Topic: How to protect your self as designer/developer from scammers? (Read 272 times)

Well, why not to use already available freelancing marketplaces? If you contact with new customer then how will you show your trust? With this profile most of customer will not believe you first. And those expenses as you mentioned painter and etc? Is this for fun?
You will find customers of different natures and you have to treat them in different way

I like this point number 4 and it applies to majority of the services being offered as long as both of you agreed on the results the payer should take the results as it is, provided that the service provider should show a sample of his works and the instructions is properly communicated to the service provider.

This is where you went wrong . Very strange, how can you start working or handing over the design while your customer hasn't paid the bill yet? I've never used freelancers dot com but this site do have a Milestone payments that seems has the same method as fiverr dot com which you deserve to learn properly.
Maybe your experience is different or you may not understand how the procedures apply on this kind of site so you are scammed.

I have ordered digital designs several times on fiverr.com and here's how it works:
I showed an example of a design I wanted via PM on the site because site rules prohibit outside conversations. Then we discuss prices until we find a suitable one and provide an order button according to the agreed details and prices. I paid my bills, and they got to work. From this stage, the system will take us to a different chat room (not PM anymore). I also can't find the "cancel order" button there so I can't cancel my order. I have asked for revisions several times and they are doing it well.

if you have the portfolio to show then why not just do it on an platform like upwork.com, the kind of platform where you are protected as pro and client as well. You don;t even have to go into the awkward situation of asking to escrow because its already escrowed  by the platform. i must admit asking escrow can sometimes offending to some customers but its just the normal way in crypto especially if they tend to hide in anonymity.

Depending on the total amount, for new clients usually 50% upfront, 50% upon completion. Recurring clients 100% upon completion for the most part, unless it makes sense to split the project into milestones. Almost never had any troubles, but I pretty much work with vetted clients only which makes trust much less of an issue.

I don't do business on Bitcointalk, but I'm not sure if I'd personally use an escrow. If requested by the client, sure. But if I personally don't trust a client enough to go without escrow, I rather go without the client.

Employers typically pay after work is done and they're in possession of the result of that work. Most small services get done the same way. Demanding payment the way you do and given your reputation - that's quite irregular.

Death threat above, quoted for reference.

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Escrow has 0 value?
Well, what the fuck do you think escrows are here for, then huh?
Are you drunk while writing all this shit about escrows? Are you paying 50% or something like that to an escrow? No, right?
Still, his job is to protect both sides. You need not to provide your work to the party but to escrow and escrow will check and pass your work to them and release the coins to you after charging a minimal fee amount. Do you even understand shit about what you just said?

this is not crypto exchange ...this is work ... escrow you do for other things not for working ... in real life if you touch my work money i will beat you to death ...money is exchanged between employer and employee ...it's their contract that they both agree you moron ...

Go see how services work in real life ... like you ever worked a day in your life you Chinese commie .

Escrow doesn't mean "pay if you like them". Escrow follows mutually agreed rules of what needs to be done and how much needs to be paid etc. Customer sends money to escrow - that way you know the payment is guaranteed if you do your job. You send your design, script, whatever to escrow when you're done, escrow can check it out and make sure you did what you were supposed to do. The customer would have no way to get your work for free. This benefits both sides.

You sound more and more like a scammer by continuing to reject such a basic concept. Sure customers can deal with you directly without escrow if they want to. That doesn't mean that escrow is a bad thing.

Dude are you stupid or what ? It's design ...when you send the screenshot to client ,you basically sent your work ...

I dare you to make 100 templates for me ,send me the screenshots and after i will pay you if i like them ... we can use escrow  

Escrow protects both sides of the deal. You think it has zero value for you since you're forcing your customers to pay first but you're probably losing some potential customers because of that. The value of escrow for your customers is not zero - with escrow they would have a third party to protect their interests.

Also all that say don't deal with me here are Chinese ... i don't deal or work with chinese ,i am in conflict with them ...so you guys know why they are attacking me ..

Stop buying or stop dealing with Chinese they are responsible for Covid pandemic.

Lot's of people trying to scam you on freelancer.com ...

For example here is how they do it for design: ....
Let's say they are developers also ...they make a order with you for a template ... you send them screenshot or video etc and after they code it them self and refuse  to pay ,saying your work is bad quality etc...
If they are not developers they order from you but refuse to make payment at the end,they take your screenshot template  and then they use indians to code it  for cheaper price ...

Same for logo,letterheads,flyers etc all they got to do is get the screenshot and after the easy part of remaking it they can do it .

You do all the work(creative part) and after you get screwed. I know this from personal experience .

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For coding service never upload the template online ,just show them screenshot or video ,only if they send you the psd file or screenshot to code.
For programming same thing never upload just show them video or screenshot
Never show your source code until client makes payment

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By asking 50% upfront ,your creative work is protected and after if they don't want to pay ,you still got payed for your creative work.

Escrow has 0 value when doing design work ...this is what they don't understand ,most people here that are not designers or developers.

Don't transact with op or use those terms--you will just appear shady.

One, they are not trusted enough for anyone to be giving upfront payment.
Two, Escrow protects both parties, when someone is very keen in not using a trusted escrow, it is highly likely to be a scam.  
Three, they post stuff that encourages violence and profanity.

If you are going to develop something, just ask the buyer to escrow the amount. This might lead to dissent from the buyer but you need to be professional in explaining why and how this is important. Knowing your past history of accusing other designers to be running a gang, I guess being professional is tough for you, so you will need to work on it.

Just assume that every person looking for a job is not going to pay you. So you must ask for the escrow and  their budget from before hand. For well known projects though you can skip this.

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Offtopic: You really need to stop your beef with other members of this forum. This is a forum after all.

I just will use payment methods such as digital marketplace sites or freelancers to use. I will still use escrow to respect customer trust and comfort. Usually (afaik) orders cannot be canceled, so I can offer unlimited (conditional) revisions until the customer is satisfied with my work.

I think this is fair enough from both sides.

Are you working in your customer's house? Also I've never heard of paying a painter based on a video.

Your "terms" protect only you and not your customer, and your excuses to avoid using escrow are becoming quite pathetic.

This is how i do it for my services:

You must agree with this terms before you make a order

1.For coding and template design services payment is done half upfront and half at the end when i will send you demo video.If  last payment is done you will get the files ,if second payment is not sent for files you will not get the files.
2.For graphic design services payment is done upfront . You are paying for work not for success.
3.For programming services payment is done via milestone ,once a milestone is complete you get video of work and i send you files of completed work ,or you can hire by the hour.
4.For design services there are no guarantees that you will like the work ,the payment you do is for work , not for "success". You may like the work or not .
5.If you send a script so i work on it do not say that i will "run away" with your script or something like that,i have zero use for your script as i can build any script you see online.I am a programmer.

If you agree with the terms above glad to help you if not you will have to find someone else.Don't ask for escrow on design or programming services ... You are paying for work same as you pay someone to work in your house(painter,electrician etc. Must be mutual trust.

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How do you guys do it for your services ?