unfair competition?

organized companies are taking over the market of freelancing.
and i saw a lot of offers were the prices are going down to $5.00 an hour.
In the states where i live We charge a minimum of $45.00.
so all those good jobs are going away...what I am going to do next...selling drugs or maybe make porn sites?
what can we do about it?
Should we organize and defend our turf?
i looked over the forum and i did not see any questions about ethics

Is there no more rules?,

aren't we in this together?

paul.

seriously stop whinging

winging nah but seriously whining wont do anything

whinge (hwĭnj, wĭnj) pronunciation
intr.v. Chiefly British., whinged, whing·ing, whing·es.

To complain or protest, especially in an annoying or persistent manner.

[Dialectal alteration of Middle English whinsen, from Old English hwinsian.]

may be unfair, but thats life and thats business. it's competition, there's no law against having low prices.

Originally Posted by Shawon may be unfair, but thats life and thats business. it's competition, there's no law against having low prices.

Infact it is illegal to put prices whatever you want. Its called unfair competition. The reason why nothing is done is because most freelance designers are not registered which means you can't complain.

Originally Posted by resolva Infact it is illegal to put prices whatever you want. Its called unfair competition. The reason why nothing is done is because most freelance designers are not registered which means you can't complain.

I'm not sure where you're coming from, so maybe things are different for you. But in the US, there is absolutely nothing illegal about putting your prices wherever you want. There is no such thing as "unfair competition" unless you're referring to monopolies. This is in no way the case here. And not being registered does NOT mean you can't complain if you have a legitimate grievance. You don't have to be registered as a business to freelance. But you still report your income and pay taxes (unless of course you're breaking the law), and have the same recourse for most problems that registered businesses do.

This is simply capitalism at work. You need to have a balance between quality and price that makes you competitive in the market. If someone can offer a service for $5 and you charge $45, you better make up for it by having increased quality or extra perks for the client. Do you have to spend $60,000 on a car? No. Do some people do it? Of course they do. If you're having problems with your prices, you're likely not targeting the right potential clients. Too many freelancers try to operate without a business and marketing plan. You need to evaluate your competition FIRST, and then again every year or two. If you can't compete, or if the market is saturated, you need to find another field or a way to appeal to a smaller niche market. That's basic business. If you can't handle basic business issues (including legal issues like you mentioned here) then you shouldn't be freelancing at all; at least not if you take it seriously.

Originally Posted by Shawon may be unfair, but thats life and thats business. it's competition, there's no law against having low prices.

In fact, there are laws against having low prices. At least, in Canada there is. The difficult part is that since developers work remotely from all over the world and there is no "global" government, how do you take legal action?

Originally Posted by kork In fact, there are laws against having low prices. At least, in Canada there is. The difficult part is that since developers work remotely from all over the world and there is no "global" government, how do you take legal action?

In this case though, the original poster is from New York, and in the US there aren't any such laws against low prices.

I'm not really sure about Canadian law, but that's interesting to know.

Originally Posted by jhmattern In this case though, the original poster is from New York, and in the US there aren't any such laws against low prices. I'm not really sure about Canadian law, but that's interesting to know.

It's more to do with marketing. It's to prevent a company from advertising products lower than the competition. In fact, where I live, Goodlife Fitness is threatening legal action because a "local" community centre has lower prices for a similar service.

But again, it's local right? To get someone from India and Taiwan and Canada and Mexico and Greeland to all charge the same when lifestyles are completely different, is quite the task on it's own. It would be the same as trying to make all real estate across the glob the same cost... Can't happen without a global economy.

The biggest issue is that web designer can work literally from anywhere. Real estate tends to stay relatively fixed....