I have to differ here.

[Sherlan L]

If there is a trap behind a door and you don't know it and you walk into it, are you a fool for not knowing that in advance.

[Heather H]

You could think that, but just as in real life, cheap is not always quality, in fact, in most cases it isnt. Even my 4 year old knows the difference between cheaper store brand items, and quality name brand items. When it comes to business, things are more or less the same, that is just common sense, not a trap hidden behind a door in any case. When I hire online, I expect to pay less than hiring locally, but I dont expect to pay more than 35% less to get the same quality. The same goes for my work online, I charge the clients I get online a bit less than I do the ones that actually come to my brick and mortar office, why, less overhead, less taxes and all that. Eh.

[Misty K]

Name brand items aren't always better than store brand items--it's a trick of the trade. The same rule apply's here. I've hired people for $25.00 an hour, and some for even $30.00 an hour, while others have bid $12.00 an hour (I have myself before). The work quality should still be excellent no matter what the worker is working for. They decided to take the job, right? It's disgusting to think that just because you work for "minimum wage" you're supposed to do less than great work? That idea is really abhorrent to me. There is too much entitlement across the board. The contractor is the one who sets their wages, not the client. You, the contractor choose to work for whatever you bid, period. Don't do sorry ass work if you don't like the pay. It's sickening.

[Katrina B]

This is where a like button would be useful. You are spot on.

[Misty K]

I went back to check the original post, but sorry. I failed to see where the OP mentioned anything about paying low rates. That was just assumed by others. I don't know why that is always the first assumption really. I've had bad hires when the individuals worked for high rates. So, rates aren't the big picture here, not always.

[Heather H]

"Hiring these programmers was just a waste of time and money, I would implore anyone looking for a cheaper option to get things done to not waste your time. Better to hire someone that knows what they are doing even if you have to pay them more and someone who you would be able to trust." It is not a baseless assumption, the assumption was made due to this comment only, which I might add would lead anyone to assume that they paid much less than even a legit bargain programmer would charge. Of course, there are simply bad contractors out there I agree, regardless of the rate. Just as there are bad clients out there, regardless of the rate. The posters comment that all programmers from a certain area are bad is just appalling, since it isnt true. Every country has their good contractors and their bad contractors in every niche. Hope this clears up your confusion about why most of the people replying to this thread make a comment on the rate.

[Misty K]

I took that as her looking for a slightly cheaper means than going the traditional route though. You know, cutting out the extra expenses that bigger business likes to throw in. I don't believe it was illicit to dirt cheap. I hope not anyway. However, my experiences have just really steered me away from Odesk. For example, outside of coders I had another individual I hired a while back; this was also for an above average amount. This one jumped the boat when the work was too much to bear. It goes back to what you said--there is good and bad everywhere; but, I've unfortunately encountered a lot of bad.

[S B]

This is why you do a fixed rate. Never pay more than 50% until the project is over. This way if they do not perform, you do not have to pay them. Paying hourly is asking for a half-ass job.

[Marissa S]

... is the greatest teacher of them all. We all make mistakes but the trick here is to fail smart, fail cheap and fail small so you won't end up with a major pain in the..

[Dianne M]

lets hope he learns from his own mistakes instead of blaming odesk for his own decisions.