🐈
» Forums » Clients » Skeptical of VA/ Dropshipping Manager
Page options
waltersm
Community Member

Skeptical of VA/ Dropshipping Manager

Hello,

 

I had a question about a freelancer **Edited for Community Guidelines** I am hiring about an ebay store. My posting originally started as an etsy store but he convinced me to do and ebay store, and I wanted to hire him so I did. I only have had him on for a day or so now and I'm not sure of his legitimacy of his Upwork profile. A lot of this job ratings or testimonials are kind of confusing and broken English. I new he needed personal information to start my store so that's why I set it up with my social and bank info, but i'm still skeptical. I'm not sure so I wanted to check here. He does not have any top ratings and has low earnings, so I just don't know if I should move forward with him or not. Here is he profile:

 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

 

Please let me know if you can help me out. 

ACCEPTED SOLUTION


Miranda W wrote:

I did hire him and I am talking to him but he can't add his own hours. The profile the more I investigated seemed kind of sketchy. What should I do?


well, you can try to limit the contract to 1-2 hours and see how it goes. Or you can close the contract without any hours. There's no downside to that.

View solution in original post

11 REPLIES 11
prestonhunter
Community Member

It will be helpful to keep key facts in mind:

- Most Upwork freelancers are wonderful and completely honest

- Some people come here posing as freelancers but they are really scoundrels, scammers or thieves

- Upwork does not vet freelancers

- Upwork does not guarantee the legitimacy of any information in any freelancer's profile

- Upwork is not party to a contract between a freelancer and client

- Upwork freelancers do not work for Upwork as employees

- Lots of people hire VAs on Upwork, but Upwork is not a VA site; it is a general purpose freelancer hiring site

- You can't ask Upwork employees these questions, about a specific freelancer, whether he can be trusted or not

- You may ask general questions and discuss topics here in this thread 

- It is never possible to know before you hire a freelancer if he will work out; sometimes a client must hire many freelancers before finding the one or ones who are right for a job; one of the most important technique a client must practice is firing freelancers 

Keep in mind that eBay and social media platforms have official, proper methods for delegating authority to VAs. You will want to familiarize yoursel with these methods, to eliminate risk to yourself and your accounts.

 

For example:

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/run-your-store/multi-user-account-access.html

 

"Multi-user account access can help you to improve your business efficiency by allowing you to grant permissions to other users to access your account and perform workflows on your behalf. Your account is safeguarded because you do not need to share your credentials and other private information."

 

You will use these techniques rather than providing your root credentials carte blanche to any freelancers.

 

You can do similar things with bank accounts and social media accounts. For example, you may provide bank details, but it will be in a structured, properly delgated way and will pertain to a business account you set up for this purpose. You won't provide your personal bank account details. And you will monitor bank transactions and reconcile those records with your business sale records.

2a05aa63
Community Member


Miranda W wrote:

Hello,

 

I had a question about a freelancer (Afaq Bin S.) I am hiring about an ebay store. My posting originally started as an etsy store but he convinced me to do and ebay store, and I wanted to hire him so I did. I only have had him on for a day or so now and I'm not sure of his legitimacy of his Upwork profile. A lot of this job ratings or testimonials are kind of confusing and broken English. I new he needed personal information to start my store so that's why I set it up with my social and bank info, but i'm still skeptical. I'm not sure so I wanted to check here. He does not have any top ratings and has low earnings, so I just don't know if I should move forward with him or not. Here is he profile:

 

https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~0188e44e6006d8f39a

 

Please let me know if you can help me out. 


Didn't he suggest an Ebay store since he doesn't do Etsy ones? The whole profile seems fake to me, too cookie-cutter.  And please don't tell me you are trying to hire him on an hourly basis, because that doesn't seem to be his real price.

I did hire him and I am talking to him but he can't add his own hours. The profile the more I investigated seemed kind of sketchy. What should I do?

re: "What should I do?"

 

You can do whatever you want to do.

 

You can close the contract if you want. Or leave the contract open.

 

You can set the maximum number of hours per week to one hour. Or zero hours. Or 40. Or any number. Or no limit at all.

 

Pay him just to talk to you about selling on eBay, if you want. Or you can close the contract and block him. Or not block him.

 

A key way you decide is to compare him and his work to the work done by other freelancers on the team. Always keep the best ones and fire the worst ones.


Miranda W wrote:

I did hire him and I am talking to him but he can't add his own hours. The profile the more I investigated seemed kind of sketchy. What should I do?


well, you can try to limit the contract to 1-2 hours and see how it goes. Or you can close the contract without any hours. There's no downside to that.

What do you mean by, "he can't add his own hours?" He needs to download the time tracker and use it properly. I would disable manual time if I were you, and check what he's doing via the screen captures.


Christine A wrote:
. I would disable manual time if I were you, 

I wouldn't. Manual time is 100% safe for clients. If a client disputes manual time, they will get all of it back. If a client disputes properly tracked  hours, they get nothing back, at all.


Petra R wrote:

Christine A wrote:
. I would disable manual time if I were you, 

I wouldn't. Manual time is 100% safe for clients. If a client disputes manual time, they will get all of it back. If a client disputes properly tracked  hours, they get nothing back, at all.


I guess I was thinking from the perspective of creative work; if I wasn't sure whether a freelancer is trustworthy, I'd want to see the screenshots to ensure that they were actually doing the work and not stealing it from somewhere else. 


Christine A wrote:

Petra R wrote:

Christine A wrote:
. I would disable manual time if I were you, 

I wouldn't. Manual time is 100% safe for clients. If a client disputes manual time, they will get all of it back. If a client disputes properly tracked  hours, they get nothing back, at all.


I guess I was thinking from the perspective of creative work; if I wasn't sure whether a freelancer is trustworthy, I'd want to see the screenshots to ensure that they were actually doing the work and not stealing it from somewhere else. 


AH! That does make perfect sense. But the OP's job doesn't sound so creative

It looks genuine; since he has plenty of e-commerce skills with low charges per hour, you should ignore his language skills.

 

Trust him and you will be the winner.

Latest Articles
Learning Paths