While internet giants such as eBay have long held a tradition of letting you bid on items and merchandise, a new trend is emerging across the Internet that bids for the talent and skill of individuals around the world. This is currently being done with regards to services as diverse as shipping and web design. A new web design innovation in Australia is being conducted by an Australian media company, known as Site Point, is allowing individual business owners and companies to hold web design contests which allow web designers from all over the world to bid on project they otherwise would not be able to access.
The idea is after paying Site Point a $20 listing fee a company is able to hold a design contest. The organization stipulates its specifications, color theme and any other details or design elements they require. After that any individual web designers can submit their designs to the contest and the company may award the prize at any time. This allows the organization access to a talent pool of web designers from all over the world they would otherwise have no way of accessing.
There are several stipulations for business owners, one being that the prize amount must be larger than the price point stipulated by Site Point for that particular design category. Another is that the designer reserves all rights to the design unless the prize is awarded by the company holding the contest.
While some designers believe this is marginalizing and devaluing web design work many believe that this is a great way for new and small designers and firms to establish a name for themselves if they do not reside in large markets. They state that this business model is also a great way to allow small businesses access to great designers while new and up and coming web and graphic designers get to build their portfolio and client list.