Essay-writing businesses: Bad and good signs?

What things in particular should we be looking for with these businesses? My personal interest in essay-writing businesses is as a writer, but I'd guess many of the warning signs are the same for a potential customer as for a potential writer. So, any thoughts on things that are generally bad signs, and things that are generally good signs?

Somewriter, the most important thing is transparency. You, as a writer, should have all the relevant information on the website you are working for:
1) what are its client-end sites?
2) where is the site/company/owner(s) located? It does not matter if they are located on Mars or Jupiter as long as they are honest about it.

3) is the site owned by a company? It should be.
4) management, owner, admin contact info? Do you have it and are you able to reach them when you need to?

Legits do not hide pertinent info from customers/writers and they certainly do not use pseudonyms and fake names when dealing with either.

You need to know who's accountable.

Another good indicator is their recruitment policy. Did they vet you before signing you on? Did they ask for proof of your academic qualifications, etc.? If they care about their customers and reputation, they would.

Fines: stay far, far away from companies/sites which have a fine policy in place.

Thanks for the response. I've actually considered setting up my own website to avoid dealing with potentially fraudulent companies. I know there's plenty of competition out there but any extra income would be great. I don't want to rip anyone off, and I don't want people to worry I'll rip them off. My main concern is that having my name attached to it may hurt me in the future, as I hope to one day have a career in the academic field. I could see a university not wanting to hire a professor who previously wrote papers for college students. But I'll never get there without money for grad school, so here I am.

And just to be clear, I would never use a fake name to avoid that concern. But it is a legitimate concern, so maybe there's some better solution.

Client communication is imperative. Keep the communication lines open and makesure that you initiate first contact. the chint will appreciate the action and view this as a measure of good faith and trust. In line with this daily updates till the Paper is completed will build confidence in the client. ask ifhe wants to see a draftof thepaper, just to make sure you are bothon the same page. These are all positive signs as far as a client is concerned. The bad sign? Any writer whoignores client inquiries via e- mail or other contact venues, not informing the client of the papers progress, and an unwillingness on the part of the writer to be supervisedin any way.

For me, the most important warning sign to look out for is the percentage of and basis of penalties applied to writer earnings. Once the company places too much emphasis on the penalties of a writer, you can bet that they will always penalize your salary for any trumped up charges, whether client or QAD related. Read the fine print. The companies that plan to cheat the writers will always bury the penalties reference in a part of the website that the applicant writer would never consider looking into. If you cannot find it, ask their writer representative outright. The mor evasive their response and explanation, the more you should not work with the company.