Is iapwe.org Safe?

I always do research before signing up for something and I suggest others do the same, especially for anything online. I saw some people asking about the IAPWE and a few comments from people asking if it was legit. So far I have found the jobs that they offer to be mostly based around website content and even though I usually write for five times what they pay (my lowest rate is usually $0.50 per word), their content managers are easy to deal with, which has made my experience with them better than with most clients. The most important thing for me is that I haven't had to follow up or haggle with them for payment. I can count on both hands how many times I've had to chase after clients who promised amazing pay. I also saw someone asking if the IAPWE asks for payment in order to work for them. I was never told I had to pay anything and still haven't and it's been two months now. I know that they have optional paid memberships that you can pay for if you want to get access to more resources but I opted for their free membership and have found their free resources helpful. My experience has been positive overall but I still recommend that everyone do their own research.

I am a real person and have been a professional full-time writer/ghostwriter for more than seven years. My experiences with IAPWE have not been good. The only reason I became affiliated with IAPWE is because I answered an ad for a SPECIFIC job which paid a SPECIFIC amount for SPECIFIC work. This is, unfortunately, a bait-and-switch. No such job exists, though the only way to determine that is to not only sign up with IAPWE, but also pay a fee to gain access to their "Job Board." What they are offering is nothing more than a list of links, some of which were broken, offering jobs that never describe what they pay or how to go about applying for that job. This service, for which you are paying, offers less than what other sites and services do for free. Those free sites become profitable by having an excellent reputation, allowing them to get some lucrative sales ads. (I am not affiliated in any way with any site that offers these jobs and information for free.) This is what you should consider: Why would any legitimate company place an ad for a specific job if they are not directly offering that job? Even if PayPal is protecting your finances (which they did for me when I cancelled and demanded a refund--which, in full disclosure, IAPWE did eventually give me), your name, e-mail, and other personal information has value. I'm hoping mine isn't sold. Even if they are *only* trying to sell services which may or may not have tangible value, they should never resort to offering fake jobs in order to get real names. To answer some of the theories put forward on this site: Who would benefit from dissing IAPWE versus who might be encouraged to leave a good, fake review? While it is true that some people do get paid to investigate and review specific businesses, I can tell you from experience that honest reviews are what is expected and every possible effort is taken to give the business the benefit of the doubt. Some people have personal grudges and it is up to the writer to find the objective truth. The objective truth about IAPWE is that: 1. They did a bait-and-switch, offering a job that didn't exist; 2. You have to pay to determine if that job exists; 3. While they take their payment through PayPal, I still had to file a dispute which would have been escalated if they hadn't cancelled my service and issued a refund. I still had to fight... and fight... IAPWE to cancel the service--and I only got a satisfactory outcome once I threatened the escalation. (I'm under the impression they don't need more people on PayPal insisting they are a scam.) 4. Their "Job Board" for which you have to pay, is nothing more than a list of links, virtually all of which other sites give for free; 5. Some of those links are broken; 6. There is nothing they offer on that job board that gives a true description of the job, these rarely mention compensation, and the link does not take you to the part of the site that discusses the job they may (or may not) be offering at that time. Hope this helps.

Jessica is my favorite editor there. Very nice, great communication, respectful and clear revision requests. I've had to adjust to their formatting requirements but besides this they have been one of my better clients. Pay is decent but sometimes the volume of work isn't as consistent as I'd like to see. I think they focus more on getting quality content so maybe that's why they don't have the same volume of jobs available as content mills, but they pay higher rates so it's a tradeoff. I'd recommend them but don't expect to be able to get by writing fluff. You'll be expected to do research but will be paid a higher rate for doing so.

The IAPWE has been a great, albeit sometimes sporadic, gig for me. Don't expect to get rich writing for them since they don't always have work available but the work they do have pays well and the people there are easy to work with. Their content manager makes her expectations clear and I've only been asked to do a rewrite once (and that's after completing over 10 different pieces for them). I would recommend them to freelancers looking for decent paying work but definitely not full time.

I was initially hired by them to edit and did not have any issues with getting paid. So far they seem legitimate. I also joined their membership and it seems they offer job leads and other useful resources. Like some of the others here, I also find it unfortunate someone would go out of their way to post disparaging comments about them when they are providing helpful resources and work for us freelancers. I did some research on the individual who started posting the negative comments and he has a history of posting these types of comments about people and businesses.

I'm starting to agree with the other WOT users and members of other forums that are saying someone may be going out of their way to try and spread misinformation about this organization. I went to their website to sign up and was unable to find any evidence of a scam. They let you try their membership for 30 days for free and you can cancel any time during the 30 days or after. Everything seemed very up front as far as explaining that they charge one dollar per month after the 30 days. The sign up is done through PayPal so you are in control of when you cancel or not. The whole thing seems really fishy that some 'people' are calling this a scam without ever saying what the actual scam is (offering a free trial through PayPal that the member can cancel at any time would seem like a poor model for a scam). Anyone can go to their site and see that the negative claims some of these profiles are making don't add up. FWIW I have found the site to provide valuable resources including a sizable jobs board that is updated weekly as well as some other resources and services from fellow members within the organization.

I signed up with a writing sample and an eight digit number as instructed. I finally heard back with an acceptance, but not any password or PayPal needs. I did my own research and found that this company has a Facebook page. Some articles and information presented are useful. From the Facebook page, I again tried to sign up. This time there was a clause "if you are having trouble because of PayPal not accepting from your country...." Well, that's strange, because I am from the United States and the company address is in Albany, NY. That is not out-of-country at all, but I had no PayPal offered to me. On Facebook it says all comments are answered in a few hours, and some of us have posted comments with no answers. You MUST give your information in order to get access to their job boards. It's only $1 per month, but then they have your personal information. I agree with another WOT user who said he thinks they are attempting to get your PayPal account or credit card number and run with it. I might use the Facebook page, but I won't become a member. A good rule to follow..........never give out your financial information unless you have checked the validity of any company, business, or offer.