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| Project Owner login | ||||
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For Project Owners (recruiters, webmasters, service buyers)
Registration
Registration
To register as a project owner, click on "register" on the top menu, then click
the "Register as a Project Owner" button.
This will take you through the registration process. After successful
registration, you can login using your username and password, and post your
first project.
Fees
There are absolutely no fees for listing a project on SupportUniverse.
However, when you select the winning bidder, you
should deposit the amount of the selected bid in escrow, using our escrow
service. We currently only accept wire transfer (EFT) to our bank account. Funds deposited in escrow are NOT
released to the service provider unless you declare that you have received your
project complete and as per the terms agreed upon.
Please note that you should NOT accept offers outside SupportUniverse (example:
the service provider places a bid for an amount and then, in private, asks you
to pay a larger amount, or asks you to send the funds without using the "accept
bid" feature and depositing funds in escrow). SupportUniverse is NOT responsible for projects done without
using the "accept bid" feature. Also the Service Provider is ONLY responsible
for the amount of his bid in the project listing page.
To post a new project, login to your account, then click on the "post project"
link in the top menu.
You will then be taken to the "post your project" page, where you should fill in
all the required information.
Select category: this is the category under which the project will be listed. At
this time, you may only select one category per project.
Project title: This is the title that will appear when someone browses the
category under which your project is listed, or when someone performs a search.
Make your title as descriptive as possible.
Project description: This is where you should describe your request/project in
details. A typical project description will include all the information that the
service provider might ask for in order to get a full idea about what is
requested. You may NOT list direct contact information within the project
description (example: email address, phone number, ICQ#,etc..). You may use
the private message system which is enough to discuss all details of the
project.
Post this project for: This describes the number of days your project will be
live on SupportUniverse and accept bids. When the project ends, you may no
longer accept new bids, or private messages from service providers. However, a
service provider may may reply to previous private messages even after the
project ends.
What is the maximum you are willing to pay: This describes the maximum amount of
USD that you are willing to pay for the service provider in order to complete
and deliver your project in the specified period of time. This amount sets the
ceiling for bidding, which means the service provider may not place bids higher
than this number. However, bids can be lower than this number, and can go as low
as $1.
Minimum experience required: This is the number of experience years that the
Service Provider has. This can be verified by viewing his portfolio. You may
also ask for additional verification documents in private message.
Should be delivered within: This is the ,maximum number of days (timescale)
before which the project should be delivered. The service provider can only
place bids with equal or lower number of days.
Skills required: This describes the skills required for the project.
Minimum Feedback required: This limits the bidding
for this project to service providers having at least the required feedback
rating.
Uploading files: You can use this feature to upload files that you believe will
help the Service Provider get a complete idea about your request and estimate
his bid amount and time scale more accurately. All uploaded files will be
available to registered users for download via the project listing page. None
registered users will not be able to view or download these files.
Once a bid is placed, project owners will be notified by email. The bid will be
seen on the project listing page.
Sending and receiving private messages
SupportUniverse provides the Private Messaging tool to enable Service Providers
and Project Owners to communicate and discuss all aspects of the project before
the auction ends and accepting a winning bid.
You may not exchange contact information in private
messages. Doing so could lead to the cancellation of the project listing.
Private messages support HTML tags including anchors (links).
To send a private message to a Service Provider, login to your account, click on
"open projects", click on the desired project, this will open the project
listing page. Scroll down to the bid in question, and click on "send a private
message to (SP username)". This will open a small popup window where you can
type your message and send it. The SP will be notified by email of the new
private message.
When you receive a private message, you will be notified by email. All private
messages will be available for viewing by clicking on "view private messages" on
the left menu (you must be logged in).
To reply to a private message, click on the message in question, then click on
"reply"
To edit a project after it is posted, login to your account and click on "open
projects" on the left menu.
Then click "edit". Note that you cannot "change" the previous description,
instead, you may only "add" new lines. This is because existing bids will be
based on what the previous description was.
You may also upload new files or delete existing ones.
Ending the project and accepting a winning bid
The project ends automatically when the listing period is over.
You can also end the project manually. To do this, login to your account and
click "open projects" on the left menu. Then click "end listing now".
When the project ends, you will be able to select a winning bidder. You cannot
select a bidder as long as the project is open (active).
To accept a winning bid after a project ends, go to the project's listing page,
scroll down to the desired bid and click "accept bid". Note that the select bid
feature will only be available after the project ends.
You should always use the "accept bid" feature to
select the winning bid and deposit funds in escrow. Sending funds directly to
the service provider could result in losing your money, and is prohibited by the
new SU terms of service. When you accept a bid and deposit funds in escrow, an automatic exchange of contact information will be done. Each party will receive an email containing the other party's registered contact information. You may NOT send contact information over private messages. You may NOT list contact information within the project description. It is against our Terms of Service, and will expose your info to regular browsers and any one who visits the website. Paying the Service Provider using escrow Once you select a winning bid, and receive contact information, you should pay the service provider the amount of his bid. The terms of payment are subject to the agreement between you and the SP. You do NOT pay the SP directly. Instead, you should deposit the funds in Escrow to ensure that the funds are NOT released to the Service Provider until the project is delivered. Once the Service Provider delivers the project as required in the agreement, you can ask SU to release the funds. To do so, go to your account homepage, and click on "Billing Info", then select the project that you want to release the funds for and click "mark as delivered". This will release the funds to the Service Provider, and prompt you to leave feedback. Once the auction ends and you deposit the funds in escrow, the service provider should start working on your project according to the terms specified in the project listing and his own bid. The delivery should be within the specified time scale, and failing to do so will result in refunding your escrow amount, give him a negative feedback, as well as other legal obligations. SupportUniverse offers the "feedback" feature as a tool to better know the Service Provider. Each SP's feedback is accessible by clicking on "Feedback" or "F" next to his name and bid in the project listing page. There are three types of feedback:
- Positive feedback: means the project has been successfully delivered, and the
project owner was satisfied of the results Each feedback is usually accompanied by a comment. After successful delivery of the project, you should leave a feedback about the service provider. You can do this by clicking on "closed projects" on the left menu, then clicking on "leave feedback".
Leaving feedback after each transaction/project will help the community and
other potential buyers to better know what to expect from the SP, and is greatly
appreciated. In the case where a dispute arises, you can ask SupportUniverse to mediate between you and the Service Provider. And if it appears that the Service Provider did not deliver the project as required, you will be given a full refund of the amount deposited in escrow. Refunds are sent in the form of a cheque released in your name sent to your registered address. | ||||
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