Online job post boards are full of Volusion clients trying to find qualified freelancers or foreign companies to complete work on their storefronts, but what are the risks of outsourcing your Volusion projects on these types of boards? This question has been a hot topic in our forums lately. Current Volusion customers weighed in on their experiences outsourcing everything from coding and third party integrations, to design and SEO. The feedback they gave made it overwhelmingly clear that services such as these are, as the old adage goes, “buyer beware.”

Complaints from our Forum Users

These are the top complaints our customers had regarding their experiences with outsourcing their Volusion projects to freelancers or foreign companies:

1. Language barriers made communication difficult
2. Project took longer than expected/quoted
3. Client fell prey to a scam
4. Too much time was consumed by excessive or redundant communications
5. Work was of poor quality
6. Client’s local market was not well understood
7. Business Logic was flawed/client’s business model was not understood

Quotes from our Forum Users

“I was supposed to have a project done months ago that was outsourced and they are giving me the run-around on it, which means I’m going to have to pay even more money and find someone local to complete it as I just don’t have time to do it myself.” -htdepot

“I had three rather large applications built overseas.
Project 1: Sent over to India and went well until I did QA cycle 1. The business logic was way off and I ended up working on it myself over the course of a year and never finished it.
Project 2: Went very well, but it was done in Berlin and I went over there to meet once in a while.
Project 3: Sent over to Turkey. It went pretty good, but the emails and the recapitulations were in the hundreds which took a LOT of my time.” -SEOdon

“Outsourcing sounds good in theory, but the communication issues can make it more of a headache and eat up promised savings. On one quote I was trying to get it took me 2 hours to communicate what I wanted to an overseas programmer via AIM, and 2 short E-Mails to a programmer in the US.” -ritchey

“My experiences were very similar to others mentioned here. Time consuming, hassles, lousy execution, poor communication. We now use a local consultant in our own town and get much better results. We pay about 30% more for a completed project, but it’s done in days instead of months.” -Matilda

“I’ve found when you find a good one hang on to them. I came across a good ASP/.net developer and another one who works well on repetitive tasks for well below what it would cost me locally (if I could even find the help). On the other hand I lost over $1,500 on a PHP developer… They dragged out the project till just after the feedback period ran out and then left.” -Verlin

“I too have outsourced a lot, I find as a web designer/programmer that I can get a lot more projects done with these guys doing the work and find that my profit margin goes up a lot. I use the same guys over and over and never had a problem, these guys I use are on the ball and do everything I ask. Maybe I just got lucky!” -bdepew

Tips to Avoid Getting In Over Your Head

1. Do not pay the full project fee upfront without a written contract or terms of service. If you do not have a legally binding document, you should only pay the full fee once the project is completely done and you have tested the work that was performed.
   Requiring the full project fee upfront without first locking into a contract is a very common way for unscrupulous freelancers/companies to scam clients, and if you are new to outsourcing it can be easy to fall for (just ask our forum users).
2. Ask your peers on the Volusion forum if anyone has used the freelancer or company you are thinking of using for your project. Our forum users represent a wide variety of industries, backgrounds, and experiences- chances are if you’re considering using someone, there will be fellow Volusion users able to provide their two cents on the individual or company in question.
   If that fails, go online and hunt for reviews. Find out what experiences others have had with the service provider you’re considering before signing anything.
3. Use services provided by Volusion or authorized Volusion resellers so that you know any work done will be compatible with the Volusion software.
   Volusion’s custom design services
   Volusion’s custom professional services
   A popular Volusion reseller- BrandLabs
   For a full list of Volusion resellers please speak with your sales consultant.

Kate Pierce eCommerce Specialist

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