The sad thing with that setup is the fact that there were unpaid projects and unpaid hours. With Odesk, this does not happen.

There are two options at Odesk, the Fixed and the Hourly rates. As for the hourly rates, whatever is logged and has been agreed upon will be billed on the buyer on a per week basis.  All that the service provider needs to do is to make sure that he/she log-in to the correct work assignment/team as he/she works on the project.

Fixed priced project is a different nut. You will bid to finish a work and Odesk will only bill the buyer upon the completion of the project. The only assurance that you have is to let the buyer to agree to pay a percentage of the project’s price.

Lucky for me, my buyers love odesk as well.