Crowdspring LLC Crowdspring's Shady Practices Exploit Workers and Deceive Buyers Internet
Although there are understandably some buyers happy with Crowdspring's results because they're getting a ton of work for virtually nothing done by a ton of people, most of whom won't be paid anything, the creatives/designers being exploited by Crowdspring aren't always so happy, and many buyers aren't either as they frequently abandon projects or ask for refunds which many have complained Crowdspring refuses to grant which is bait and switch. Also, Crowdspring lets anyone participate as a creative so buyers may be getting a lot of poor quality results if they don't pay extra to limit entries to those from higher-rated designers.
To those of you considering working on projects at Crowdspring please beware. The management often holds the money for months, and when a project is abandoned (which happens frequently), and they finally choose a winner, they often subjectively pick the same winners over and over and usually not the highest scoring entries, and then after that winner is chosen they hold the money another 30 days claiming the buyer might come back after they haven't for months and want the winning entry "tweaked" - well, that might be a legitimate explanation for a graphic project but not a simple name which never changes or it wouldn't be the same name - any excuse to hold money that belongs to other people longer which they are likely collecting interest on. Of course, they make little effort to contact buyers about finalizing projects because they want the money to sit there for months.
Crowdspring often allows thousands of entries in a single competition so the odds of winning are slim, favors buyers because that's who's paying them, including allowing them to extend and drag out projects for months with no commitment, has conflicting terms and agreements that seem to change on a whim if it suits them, and the names entered are frequently stolen and registered shortly after they are submitted and Crowdspring does nothing to background check the buyers or to prevent this from happening and doesn't care as long as they get their fee. They also don't issue 1099's claiming it is the responsibility of each individual buyer, but i know of no one who ever received one as Crowdspring doesn't seem to make buyers aware that they are only acting as an intermediary who doesn't want to be liable.
Its bad enough hundreds of creatives invest their time and money and take the risk that they likely will not be rewarded, but abusive behavior by management in the name of profit makes the odds even greater that talented creatives will be selected as winners or ever paid. Very few are. So both creative designers/ writers and potential buyers beware if you're considering working with or buying from Crowdspring. Most of you will be wasting your time and money.