I own and write for a research paper company. I will not mention the name of my Web site, lest I be accussed of spamming, but students need to know what is happening here. Most of the papers on the Internet now are either plagiarized or so badly written that they are unusable. The good companies that did quality work are being forced out of business. That's the reality.

The American research paper site business has been killed by the offshore competition. These companies have created a market in which fairly priced papers (say, $16.96 and up a page) look overpriced and slave wages look normal.

First, these companies undervalue the market by selling papers at $7.95 a page. They can do this because they pay their writers, on average, about $3 a page. That works about to less than $2 an hour, just so you know. I know this because I actually registered as a writer with one of the Pakistani sites that has been mentioned several times on this board. I never wrote a paper for them. I just used my registration to check out their orders and to see what they were paying. It might be interesting to see if they trace this back and block my user name and password :-)

Graduate level papers with about 72 hour turnaround are getting about $4 a page. Everything else is below that. I did see a philosophy paper for $8 a page, but that was the highest price I saw on their available orders page.

Do people honestly think that a PhD is going to work for that?

For those of you who don't live in the U.S., you have to earn at least about $10 an hour here just to survive, and that's still low. Poverty level is $15,000 a year.

To the customer who wanted to know why my prices were higher than another site: I have to support myself and my family. I do not owe you a cheap paper. Sorry.

So, they choked out American businesses by using slave wages. Of course, I had to lower my prices to try to compete with these idiots, which means I am writing more pages for less money.

Their next strategy is to drive up advertising costs. I started advertising on Yahoo in June, after Google blocked research paper adwords. The manner in which Google did this ban was unfair and did not help research writers. Google basically screwed legitimate companies and boosted the sales of the biggest scams in the business. Banning adwords but not blocking organic search results was another bad idea from Google. Someone explain the subtle moral difference between a paid ad that makes money for Google and organic content that makes money for Google... but I digress.

When I came to advertise on Yahoo, the top slot for ads was $0.95 a click. Today, just over 4 months later, the Pakistanis and Ukrainians have driven that rate up to about $6 a click. (For those who don't know, ads are priced according to a bid system. The highest bids get the better placement on the page. Every time someone clicks an ad, there is a little cash register somewhere that goes "ka-ching".). The third world companies can afford this because they aren't paying their writers anything. I could see the writing on the wall the other night when I looked at the Yahoo search page and every site with a paid ad except 1 was Pakistani or Ukrainian.

These third world theives also commit rampant click fraud, driving up my ad costs wth fake clicks. Once again, they can apparently afford to have somebody sit there and click my ad. At $5 a click for middle of the page, it doesn't take many clicks to shoot an ad budget. The search engines have no real incentive to stop click fraud since they profit from it. Yahoo has issued me refunds twice for blatant cases (click through rates of 11%, when normal should be between 1% and 2%), but not every time. Even then, they did not acknowledge click fraud, but simply said that it was a courtesy to me as an advertiser.

By the way - another interesting point - for the 5 years that I advertised on Google, my ads cost about 15% of gross sales. On Yahoo, my ads are running between 35% to 50% of gross. On Google, about 1 in every 10 clicks resulted in a sale. On Yahoo, it's closer to around 1 in every 25 or so. I'm not sure why this is, but that's the difference. In should also say that Yahoo has much better customer service than Google ever had. They're Number 2; they have to try harder, I guess.


The result of all of this, for consumers, are fewer choices (all of these offshore sites feed into the same 2 or 3 companies, from what I can tell), lower quality (a look at the bad grammar and inappropriate word choices on their web sites would tell you that), and, ultimtely, more scams.

I will continue with repeat business and word of mouth because I love to write papers. But, I have had to go back to the career I had before I went into business for myself as a writer. My income from writing papers has been cut from around $5000 a month between 2003 and 2006- after paying for advertising - to less than $1500 a month (after paying for advertising) since June. So far, this November, I had about $2800 in sales and have paid about $900 for ads on Yahoo. This is the rush season. Some rush.

Somewhere in the Ukraine, a former-Russian with bad dental work is smiling. I congratulate them and the Pakistanis, to whom I offer a ham sandwich as a token of my esteem.

What has happened here has much broader implications than just research papers. America's Wal-Mart mentality has resulted in the exportation of our manufacturing base. Stalin (or was it Lenin?) was right - we sold our enemies (and as far as I am concerned, these people are enemies in a trade war) the rope that they used to hang us. I guess all those Wal-Mart shopppers and the people who buy cheap papers will be happy when we all enjoy the same standard of living as a third world country.

I am past being angry about this. I am now just very sad. Google and the Pakistanis killed my dream, although the way things are going, I don't know that it would have been much different if Google had not implimented the ban. I believe in capitalism, and I don't mind being beaten by someone who does a better job than me. I just hate to lose to someone who creates an inferior product and is supported by a system that punishes legitimate businesses.

There are some American companies left. I am a small company, so my margins are tighter. Larger companies have more room to manuver. However, I've talked to several of my competitors in the business, and we're all hurting. These are good companies run by honest people who pay their writers a fair wage. More important, they produce quality work. Too bad nobody cares.

You want to see the results of globalization? Here they are - everyone will be living in a slum in a few years, and only the owners of companies like Google will have any money. Google, and the third world rip off artists that sell inferior papers, produce poison toys, and otherwise scam their customers.

I wish I could sign my name, but I know that is not allowed here, and I respect that. Suffice it to say that I had a good business doing something that I was very good at. It was an honest business that helped students at a fair price, and now it is gone.

Your job may be next.

I don't know personally any Pakistani company (or offshore company), but my guess is they are and possibly will be less and less competitive -- as long as the US dollar is weak abroad..

Hello, everyone!

I am Ukrainian, so quite naturally, this post here has caught my attention. I used to work for a custom writing service that was based in Ukraine, so I kinda figured I might as well contribute something to this thread. :))

FrustratedWriter, you claim to be a good writer and a good researcher yet your usage of verbal combinations such as "the Ukraine" or "former Russian" proves exactly the opposite. It's "Ukraine", not "the Ukraine". You cannot say "the Ukraine", "the France", or "the Germany", that would be very incorrect!

For your information, calling a Ukrainian a "former Russian" is sheer nonsense. Ukrainians have not ever been Russians and won't ever be. It would be the same if I said that Americans were former Mexicans or former Egyptians - that just wouldn't make any sense. I understand that American high school education is fundamentally flawed when it comes to geography and history courses yet working as a professional researcher obliges you to know stuff like that.

Again, for your information, I find it hillarious that you might actually believe that Russians or Ukrainians might have a "bad dental work". People here have quite balanced eating habits and have little passion for junk food and little tolerance for any food that has chemicals or emulgators in it - something that surrounds Americans right after they're born. I have often seen young Americans who had lost most of their teeth and developed cellulitis before their thirties - to me, that's unthinkable! So, please, believe me - our "dental work" is much better than yours! ;))

Now, I am really surprised to hear that Pakistani companies are able to get away with such low wages. In Ukraine, the writer's fee varies from 5 to 15 dollar per page, depending on urgency. So, the average monthly salary of any reasonably productive writer is in $800 - $1200 range , but it can be more if you work like 8 hours during the day instead of 3 to 4 (most writers are content with part-time occupation). You call this a slave labor? Bear in mind, that an average monthly salary here is about $350 (it is perhaps twice as much in Kiev). Only highly-qualified professionals (usually those with fluent English and working in the fields of Finance or Business Consulting) earn salaries that start with $2000-$3000 per month.

You are saying that "Google and Pakistanis" had killed your dream - oh my God that's pathetic! What is your dream? Support cheating all of your life? Do you belong that the category of hypocrites who are convinced that students pay for papers only to use them as a reference?! Get real! I guess 2 percent at most do it, not more than that.

That's why there is so much whining about essay services delivering plagiarized papers - do you think it would it make any difference if the paper was plagiarized or not if it was to be used only as reference?!

So what is your dream - keep on supporting academic dishonesty? There are numerous ways to make money by writing - you do not necessarily have to do papers for other people. America is full of opportunites - you do not have to be involved in shady business such as this! ;))

I chose those terms - "the Ukraine" and "former Russian" - intentionally, as a way of expressing my disdain for these people, as was my offer of a ham sandwich to the Pakistanis. Perhaps I should have said "citizens of the former Soviet Union", when Ukraine was referred to as "the Ukraine", just as the Hague is referred to as the Hague. Sorry if my sarcasm interferred with my message.

The point of this thread was not so I could whine, but so people would know exactly who is behind these sites and how they became so successful. It wasn't by paying attention to quality, because they don't know the meaning of the word. It was by dominating the market and killing the competition.

In any case, I challenge them to produce a better paper than what I could write on my worst day.

I find it amusing that both of you criticize others' writing abilities, yet both of you use improper grammar and punctuation.

NothingButTruth, in response to your claim that ANYTHING is better in Ukraine than in America:

LMAO!

Actually, NothingBut proved my point. He (she?) wrote, "So, the average monthly salary of any reasonably productive writer is in $800 - $1200 range." Nice to know that I am making the same as a Ukranian. Unfortunately, you cannot live in the United States on $1200 a month, at least not live and maintain any reasonable standard of living. The American writers are being forced to accept wages that are not consistent with the cost of living in the United States. My rent alone is more than what NothingBut says is the average monthly salary in Ukraine, and I live in a small apartment.

The only advantage that the Ukranians and the Pakistanis have on the Americans is that they provide cheap labor.

Yes, and the only reason they can offer cheap, unqualified labor is because their economies are disgraceful.

/agree WB. it's funny that Germany gets mentioned as an example for the proper usage of "Ukraine" vs. "The Ukraine" when Germany continues to use an article to describe "The Ukraine" (Die Ukraine). While "The Ukraine" may no longer be technically proper, it's a relatively new change and one that is still contested by many in English and other languages.

and Nothingbuttruth, your criticism of FrustratedWriter's poor researching skills is hilarious when you try to make stupid American generalizations (bad teeth? seriously? a more accurate claim would be that we care too much about our teeth via whitening and corrective dentistry) and then cap it off with your pompous two percent claim:



That statement shows some incredible research skills... perhaps that is why you are a former writer, eh? or maybe you stopped "writing" since you don't seem to have a problem plagiarizing for customers:



customers should be glad that you are a former writer.

Frustrated: have you decided what to do with your company? i am sorry to hear about the frustrations. i think you are right to think that advertising is a major source of trouble.

i am affiliated with a couple of the larger American companies and we've been extremely busy for weeks. your statement that "we're all hurting" is incorrect. based upon our order volume lately, which has been to the point where we have had to turn away work because of the lack of available writers, it's clear that there is a pretty significant population of individuals who are willing to pay for quality work. my guess would be that you may not be getting to them via the identified advertising problems. i wish you the best of luck in any case.

The average, monthly rental fee for a 1-bedroom apartment in the WORST AREA of San Francisco is $1,300!

http://www.rentalguide.com/rentalmarket.html

Ukrainian, change your username to "NothingButClueless."

NothingButTruth is yet another Ukrainian to come here blabbing various nonsense without providing any evidence.

rent is such a waste of resources. it's a buyer's market, go buy something =)

WB, what makes you LYAO? Have you even been to Ukraine? No? In contrast, I HAVE been to America. I had even lived there for quite a while...By the way, do not misinterpret the things I said- not ANYTHING is better in Ukraine...of course there are things that America can be proud of - I've particular admired your well- organized school and college sports competitions - there is nothing like that in Ukraine



Lavinia, when I was a student - this part time essay writing job had greatly contributed to my tight budget. I've received a western education in business school so when I ceased being a student :) I went on exploring more profitable and fascinating business opportunities.
Yet out of mere reminiscence every once in a while I check out forums like these...it's interesting to observe how the industry changes...As far as I could tell I did my job of a writer quite well, but even had it not been the case, I still couldn't care less, as it was merely a part-time thing that had nothing to do with my future occupation and career, kind of like mowing other people's lawns.

Which is why I don't see why so many american adults (like Frustrated and other people on this forum, such as WB, I presume) are still involved in such unethical and questionable activities as writing other people's papers. That's crucial by the way - are you afraid to start looking for ways to practically apply the knowledge you'd received in schools, instead of being stuck with writing for the hundredth time about how bad abortion is - for the sake of what - so that a hung-over college jock could print out the purchased paper the first thing in the morning and his professor would have a valid excuse to give him a passing grade so that the guy could keep on playing?

With regards to your remark about that 2 percent rate - I know is true as I had also worked in Tech Support for several in the essay writing company and I'd read way too many concerned e-mails like: like is it okay if I turn in this paper? :)
Of course, it's OK, my dear...! :)

Again, if you think you're a good writer, why don't you make living as a journalist, or an editor, or a professional market research, etc.?
Oh well...I ain't here to preach... please, do not take me too seriously...:) I still wish you good luck in whatever you do...at the very least - busy hands are happy hands...! :)

NothingbutTruth, your most recent post proves my point. your condescending attitude is based upon personal conjecture and zero evidence.

what disguishes me and many American companies from what you did? you say...



your answer should be NO, it's not ok. that is exactly what I and my companies say. that is what legit research companies say.

empirically, academic researchers say that 2-3% of the students who buy from companies use their papers to cheat. academic, peer-reviewed research articles are just a tad more authoritative than your personal opinion, wouldn't you agree?

that number is significantly less than the percentage of students who use books and internet articles to cheat. that means any books or articles that i write are more likely to be plagiarized (by multiple people, mind you) than any custom essay i write. so if anyone's concern is producing copy that may be used by an unscrupulous individual to cheat, then the better option is to write essays for a legit company rather than books and certainly rather than articles that may be posted to an internet site. of course, the best way to stop cheaters is to stop writing and publishing, period. so is that what we should do?

don't believe the statistics i am referencing? do the research for yourself. i've posted links on this forum and you should be able to find them easily enough. but my guess is that you won't do the research because it is easier to believe and perpetuate falsehoods about the industry now that you are out of it rather than actually do the work to learn and analyze the available evidence.

don't cast your unethical behavior on the rest of us. you told students it was ok to cheat but that doesn't mean we all do.

You better ask the students, not the "academic researchers" who have to justify somehow their moral downfall. :) The students now better...

For example, from the viewpoint of Christianity your sin is unquestionable - you deliberately lead peope into being tempted to cheat. If it had not been for you, the guy would have probably put together an awful piece of writing and got a C minus, but that would have been HIS work.

Let me give you a funny example such as this: You walk up to a healthy man in his twenties and hand him in a one day pass to a local brothel. However, you say to him, even though you have this pass, don't even think about having sex, you can walk around, talk to the girls, but no sex. You may look at other people having sex and use it as a model reference in the future when you will be having sex with you wife...:)))))

Or you order a custom made dress and get a warning from the tailor - don't even think about wearing it - use it as a reference to make your own dress!

Free trade is what made your country so great - its all about supply and demand, plus survival of the fittest and a free choice. You export what you do extremely well (e.g. playing basketball for college) and import what you do extremely poorly (e.g. writing a paper on genetically modified foods). That's about it! :))

Start being honest - use honesty as a tool that will bring your opponents down to their knees! :))))))

you misunderstand me. by "academic researchers," i was referring to university professors researching the subject of cheating. cheating has been studied by members of the academy for years. these are the people who WANT to stop their students from cheating and have zero reason to lie about their results. these studies were published in professional journals which have standards and review boards that check the content of the work being presented. so your crappy indictment of the evidence is, well, crappy.

i am not a Christian, so your appeal to religion bothers me about zero, but that argument deserves a darwin award. if every person who sells a product that has the potential to be abused risks eternal damnation... well... do you really need me to offer a list of the industries that would be included in your moral condemnation? let's start with the agricultural industry...anyone affiliated with food production (because that could lead to GLUTTONY!)...i cleaned my house today and clearly any researchers who contributed to the cleaning products that i used need to go to hell because some idiots may decide to potentially sniff their products...

i am honest and that is your problem. you think just b/c you were unethical during your involvement in this industry that everyone else is. let me guess... you've already admitted that you worked for a company that condoned cheating... i am willing to bet that your company claimed to only hire American/British writers too... maybe you should go say some "hail mary's" as penance.

it never fails... the people who say everyone in this industry is unethical are the ones who were unethical themselves.

Neither am I, but that's not the point here...


Blessed are the pure in heart...:)

Amen. ^___^

(just dropped by to see how you fellas are doing :p it's been a while I know but I really don't have any time to chat now. Between the old day job and writing for ew well, you know the rest. ^_^)

viva essaywriters.net! viva! ^_____^ alalalalalalalala... andare! andare! ariba! ariba!