Hajra Naz
Out of blue, one of the world’s largest freelance marketplaces, Guru.com has introduced a new system that could make many people question the reason for its existence.
In a blog post today, Guru.com announced that Freelancers and Clients now will be able to share a transaction privately.
It means, if both parties agree to make a job private, everything related to that job remains private. This essentially refers to, no transaction will show on the freelancer’s account, therefore not reflecting their overall income and also, both parties will not be able to leave feedback for each other.Guru.com also offers a private messaging feature that allows freelancers and businesses to communicate with each other without revealing their personal contact information. This is a great way to maintain privacy when discussing project details or negotiating about it.
Guru.com’s escrow feature allows freelancers and businesses to securely transfer funds for a project. The funds are held in a neutral third-party account until the project is completed to the satisfaction of both parties. This helps ensure that both parties are protected and that the transaction is kept private.
As a freelancer who has been freelancing for almost two decades, I’ve been thinking hard only to spin my head to find the logic behind this new feature.
The question is, why would a freelancer not want a job to reflect its profile? Who would mind showing extra money earned to increase the overall profile earnings on the profile? Why would someone mind showing positive new feedback on their profile, knowing Guru.com already has a system to block negative feedback, a feature no other freelance marketplace offers, at least to my knowledge?
Thinking out loud, perhaps this is a step to facilitate freelancers to hide their money from a particular client. But on second thoughts, when they withdraw the money to their bank, the money will still reflect a particular transaction and needs to be presented for tax/audit purposes.
Never mind, let’s not dive further to find the reason. The news is, Guru.com has a new feature that lets you get into a private business arrangement with a client and that means, the job will not be shown on your profile, and neither the money earned nor the feedback will showcase each party’s profile.
The featured image is taken from the Guru.com newsletter.
