buyer releases the funds to the Freelancer.

The option to Rate and Review a Freelancer or Buyer appears after the Project’s status is "Closed", which occurs after the Freelancer accepts the Project. Typically Ratings and Reviews will be posted after the Project is complete, with deliveries and payments having been made. Users may only Rate and Review once per Project, and they cannot be editted or withdrawn.

Leaving feedback in the form of Ratings and Reviews helps other Members properly evaluate each other when considering an engagement.

SPUR is our Site Participation User Rewards Scheme, a points based site activity incentive scheme. SPUR incentivises participation and activity on the site which in turn generates rewards points for the user. Those points may then be used to buy services, such as advertising, or taken as currency.

In the unlikely event of a dispute, Buyers and Freelancers request mediation assistance from Skills for Projects. The first step in this process is self-mediation where the parties try to come to a resolution independently. If this does not work, we will facilitate a conference call to assist the parties in reaching agreement. If this fails we will promptly, even-handedly and fairly assess the situation in the light of our extensive experience in the industry. We will then explain our decision, which is final and binding on the parties, and assist in achieving a quick and final settlement. If the Freelancer is unable or unwilling to complete the Project the Buyer may select another Freelancer with no fee charge to us.

The current browser versions Skills for Projects supports are Firefox 3.5, IE 8.0 and Safari 4. The site may work on previous versions and other browsers but it is not guaranteed.

First make sure that what you are doing is the right thing! Then post a thread on the Site Forum Category "Problems and Bugs" having first read the Forum Rules. This will prompt a response giving some assistance.

Post your Idea or Suggestion in the Suggestion Box having first read the Forum Rules. In the Suggestion Box you can also Vote and Comment on Others's Ideas. There are separate Suggestion Boxes for the Master Site and the Industry / Sector specific sites. Please choose the appropriate one for your idea.

To send us an email at any time, please click on the "Contact Us" menu item top right. We will endeavour to respond promptly during normal UK based office hours 0900 to 1800 hours Monday - Friday. Outside normal office hours we will respond as soon as we can and anyway at the start of the next business day.

To sign up as a Buyer, click the “Sign Up” main menu item on the top middle of our pages. Then click the “Register As A Buyer” button below the “Features” section.

When logged in hover the curser over the middle menu item "Projects" then click "Open New Project" and the Project Form will open. Please read Our "Guidelines" articles before posting a Project.

Generally projects on this site are posted with a public URL and accessible to search engine crawlers such as Google. If you wish your project to only be searchable within the site, during the posting process select the option to make it Non-Public, visible to Registered Users only, or make it Private, for specified Freelancers only.

Featured projects stand out and get more attention as they are highlighted on the home page. This is a good choice when you want higher-quality proposals from more established Freelancers, but it requires a fee which is deducted from your account balance.

Please refer to the menu item "Fees" for the detail.

When reviewing bids, keep in mind the amount and/or timescale is not the most important part of the proposal. Be sure to consider the Freelancer’s profile, skills, experience, completed Projects, presentation, web site, Ratings and Review comments from other Buyers for previous Projects. It is sensible to question Freelancers in detail using the Private Message System prior to making your choice. There is no obligation to accept a bid. And you may extend the duration of the Project listing if you are not happy with the number or quality of the bids.

To accept a Freelancer's Bid you must have a minimum of the total Bid amount plus fees and PayPal charges in your account.

After you have selected a Freelancer, send him/her a draft Project Agreement (or possibly the Freelancer will submit a draft Project Agreement for your review). Follow this link for a sample Project Agreement. For your safety we recommend that you agree to use the Escrow Service for payments to your Freelancer. Project requirements, specifications, Milestones, Deliverables and payment schedule should be clear before your Freelancer begins work to avoid any misunderstanding or delays. However, you and the Freelancer may agree an update to the Project Agreement at any time during the Project lifecycle.

During the selection and interview process, Buyers and Freelancers may communicate publicly via the Project Forum or privately through the Private Message System ("PMS"). We recommend that you keep all communications on the PMS to maintain a time-stamped, record of all clarifications and agreements around scope, Deliverables, Milestones, payments, timeframes, etc. In the unlikely event of a dispute, the PMS will be the only record of communication that is referenceable for resolution of the dispute.

To help ensure a successful Project, you should agree Milestones and Deliverables with your Freelancer who should give you a weekly status report. Managing your project is similar to managing any professional services engagement: communicate often, provide prompt feedback, pay when agreed and submit objective feedback. For more details on how to have a successful Project, refer to "Guidelines".

You are free to cancel a Project before the Freelancer has accepted. After acceptance you may only cancel with the agreement of the Freelancer.

Please use our Escrow service for project payments for both parties' safety. You should make a deposit to the Escrow for each Milestone in the Project. Your funds will be held safely until you release those funds to the Freelancer following your review and acceptance of the work.
If you decide not to use our Escrow service, you can pay the Freelancer by the Transfer service on the site. Never pay a Freelancer outside of this site's payment system as it increases your risk and it is a violation of our Terms and Conditions.

Skills for Projects currently uses only PayPal for payments. This is the most popular, safe and secure online payment system. Never pay a Freelancer outside of this site's payment system as it increases your risk and it is a violation of our Terms and Conditions. Other payment methods are scheduled soon.

To sign up as a Freelancer click the “Sign Up” main menu item on the top middle of our pages. Then click the “Register As A Freelancer” button below the “Features” section.

Open the Project and there is a button "Place Bid" to click at the top right of the Project Form. Please read Our "Guidelines" document before bidding on a Project.

Generally Projects and Bids posted on the Skills for Projects site are available with a public URL and accessible to search engine crawlers such as Google. If the Project was posted with the private options for Registered Users or Specified Users only, then your Bids will be searchable only within the site.

Please refer to the menu item "Fees" for the detail.

You may retract a bid by hovering the curser over "Projects" then clicking "My Bids", then clicking "Retract your bid" under the "My Bids" list item "Actions".

There is no obligation for the Buyer to accept a bid. The Buyer may extend the duration of the Project listing if he or she is not happy with the number or quality of the bids.

For your peace of mind, to accept your Bid your Buyer must have a minimum of the total Bid amount plus fees and charges available in his/her account.

After your Bid is selected your Buyer should immediately send you a draft Project Agreement for review. If not, you should submit a draft Project Agreement for review to your Buyer. Follow this link for a sample Project Agreement. For your safety we recommend that you request (insist, perhaps) that the Buyer agrees to use the Escrow Service for payments. Project requirements, specifications, Milestones, Deliverables and payment schedules should all be clear and agreed before you begin work. However, you may agree with the Buyer to update the Project Agreement at any time during the Project lifecycle.

During the selection and interview process, you should communicate publicly via the Project Forum or privately through the Private Message System (PMS). We recommend that you keep all communications on the PMS to maintain a time-stamped record of all clarifications and agreements around scope, Deliverables, Milestones, payments, timeframes, etc. In the unlikely event of a dispute the PMS will be the only record of communication that is referenceable for resolution of the dispute.

To help ensure a successful Project, you should privide your Buyer a minimum of a weekly status report on progress, Milestones and Deliverables. Managing your project is similar to managing any professional services engagement: communicate with your Buyer often, provide prompt answers to questions posed, provide Deliverables on Milestones, request testing and request payment when Deliverables are accepted. For more details on how to have a successful Project, refer to "Guidelines".

If the Escrow Service is being used for the Project, which we recommend for both parties' safety, a deposit exists in Escrow for each Milestone in the Project, where your fee will be held safely until release. You need to provide the Deliverable to the Buyer for review, testing and acceptance. On acceptance of the Deliverable, request release of your fee from Escrow.
If your Project is not using the Escrow service, you can, on acceptance of the Deliverable, submit an invoice to the Buyer for payment via the site Transfer service. Never agree to a payment outside of this site's payment system as it increases your risk and it is a violation of our Terms and Conditions. When the fee is in your account you can request withdrawal of your money.

We currently only use PayPal for payments. This is the most popular, safe and secure online payment system. Never agree to a payment outside of this site's payment system as it increases your risk and it is a violation of our Terms and Conditions.
To withdraw money from your account, go to Funds > Withdraw Funds
You will see the “Withdraw Money (Step 1 of 3)” Screen:
Amount -- enter the amount you wish to withdraw. There is a notification of the small fee charged for the payment processing for the transaction. The actual amount of money you will receive will display in the field just below it.
Payment Method – currently we only support payments via PayPal.
Click the “Continue” button.
You will now see the “Withdraw Money (Step 2 of 3)” Screen:
What e-mail should we send the PayPal payment to? – insert your PayPal email account.
Click the “Continue” button.
You will now see the confirmation screen (Step 3 of 3). Once you are happy about the entries made, click the “Withdraw Money” Button. You will receive a report displayed in the “Pending Withdrawal” Screen in your account.
Once the withdrawal request has been accepted by the Administrator, the Withdraw report in your account will automatically move from the “Pending Withdrawal” to the “List Withdraw Archive” and your money has been successfully transferred to your own PayPal account. Other payment methods are scheduled soon.