What: Peopleperhour is a broad employment platform to find freelance jobs in administration, design, writing, translation, photography, software development, business systems and more

Expected pay: $10 – $50 per hour

Husl$core: $$

Commissions & Fees: numerous and varied

Where: Nationwide (also worldwide)

Requirements: vary based on the job

Review:

Peopleperhour purports to find part-time gigs in a vast array of industries. Employers can post jobs for workers to bid on; workers can post “hourlies” stating the jobs they can do at a particular price.

If both buyer and seller agree to a job, the buyer puts the payment in escrow with the site. Peopleperhour releases the payment when the job is complete and the buyer is satisfied. Peopleperhour also says it has a “limited payment protection” plan, which is supposed to guarantee worker wages. However, there are numerous requirements for the protection plan to kick in.

Theoretically you can earn a good wage working through Peopleperhour. But, there’s a wide gulf between practice and theory here.

Workers say that there are too many low-value sellers to gain decent work on the site and that Peopleperhour’s fees are exorbitant. The site also finds imaginative ways to stiff workers even after their clients have paid.  

Our advice: Steer clear. There are better work platforms in every category in which Peopleperhour operates. 

Fees, fees and more fees

Indeed, what Peopleperhour may do best is find clever ways to charge fees.

Both buyers and sellers pay a commission, which ranges from 5% to 20% (depending on billings). But that’s just the start. You also need to consider the PPH point system. If you’re a worker, you get 15 points per month for free. You use those points to bid on jobs. However, some “high value jobs” require multiple points. If you run out of points, you have to buy more at a rate of roughly $9 per 5-point allotment. Buying points does not get you out of paying the commission.

If you have a payment dispute, PPH charges a “request for information” fee. There’s a “fast track” fee of $13, if you want a document reviewed quickly; a $15 “feature hourly” fee to promote the jobs you are willing to do; a “featured profile” fee (cost varies) to make listings more prominent; and a $10 monthly fee for inactive accounts.

Another red flag

In November of 2019, SideHusl editors noticed that review sites, such as Trust Pilot, were being flooded with positive PeopleperHour reviews. These reviews contain no real information — i.e. “this site is awesome..the best…special.” We believe these are fake reviews aimed at undermining the tales of woe experienced by real freelancers. 

What their users say: (From Glassdoor)

Unethical system and everything designed to get more money from clients / freelancers. They steal freelancers’ money by deactivating their accounts without any reason. 

Very high number of freelancers and fierce competition for each job. CEO with massive ego, thinks he is on heavenly mission to rip people off. (Sorry, connect people together.) 

From Trust Pilot:

Either the people inviting you to propose are scammers or the website has no vetting structure. 

I have requested the funds literally from 21 days ago to the current date and still not getting any tangible date from the support. 

Posted a request on their website to locate the money that was not put in my people per hour wallet and no one is replying to me on the platform.

A buyer hired me to organize some electronic documents, which I did. When raising an invoice for the work, he rejected it. First he said his pc had broken and then he had changed his mind and decided not to pay me anything. After raising a dispute with PPH, they suspended MY account giving a reason that I got paid outside of PPH! I most definitely have not and now I get paid zero. 

It’s a good idea and kinda works, but will be very much a last resort when I can’t get work by other means. Out of £485 earned, I get to receive £368.60. I make that a stinking 24% for them. However, I still haven’t received my cut because they’re constantly refusing to verify any of my bank accounts.

When you purchase services, they charge you more than is displayed. Even when you click on buy/pay, the final price is not displayed. Also, when withdrawing money and changing it to a different currency, there are always a few euros disappearing. Sometimes I have had 40-50 euros less than expected, which cannot be accounted for by any exchange rate or transaction fees displayed. These are hidden fees not justified in the terms and conditions.

From SiteJabber:

I’ve been a freelancer and buyer on PPH since 2013. Since 2020, the escrow account is no longer a safe way to insure payment. I’ve had two buyers that removed the deposit they place into escrow to insure payment. Once i completed the job, there was no money for payment. And PPH won’t take any action when the buyer removed funds from escrow. I strongly recommend getting jobs from elsewhere.

*Updated 1/6/2021