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Textbroker wants my passport - any decent, non-annoying alternative?

by Lyanna
17 replies
Textbroker sent me a voucher so I tried out their service. I was okay with the order (a short article, very easy to write). Today I needed to have some articles written but when I tried to use Textbroker, they said I had to send them my passport photo. This is after I already loaded $100 in my account.

Yeah, I'm not gonna do that. For one thing, I don't have a passport. Not like I'm a globe trotter. For another, even if I did have a passport, I don't wanna send it over. I am a client. I would understand if they need to verify citizenship for writers but as a client, my location/citizenship should be irrelevant.



So what's a good content writing service that I can use that doesn't have these absurd requirements? I've used iwriter and fiverr but I want something that is higher quality.

Edit: I specifically asked for a service, not a marketplace. I have no intention of going to warrior forums/upwork/fiver/etc., and have to go through 100's of services. I need one. One that has already screened their writers so I can just send in an order without having to spend 3 days looking through all the applications. Then five more days to wait for the orders to finish, only to reject half of them because of quality issues.

It's not worth it for me to go through tremendous hassle just for the few articles that I need this time.
#alternative #decent #nonannoying #passport #textbroker #textbroker client #textbroker review #verification
  • Profile picture of the author SteveJohnson
    Are you fairly sure you're not trying to sign up as an author rather than a client?
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  • Profile picture of the author Lyanna
    I spoke to the customer service people twice and they confirmed that "all clients need to do this." I don't know whether this is true or not but that's what they said.

    I spoke to two different people, they said the same thing. The pic above is Karen and this one below is Carlene.

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    • Profile picture of the author Marx Vergel Melencio
      Originally Posted by Lyanna View Post

      I spoke to the customer service people twice and they confirmed that "all clients need to do this." I don't know whether this is true or not but that's what they said.
      They didn't offer other options for verifying your identity after telling them that you don't have a passport? That's strange. They could've asked for other government-issued photo IDs ...
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  • Profile picture of the author Lyanna
    They said I could give them a check or wire transfer but who wants to go out of the house to a Western Union store just to pay for an online transaction? A check is out of the question, lol, I am not gonna mail a check, it would takes days.

    Anyway any other good options for buying content writing?
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    • Profile picture of the author Marx Vergel Melencio
      Originally Posted by Lyanna View Post

      Anyway any other good options for buying content writing?
      Warriors For Hire
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      • Profile picture of the author Lyanna
        Originally Posted by Marx Vergel Melencio View Post

        Thanks for the suggestion.

        Originally Posted by Freshly Deals View Post

        I heard about text broker before, i've been told that they are credible.
        Too much hassle though, and I simply don't see the need to go through hoops when literally every other content provider I have used in the past have not made me give them my passport photo. Thanks for your input.

        Originally Posted by nmwf View Post

        See if the topic you're looking for has already been written at Constant Content. constant-content.com

        I have no affiliation with that site, but I do know they seem to have higher standards for their writers. If you're lucky, and what you seek is already there, you won't have to wait for your content any longer than it takes to press the "buy button."

        Do note that quality is an awfully subjective thing. Part of the problem with these types of platforms is that each enforces their own idea of quality onto their writers. And those ideas, though not necessarily wrong, can be wildly different. Textbroker, for example, seems to prefer a "quality" that's really elementary while Constant Content seems to permit more artistic expressions. So your success strongly depends on what you're looking for.
        Oh, I doubt they will have what I want since I need extremely niche content but I will give it a go. Thank you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Freshly Deals
    I heard about text broker before, i've been told that they are credible.
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  • Profile picture of the author nmwf
    See if the topic you're looking for has already been written at Constant Content. constant-content.com

    I have no affiliation with that site, but I do know they seem to have higher standards for their writers. If you're lucky, and what you seek is already there, you won't have to wait for your content any longer than it takes to press the "buy button."

    Do note that quality is an awfully subjective thing. Part of the problem with these types of platforms is that each enforces their own idea of quality onto their writers. And those ideas, though not necessarily wrong, can be wildly different. Textbroker, for example, seems to prefer a "quality" that's really elementary while Constant Content seems to permit more artistic expressions. So your success strongly depends on what you're looking for.
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  • Profile picture of the author faisalmaximus
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  • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
    We have been using textbroker for several years now and have never had an issue with them. Not sure I would have sent them my passport to get started with them. There are a lot of alternative vendors to go to. Here are some writers that will do a good job for you. https://www.upwork.com/hire/content-writers/.
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    • Profile picture of the author Lyanna
      Originally Posted by mattlaclear View Post

      We have been using textbroker for several years now and have never had an issue with them. Not sure I would have sent them my passport to get started with them. There are a lot of alternative vendors to go to. Here are some writers that will do a good job for you. https://www.upwork.com/hire/content-writers/.
      Thanks.

      I have used upwork. I was going to use Textbroker so I wouldn't have to go through all the stuff of finding a writer myself.
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  • Profile picture of the author sandron
    I live in Canada and created an account yesterday. Deposited $25 for an article, didn't get any confirmation. The order status stayed at "TB verifies order".

    Contacted them and got the reply, they need my passport copy. It's ridiculous. I spend more than $2000 each month on Upwork, looking for an alternative service where we can rely on for quality.

    They not only lost a good client but also denied the opportunity for a good writer to connect with a good client.

    If all these online services out there can operate without asking this info why they can't? Incompetent management?
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    Upwork also requires documentation now - maybe it wasn't necessary when you began with them.

    https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/...y-Verification

    Similar to: https://www.textbroker.com/privacy-matters

    Simple reason: the number of people cheating on freelance sites. Selling stuff they didn't write - lying about age and/or location - buying stuff they can't pay for - buying with stolen IDs or credit cards...you name it, someone has tried it.

    It's a pain for honest buyers and sellers - but seems to be necessary these days.

    My favorite textbroker complaint online:

    TextBroker requires ID, and I'm only 16. How can I bypass this and get paid via PayPal?
    Never mind that Paypal also requires 18 yrs of age....
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  • Profile picture of the author agmccall
    I have been using upwork, even when it was elance, and never had to submit verification other than the usual online stuff. I doubt I would just to buy some half rate articles. I never had a problem. If this becomes the trend, I think these companies will start losing buyers really fast.

    al
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    They probably got ripped off in the past.

    The good news is there are tons of other platforms out there like the MARKETPLACE / BUY-SELL sections of marketing forums

    Also, if you don't mind doing test buys and depending on what you're looking, you might be able to find writers off Fiverr that can meet your needs

    If cost is not an issue with you, try Upwork as suggested by earlier respondents to this thread
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  • Profile picture of the author UncleDearest
    Wow, I used textbroker for hundreds of articles over the years. It has been about 3 years since I used them last but never had to go through that at all. Simply transferred money from my PayPal account. Everything is so unnecessarily complicated these days!
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  • Profile picture of the author aarthielumalai
    I know you said you've tried iWriter, but did you give the Elite and Elite-plus levels a try as well? You pay around $25 for Elite-plus I believe. The quality of writers at that level should be on par with TextBroker.
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