Popular academic research service business models (advantages / disadvantages)

Business Models of Popular Writing Services

There are four popular example academic research service business models:

1. Website charges a customer in advance as soon as he/she submits the order form.

ADVANTAGES - client pays without delay; writer can see and take available projects right away.

DISADVANTAGES - the automatic project estimate system is prone to errors (it may either undervalue or overvalue the reasonable project cost); client may not always be 100% sure the project he "ordered" would actually be completed.

2. Website sends a quote only if they are sure they have an available writer able to complete the project.

ADVANTAGES - when client pays, he/she may be sure the project would be completed.

DISADVANTAGES - client has to wait for a quote and may not always be 100% sure a writer would be available to complete his/her project; writer who bids on a project may not be sure it would actually get paid.

3. Website charges a customer after he/she "accepted" the project.

ADVANTAGES - client doesn't risk his/her project would not be completed at all.

DISADVANTAGES - the quality of the project may not meet the highest standard because a writer risks not getting paid at all; the system is prone to abuse (from writer's/website's perspective).

4. Website provides a "free sample page;" if a customer likes it, he/she orders the rest of the project.

ADVANTAGES - client is able to check if his/her writer has a chance to successful; many prospective buyers may want to try the service for the first time and stick to it if they like it.

DISADVANTAGES - client needs to be qualified enough to judge the quality of the sample page; writer risks not getting paid for the sample paper; the whole process may take more time than expected.

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Maybe there are other business models out there? What are other advantages/disadvantages?

Am I understanding correctly that the writer would be producing this sample with no guarantee of being paid for it? The problem with this business model is that the better writers will not do this. There is too much paid work out there for a good writer to be messing around with producing free samples. Therefore, only marginal writers will sign up to work for such a service. Good writers want a very straightforward system, and they want guaranteed payment.

Trust is an issue in this business, but in my experience, if you are a trustworthy native English speaker, it is not THAT big an issue. (I am speaking from the perspective of an individual writer. I know very little about the companies.) American clients can tell from an email or two whether they want to work with you. They look at the grammar and phrasing. And you can send them a sample of an earlier paper you've done. If that's not enough, you can talk to them on the phone or Skype and they can hear your accent. ESL students can't read as much from the informal communications, so they can be quite guarded. Generally, as an individual writer, you must depend on word of mouth to get many of these customers. When they hear about a good writer, they will pass the name along to their friends.

So in my opinion, if you are offering a good service, it is not necessary to go through a bunch of contortions, such as free samples, to earn customers' trust. If you're trustworthy, the trust kind of earns itself.

Right.. but there are over a thousand of unique essay research websites (at least according to EssayDirectory.com), so a new company must start somewhere to build trust. Offering a free page (or accepting payment after service) may be a good way to achieve that.

Decent English is the best place to start. Low price and good writers (American-born or British-born). But it's not possible to check this. Don't forget about free gifts! :)

But in all seriousness, who is providing the free samples? Are the writers being paid for this work?

I'm not sure who's writing the samples; I think writers do it for free in the hopes to get business (or companies have enough "free samples" on any possible topic ;).

I want to clarify that 99essays and srandrews are one and the same, that being me. I do not intend to use srandrews anymore. The change is for marketing purposes. Where srandrews has appeared lately, it's been because I used my other computer, where that name was still logged in. Sorry for any confusion.

And when I say "marketing purposes," I mean that the name lines up with what I use at essaychat.

What makes an academic outsourcing site popular? Hmmm... That is a trick question. Nobody really knows what makes a writing site popular among students. It could be anything from the low prices, discounts, referral programs, resale arrangements for previously completed papers, or any number of money making ventures for student affiliates. The quality of the paper is always the last consideration among students on a tight personal budget or limited allowance. If I were to hire a writing service though, I would base it on the recommendations of my classmates who have used previous services. If my classmates are satisfied with their service, then there is a high probability that I would also be happy with the service. Client services are also a must when considering these services. We aren't just talking "get the student to sign up at any cost" services here that promise you the Milky Way just to get the student to sign up. I am talking after sales service with a decent TOS and revision policy in place.

When I was still actively writing... Okay... I still do a little writing on the side for special clients, I would charge a deposit upfront. The minute the client agrees to hire me for the job, that means the client pays me 50% upfront with the final payment due before the final version of the paper is submitted.

For students who come in through my company though, I do not set a price for them to pay until I have an assigned writer for their project. The reason I do not automatically assign a CPP is because I will be basing the CPP on the seniority of the writer on my staff. The newer the writer, the more affordable the CPP.

Once a writer is assigned, I request for the full payment of the project upfront. No deposit in this instance because the writer will be in direct communication with the client for the development of the project and the writer will be submitting the completed work to the client on the deadline. Therefore, I don't accept installment payments.

The advantage of receiving the full payment upfront is that I am able to spend on the company maintenance needs and set aside the writer's salary as he completes his projects. I don't have to worry about chasing down the client to complete the payment.

Models 1 & 2 aren't applicable at all to freelance writers. Model 4 is impractical for anybody other than those desperate for their first clients to try to launch their careers as independent writers. Nobody who does this fulltime could possibly afford to write a page for every prospective client. Model 3 is patently ridiculous for any online service. I can't think of any online business that delivers its goods or performs its services first and accepts payment afterwards, let alone also being subject to the customer's subjective approval after delivery or performance.

There is a big difference between private writers and companies in the way they treat orders and clients. Companies, as far as I am familiar tend to charge a one-size-fits-all price and then distribute the work among writers, or have writers take projects from a central message board. I know of only two companies that distribute orders directly to their writers (and I like this version more, but that's my subjective opinion). Private writers charge differently based on difficulty/time, so prices tend to range much more. I can quote $24 pp for the simplest undergrad stuff, but if a client needs advanced work, or a dissertation then the prices can go upwards of $50-60. I imagine other writers do the same, or similar. Personally I use model 2 because I can't accept everything that comes my way.

The worst business model in this list is the


What i have learned from experience is that the students are mostly cheapskates who will ask for a quote and then never follow through. They won't even honor the company or the writer with a refusal letter that indicates why the decision to not pursue the writing assignment was made. So I never know if the writer quoted too high, the client just needs more time to decide, or the student just changed his mind about placing an order. Which is why I decided to go with the money upfront business model instead.

No experienced successful freelancer uses any of these "service models" other than full payment in advance, for about a half-a-dozen very good reasons. First-time clients can limit their potential risk by researching a writer's history on this forum and either starting off with a small project or a small section of a larger project. You can split your project into smaller prepaid sections, but don't expect any busy experienced writer to schedule -- much less to actually do any work on -- anything that isn't paid in advance.