Should I pay upfront to this guy?

I placed an Auction for a community site. The bidder won at 1.5k but he wants an upfront payment of $400 dollar. He has 7 good feeback (getafreelancer) I wanted to use escrow or ask for a smaller upfront. He said he need atleast $400 upfront to pay his employee to start thats why he cant use escrow or lower upfront payment. He said that with Paypal you can get a refund within 4 month, is this true and how hard is it to get a refund from paypal? Am flexible with payment but he wont accept anything am offering.

He has examples that fit what am looking for and his feedback reflect this, most of the project he won were the type of site am building. Although one guy complain the same thing I am with the upfront thing.

Please advice.

Thanks.

 

I wouldnt do it. I prepaid on getafreelancer one time and the guy skipped out on me. I hate prepaying for services on freelancing sites. 50% thru escrow is fine, but just giving him the money? You'd have a hard time getting it back thru paypal as it probably be an uncovered transaction.

 

Also Paypal have a limmit don't they about what amount is still good for refunds

 

PayPal complaints must be made within 45 days of a transaction.....supposing they want to know at all.

After 45 days, the slim chance you had disappears and you are on your own.

http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/websc...=1711&unique_id=61633&source_page=_home&flow=


Certainly after four months they won't care.

Hope this helps.

 

Dailydee,

Tough call. Who knows for sure, but that doesn't sound right. Did the provider mention this downpayment before you awarded the project? Also, I do not believe getafreelancer (GAF) will help if there are any problems. From GAF terms:

"Any disputes regarding arrangements between Freelancers and Hirers remain solely between Hirers and Freelancers. We are not involved in any transactions between You and any other users of GetAFreelancer.com."

This is why I recommend rentacoder if you are just starting to build your network of freelance developers- rentacoder has a built in escrow process.

 

Does he have any references as well that you can contact / call? That might help you make the decision as well.

 

I think prepaying for webwork is a really bad idea until you have a developed relationship with someone.

 

I wouldn't do it if I were you.

Also, I could be wrong about this but I thought that Paypal don't handle disputes for "Services" .... only for "Products". As this is a service, you might have a tough time getting your money back if this guy doesn't do the job and just disappears.

In any case, you shouldn't have to prepay. Maybe see if he will accept part payment after half the job is done and full payment once the job is completed? Whatever suits you.

 

Here is my thoughts on this:

1) This is why an escrow service should be used in the first project between 2 parties. It protects both parties and puts both parties at ease in the business relationship.

2) I am surprised that he doesn't have enough of a reserve to pay his employee while using an escrow service. In a business you always want to have extra funds available.

3) On the other hand it does sound like he is able to perform the work that you desire. It sounds like he has had experience doing similar projects. I know from past experience it is very hard to find a person with niche expertise. I am not saying that it is impossible, but it can be time consuming to find the 'right' person.

I see 3 options for your situation:

1) Put your best poker face on and tell him no escrow, no job.
2) Do additional research until your comfort level is reached.
3) Just walk away and submit your proposal to Rent-A-Coder (RAC) and invite him to bid on it.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

 

Paypall doesn't cover virtual things (like software, service) under their moneyback policy. So getting refund if something goes wrong is not possible at all.

 

i smell something fishy about this guy... dont waste your money on him... i think you wont get your refund it things dont come out the way you want...