by Niamh Sweeney. Source: Workee blog
In this day and age, online marketplaces dominate the freelance industry and claim an extraordinary growth cap. As of 2020, Upwork alone has a gross services volume of $2.5 billion dollars and caters for more than 10,000 skills. For the most part, sellers and service providers join marketplaces in an attempt to build their own brand, gain a reputation and increase their exposure to potential clients and/or customers. However, marketplaces tend to convey a facade of grandeur and convenience to sellers which is rather false. While marketplaces do increase product and/or service exposure, it reduces your opportunity to establish your own solitary brand as the marketplace claims credit sooner than the individual seller. Despite the debatable pros of joining an online marketplace, today we will be discussing three primary reasons as to why you should avoid them — with regard to individuality, saturation and marketplace algorithm!
Individuality and confidence
Within our society, each task and goal lie inside the range of the individualist-collectivist spectrum. If a seller or freelancer is towards the individualist end of the continuum, they employ the habit of being self-reliant and may favour self-control. If they are closer to the collectivist end, they may tend to rely on others for their success and value external control. The main problem with popular marketplaces, such as Upwork and Fiverr, is that the marketplace is relying on the marketplace algorithm and optimization to gain exposure to potential clients or buyers. Due to this collectivist environment, marketplace may lose their sense of independence and individuality as a business-person — as they are completely replaceable.
Competition also plays a role in this, as too much competition can increase one’s need to ‘prove’ that they are better. Selling on a marketplace can make it virtually impossible to establish your own name and brand, as the marketplace takes credit for the efficiency or quality of a product. This is usually by word of mouth — if a buyer recommends a product, they tend to advise the next potential buyer to purchase it via ‘Amazon’ rather than the individual seller’s name. Regarding individuality and the concept of replaceability, this is damaging to both the seller’s product exposure and the seller’s confidence and/or purpose.
According to psychologist Alfred Adler, these overwhelming feelings of inadequacy can lead to a ‘superiority complex’ as a defence mechanism, which may result in arrogant or hostile behaviours . In the long run, this could damage your relationship with clients or buyers, and affect your reputation as a seller negatively. Feeling replaceable also creates negative affectivity in a person and makes them feel as though they lack purpose, which can decrease their confidence or generate a sense of Impostor Syndrome. In fact, a study in 2018 found that 58% of people working in marketplace technology related jobs (such as with Amazon and eBay) experience feelings of inadequacy and Impostor Syndrome.
There are many more reasons why being an independent contractor is much more beneficial for your business. Learn about other tips in our recent post at Workee Blog: https://workee.net/blog/why-you-should-avoid-being-on-a-freelance-marketplace
