06 June,2016 08:18 AM IST | | Hassan M Kamal
From love poems and personalised gifts to management advice, quirky photos and listening ears, Anything500 offers a plethora of services at an attractive price
Whether you are a painter seeking work, an individual keen to have your portrait made, a Photoshop expert, photographer, an HTML expert or simply a poet, if you offer a service or want to hire someone, Anything500.com is the place to be. The new Web-based platform connects skilled individuals with potential customers from across the world. Think of it as an online classified for freelancers as well as those seeking services. The only limitation here is that everything here is priced at Rs 500.
One of the services offered on Anything500.com
What we like
If you wish to offer something, sign up on the platform, write the service you want to offer, mention the details you would require from a buyer and the number of days you would need to complete the task. Once you have finished registration, the platform will help you reach out to potential buyers looking for similar services. As for those seeking a service, they can browse through numerous listings on the website, go through their profiles and select what they want. There's a wide range of services offered on the platform, from programmers and designers, to individuals offering personalised services like writing a letter or a poem to someone on your behalf, offering gift ideas and even lending a ear to your problems. You can also get a meal and workout plan delivered based on your needs, receive advice and tips on matters of importance, as well as get quirky things like your name written on someone's belly, legs or chest (the list goes on) or hire a pet for a day: All of this for just '500. Though we stayed away from the quirky offerings, we did try our hands on a meal and workout plan to get our health back on track, which, for '500 is way too cheap. It offers not only a diet plan to suit your needs, but also balances it out with the right exercises to help you get the maximum out of it. As for the efficiency of the plan, we will know only once we test it out in real life. Payment on the platform is possible only via PayU money, and is held till an item is delivered to you. If a service is not delivered in the estimated time, you can seek a refund.
What we don't like
Every user offering a service is supposed to be rated on the platform. However, considering it's still a new platform, most weren't. Also, several of the platforms seemed fake as there weren't enough samples of their services, especially writing tasks. We also do not like that payment is restricted only to PayU. It should have also included NetBanking and/or card payments and other wallets like PayTM. However, we expect things to get better over time.
Overall Verdict
It's good to see an Indian platform, but unfortunately, it's a lot like Fiverr.com, an international platform for freelancers that we had written about few months ago. The only difference is that at Fiverr, the price starts at $5, whereas with this platform, everything is fixed at Rs 500.
