You know, I have debated on whether I should keep a paid membership on this site. Although, I have gotten some decent jobs in the past, with this economic down turn, guru has become more of a Walmart for the graphics industry. While some may be able to turn out the less than $250 budget jobs no problem, I just don’t want to stoop to that level. People are seriously asking for 2-4 minutes of animation for less than $250 and some actually believe that they can get feature films done at pixar level for $2500. Even when it appears the client may have a budget, they ask for 10 times the work.
Unfortunately, so many people have flooded the market with hourly rates less than a quarter, that I debate whether to keep my guru membership or not.. at least the paid one. Even with the fear of our economic system dropping even more, $25 is not a budget for animation or graphic work. Some do admit that they have small budgets, but guru has built a reputation for cheap labor within our market. Overall, I’m disappointed with how saturated it has become, but it was bound to happen.
My experience with guru hasn’t been aweful, but the constant job postings of projects with budgets of less to $250 gives me the idea that most people on there are not serious. I know there are other sites out there allowing you to post your company profile and all, but not sure how well they compete with guru and elance.. both saturated with the “Less than $250 jobs”. For those that can use guru.com and benefit greatly from it, more power to you.