When looking at doing a fixed-price job, there’s a lot of things to consider when using oDesk. First off, you’re not guaranteed to get paid for your work like you are with hourly pay. That’s a bummer. However, if you pick good jobs from good buyers, then you’re very likely to get paid so they don’t get slammed with a zero rating and a nasty buyer review.

So what are some good practices and tips for you to get fixed-price jobs, do the jobs, and get paid for it? I’m going to be discussing these points and a few more in a series called (drum-roll, please) Tips for Fixed-Price Jobs!

So you’re looking at a job, and they have an acceptable budget for doing it (you should think about how long it will take you and then multiply that by 3 for editing), but you’re afraid you might do the work and get burned on the pay. The solution for that is…well, there’s really not a solution to it, but oDesk allows you to ask for a bit of the money up front. It’s scaled by percentage. There were several jobs I applied for and asked for 100 percent up front as an experiment.

Out of probably three, I was interviewed for one. I was hired in that one, but that’s just because she needed the work done right then. Don’t take that as a rule–it’s about as exception as exception gets. So after I did that project and did it well, she was impressed enough to contract me to do hourly work for a while. It worked out nice.

As a rule of personal preference, I tend to shy away from fixed-price projects, but in the name of pseudo-science, I decided to try out a few by doing zero percent upfront. I could only find one at the time, so I applied for it, set the max asking price for their budget, asked for zero upfront, and I was hired pretty quickly. The job was kind of an entry point to do more work for them on a website. I did the work, and I’m waiting for payment now, but they assure me I’ll get paid for what I’ve done if not more by doing the rest of the site.

You’ll have to decide for yourself whether or not to set the upfront percentage. Think of it like this: every percentage point you add to the upfront cost to hire you, you take away risk from yourself and put it on them. Also, every point you add takes away from your chances of getting an interview, even. Unless you’re feeling incredibly lucky and the buyer looks very desperate, you should not ever go above 50 percent. They’re afraid that you’ll take the money and run just like you’re afraid of losing your work and time.

So, protect yourself by finding a good buyer, maintain a good reputation, and show some faith by not asking too much or any upfront cost to them. If they look like a shady character, though, you should definitely ask for at least 10 percent upfront–just to test if they’re planning on scamming you. You might want to say something in your cover letter like, “I’m adding a 10 percent, upfront fee so we both have some security that the work will be done and I will be paid.” Again, it will reduce your chances of getting the job, but for shady types, it’s better to not get the job than to complete it and not get paid.

That’s the way almost all freelance work–well, works. They put up a fixed amount limit on a job, you bid on it, and you hope they pay them. There’s a few options out there to help make sure you’ll be paid, but there’s never a guarantee unless it’s in your hands. As of February, 2008, oDesk’s fixed-price system is in beta, and hopefully they will add some escrow services or something of the like to help out with fixed-price jobs. But, until then, the sad truth is that neither the buyer nor the provider is fully protected, and you’re more likely to find someone who wants you to work for free when not doing hourly work.

But I don’t want to knock fixed-price work entirely, so I’ll leave on a positive note. It’s a good way to make a large amount of money, and for the most part (on oDesk), the people who want to rip you off are pretty obvious. Also, you can get a sum of money really quick that’s equal to a few hours of work if you ask for a percentage up front.

I’ll think of some more experiments to try and share my experiences with you in the next part of the series.

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• Fixed-Price Money Matters
• Shape Your Own Freelance Career
• Fixed-Price Negotiation
• Are You Interested In the Project or the Payment?
• Give and Take Part 2: Electic Boogaloo