DesignQuote

The first red flag should be that the website looks terribly outdated. It's like going to a dentist and seeing that his teeth are falling out of his head. Here they are suggesting they will do a competent job at pairing clients a graphic designers up as a professional service yet they have an amatuer website. Maybe they're having a hard time finding a new website developer... The whole thing is a joke and i find the offerings very limited. Its an incredibly inefficient system.

I've been using DesignQuote on and off for a little over 6 months. I purchase leads for my business: coactivated.com when I don't have the time to develop my own campaign for fresh leads.

It's difficult to lay blame on the staff at DesignQuote.net for the nature of pitching to people who are not investing anything to request a quote. Even if you gather leads on your own, you're going to get that more often than you'd want.

So far my experience with them has included a few bad eggs and a few good ones too. I feel like they're doing their best to weed out the bad eggs and I can see why they're unwilling to offer refunds, though I think there should be more of a commitment on the client's end.

This is a "participate at your own risk" service, I would suggest that anyone looks to find Design Quote leads first be sure they have a solid, tested, proposal process. In other words, don't purchase from them if your process includes spending hours on a proposal before you speak directly to the client.

I see quite a few of negative reviews on here about designquote.net I would like to clear the air for both design firms and clients. First, I have never had any problems with designquote.net's customer service. I have been issued refund when appropriate and they always seem to be very respectful and helpful. As for the comments about leads that are not of good quality. Not all leads through designquote.net are perfect, but the majority of the leads seem to be very good. YOU have the right to pick and choose which leads you want to pursue and I can within the first 10 seconds of reading a lead description whether it is a serious lead or not. I typically only purchase leads from within the USA, and based on the lead description you can tell how much effort and thought the potential client has put into the write-up. I typically only choose to purchase leads which seem to be from forward thinking prospects that are serious about getting quality work from a quality vendor. With this in mind, we think designquote.net does a great job connecting quality leads with quality vendors. Not every lead is going to be a serious potential client, and not every web designer or development firm on designquote.net produces top quality. Just as design firms must choose the leads they wish to purchase, the potential client that receives several different proposals must choose the designer or design firm that they feel is going to deliver the best results.

I have been a member of the Designquote designer community since 2009. I've read some of the other criticisms of the site and to be fair, you have to know how to use the site correctly. I think it's a little naive to pick a designer without checking for reviews, references, and possibly a background check. It's not perfect, but I can tell you that I have doubled the size of my business just through this service. Many still remain clients today. The best designers on DesignQuote possess integrity and dedication to excellence and we are happy to share proof of that.

As a web design shop we've been using DesignQuote for over 5 years. We have completed projects for over 75 clients we've provided bid and proposals to via the DesignQuote process. DesignQuote has helped us grow and expand our business!

Designquote.net sounds like a good idea, but there are two major problems:
1. Most of the "clients" are unsophisticated, don't know what they need or it's value (monetarily or intrinsically), and appear to want something for next to nothing.
2. The designquote management cannot screen out the bad apples, so all I have is a basket of bad apples. I have 12 leads still awaiting results, all from 2 to 6 months old!

Of the three projects I bid on which did close, two went to someone in-house, not to a designquote bidder. This lesson cost me over 300 dollars.

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8 months later:
Regarding some of the positive reviews, keep in mind that there will always be those who have a good experience with even the worst company. My warning is for those designers who expect transparency, good communication, a proper functioning website, diligent screening, and careful followup from Designquote. They're lacking in each of these areas.

It's not all their fault, I admit. The very process of seeking design talent anonymously from a website, is flawed from the start. The design process should be personal, and websites are impersonal, as we all know. Designquote enables anyone to request a quote for free, with no obligation to respond or follow though. It would probably change everything if those requesting quotes were charged a small fee upfront. The fee would be refunded when the job was awarded to a Designquote designer. Anything to encourage genuine requests for services.

In any case, I'm happy for those who've found good clients on the site, suspicious of some positive reviews, and concerned for the designer who thinks this will automatically be a good source of work. If you must pay Designquote money, go in with your eyes open.

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15 months later:
Ive spent over a year buying leads and sending out thoughtful, reasonably-priced proposals, with nothing to show for it. Usually, when you send out a proposal, you hear something from the prospective client. Even when you arent awarded the project, you get a rejection, a thank you, or at least an acknowledgment that they received your proposal.

The way designquote has set things up, the one seeking services pays nothing and so has invested practically nothing in the process. They feel no obligation to respond, and seldom do. That is why, in over 15 months, I never heard from over a dozen leads to whom I sent inquiries or proposals. Not one word.

And in the very few cases where the prospect did update designquote on the status of the project, it was almost always to say they had found local service providers, instead of designquote members.

All in all, an expensive learning experience. So, as of yesterday, I have purchased my last credit and written my last designquote proposal.

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In response to a few reviews in praise of designquote.net:

1. Bo L. (1/26/16)
Bo says he can determine "within the first 10 seconds of reading a lead description whether it is a serious lead or not." This may be true for weeding out the obvious bogus leads, but there are plenty of genuine leads by clients who only want to see what the market charges for a project like theirs. Then they use the info, but not a designquote designer.

2. Mia L. (6/20/16)
Mia says: "don't purchase from them if your process includes spending hours on a proposal before you speak directly to the client." Sometimes the lead doesnt contain a phone number, only an email address. And often you cant get through to the potential client, have to leave a message, and get no return call. And if you do speak to them, they dont always know what they want. And even when they do, your well-crafted, reasonably-priced proposal still may not even be acknowledged, much less accepted.

3. Anant B. (12/12/16)
What does "I've used DesignQuote for over 2 years but I recently joined them after setting up my own company" mean? You cant use them without joining, so your review is confusing.

4. umair a. (4/19/17)
Your review says "they should improve their method to check bogus leads." And yet, you continue to use designquote, and give them 4 stars. Not the most informative review.

I have used DQ and spent a few hundred dollars to buy their BOGUS leads hoping to find a decent customer one day. Well, a few years back I did find a delightful client whom I worked with and she was very happy with our work. Other than that, I have never been able to gain a single client through DQ's bogus leads.
Either the customer will never reply after acknowledging the intent-to-bid or they will not reply to the professionally written proposal sent to them or they will close projects abruptly, or they will not answer their phones or all of the above. But, after spending several hundred dollars hoping to land one good job, I have not gained anything but loss. Thus, I write this to help all the other professional fellow designers and developers to help them from experiencing this type of a loss in their future.
I have noticed that after my negative review of DQ, at least 6 new reviews have been added, ironically, all with perfect 5 stars(wink). Upon reading them, I've felt that they were less than perfectly honest so that's why I am adding the following to my review:
The customer service at DQ is almost non-existent, they have never answered any of my calls and or returned my calls since the last time I have tried to contact them. I have also sent them requests for a legitimate refund but that was also completely ignored. I would understand their refusal to issue the refund based on one of their policies that they have not had posted(wink again) but not replying to my emails right before or after I quit using them wasn't reasonable.
If this type of a service deserves 5 stars then I guess I am not from this era :)

I had a very bad experience with Design Quote as well. 90% of the time their "verified" leads are not actually serious people, or people who already have a provider and just need to get a few throw-away quotes.

Sometimes the leads never respond to you, despite multiple attempts to follow up via phone and email. Design Quote support is non existing, they just ignore your requests for a refund for the bogus lead.

Strongly advise against using this company.