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Type of site | Online Marketplace |
---|---|
Available in | English |
Area served | Worldwide |
Industry | Freelance marketplace, Online outsourcing, Service catalog |
URL | www |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | Required |
Launched | 2011 |
Current status | Closed |
Fivesquid.com is a British-based freelance marketplace website where people can trade skills and services. [1] First launched in 2011, the website hosts a variety of services, from tech jobs like SEO specialist advice to bizarre things like having a man with a parrot produce a quick clip advertising a business. [1] [2] Buyers of services are mainly start-up companies looking to save on business costs. [3]
Fivesquid was originally launched in 2011. Following its release, Theo Paphitis selected the company as a start-up company to watch as part of his Small Business Sunday competition. [4]
In March 2012, the website featured in a list of top 10 companies to emerge from the UK recession. Fivesquid featured fifth on the list and was highlighted as the example for selling cheap online services. [1] Throughout the sites history, it has had some strange services offered. In 2012, a entrepreneurial schoolboy from England offered his services as an online gaming bodyguard, at £5 per 30 minutes of gameplay. [5]
After the website had been established a number of years, some began to question the services available on the site. One example used by the London Standard was services that could manipulate social media popularity. [6] Others around the same time stated that many of the service providers are simply out to make extra revenue on top of their main income stream. [7]
The Gadget Show picked the website as one of their top 3 places to buy gifts online. [8]
Service providers' money is stuck there as the website is not opening anymore.
Services sold via the website are referred to as "micro-jobs", due to the low prices and short completion time typically involved. All micro-jobs fall within 4 payment structures of either £5, £10, £20 or £50. [9]
Payment for services must be made upfront in order for the work to commence. The money is sent to the sellers account however the buyer's purchase is protected with a service guarantee. [10]
The service providers range from those practicing a hobby to small companies who are attempting to grow their client base. [11] At the completion stage of each project, Fivesquid take a 20% commission payment from the total value, before releasing the funds to the service provider. [12]
Service providers' earnings are paid out by Fivesquid using PayPal. As of June 2017 [update] , no other payment methods are available. [13]
PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers; it serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders. The company operates as a payment processor for online vendors, auction sites and many other commercial users, for which it charges a fee.
An escrow is a contractual arrangement in which a third party receives and disburses money or property for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement dependent on conditions agreed to by the transacting parties. Examples include an account established by a broker for holding funds on behalf of the broker's principal or some other person until the consummation or termination of a transaction; or, a trust account held in the borrower's name to pay obligations such as property taxes and insurance premiums. The word derives from the Old French word escroue, meaning a scrap of paper or a scroll of parchment; this indicated the deed that a third party held until a transaction was completed.
Theodoros Paphitis is a Greek-Cypriot British retail magnate and entrepreneur. He is best known for his appearances on the BBC business programme Dragons' Den and as former chairman of Millwall Football Club.
Etsy, Inc. is an American e-commerce company focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. These items fall under a wide range of categories, including jewelry, bags, clothing, home décor and furniture, toys, art, as well as craft supplies and tools. Items described as vintage must be at least 20 years old. The site follows in the tradition of open craft fairs, giving sellers personal storefronts where they list their goods for a fee of US$0.20 per item. Beginning in 2013, Etsy allowed sellers to sell mass-manufactured items.
Dragons' Den is a British reality television business programme, presented by Evan Davis and based upon the original Japanese series. The show allows several entrepreneurs an opportunity to present their varying business ideas to a panel of five wealthy investors, the "Dragons" of the show's title, and pitch for financial investment while offering a stake of the company in return.
Amazon Pay is an online payments processing service owned by Amazon. Launched in 2007, Amazon Pay uses the consumer base of Amazon.com and focuses on giving users the option to pay with their Amazon accounts on external merchant websites. As of March 2021, the service became available in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Realex Payments was a European payment service provider with offices in Dublin and London. The company provided a broad range of payment gateway services and processed transactions in excess of €35 billion per annum on behalf of more than 14,000 clients including Virgin Atlantic, Vodafone Ireland, the AA, AXA Insurance, Paddy Power and Aer Lingus.
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WePay is an online payment service provider based in the United States. It provides an integrated and customizable payment solution, through its APIs, to platform businesses such as crowdfunding sites, marketplaces and small business software companies. It also offers partners fraud and risk protection.
Stripe, Inc. is an Irish-American multinational financial services and software as a service (SaaS) company dual-headquartered in South San Francisco, California, United States and Dublin, Ireland. The company primarily offers payment-processing software and application programming interfaces for e-commerce websites and mobile applications.
InvestedIn is a crowd funding website for fund raising projects and charity events such as walkathons and celebrity cause-based campaigns. InvestedIn is also a technology provider offering a white label crowdfunding platform for commercial and non-profit use.
MicroVentures is an equity crowdfunding website that offers investments in early stage companies. It connects accredited investors with startups, businesses and services looking to raise funds or participate in select secondary market opportunities.
Money Dashboard is a free online personal financial management service in the United Kingdom. It provides users with the ability to view all of their online financial accounts in one place and categorises and analyses all of their transactions so they can understand how they use money. The app aims to help consumers make better financial decisions and budget for the future.
NextWorth Solutions, Inc., was an electronics trade-in and recycling service. Users of the service exchange used electronics for cash or discounts on newer models. NextWorth was founded by business students at Babson College in 2005. It started as a commission-based service to help businesses setup online auctions for their used items, then changed its business model to focus on electronics trade-ins in 2006. As of late 2012, NextWorth was one of the best-known and largest electronics trade-in and recycling services in the United States, although it handles only a small percentage of total trade-in traffic.
CurrencyFair is an online currency exchange platform that until 2023 offered a peer-to-peer currency exchange service. CurrencyFair is headquartered in Ireland and also has employees in the UK, Australia, Greece, Hong Kong, Poland and Singapore. The company has established working sectors in Newcastle (UK), New South Wales (Australia), Singapore and Hong Kong. CurrencyFair provides international money transfers in 20 global currencies.
A micro job is a temporary, task-type job of all types, often booked through the Internet. The practice of working micro jobs is called microemployment, and the person who does micro jobs is called a microemployee. Work may included online or in-person jobs, such as writing blogs, virtual assistant, handyman, nanny, website design, dog boarding or errands, etc. The income varies depending on the job and the fee charged by the micro jobs website.
CitizenShipper is an American online auction-based peer-to-peer shipping marketplace that aims to connect shipping customers with couriers and transport providers. The company matches "citizen shippers" to couriers and drivers who bid on shipments in a reverse auction format. CitizenShipper drivers ship many items including vehicles and boats, but the strongest focus is on pet transportation.
Onevest, a New York–based investment crowdfunding site for startups that was acquired by Business Rockstars in April 2018, allowed entrepreneurs to raise capital from accredited investors. In July 2014, startups launching on Onevest had collectively raised over $66 million.
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