Hi,
I am posting this so that what happened to me doesn't happen to anyone else that I know (even if its just online) and so they too can make a logical choice if they decide to purchase a website. I know most of you would rather build a website yourself rather than pay to have it done, but for the few that don't beware of Origin3.net.

They are located in Salt Lake City and offer great service etc. The problem I found is no communication and well a scheme to get money. In my situation a 6 week project has taken them over 15 weeks and because I was new in the "buying online website" biz I didn't realize that 50% upfront 50% when done or in 6 weeks wasn't a normal situation. They still haven't delivered everything was very "shady" for instance, I wanted the website to allow users to upload images to a profile type website that then could be searched and the images could be purchases etc. Because I failed to mention that when the users post it should automatically be added to the shopping cart, they won't build it. I have to copy and paste every time a user uploads to the site. Now that's just lame. Ok so whats my point with this post and why am I posting it? So others don't make my same mistake.

* When purchasing a website it is normal for the pro to accept from 10 - 20 percent upfront, not 50.
* Never agree to pay if the website isn't done over a certain amount of time. Always pay based on completion of different sections of the site or project.
* Try to find a style that fits you. Make sure the programmer working on your site has similar taste s you.
* I recommend not buying from larger companies because they "assign" you a project manager. Instead I would recommend using a site like www.guru.com to find a free lance programmer. This way you know who is going to be working on your site and if you don't like their style, you know right away. Also, they know how to bid out the project better.
* Too little is really expensive. If someone lowball bids your project, it is a good sign that they A don't know what they are talking about , B don't understand the scope of the project or C do really crappy work and don't plan on taking a lot of time to do a good job on your project. The most expensive project is the one you can't use.
* There are two kind of high bids. The first try's to take you for all you got and give you very litttle (origin3.net 105/ hour with 15/hour quality) and the kind that cost a lot because they are worth it. I recommend never working with someone that expects to make less than 30 per hour. Also if they say they are worth 125 per hour, they better be the shizz. Make sure they have the work to back it up.
* I recommend talking to references. It's a pain to call someone up but is is so worth it. I could have saved around 4k from doing this.
* I recommend a company like guru.com to hold your payment in escrow when working when any programmer.

I am going to be listing more once I get done with a project that I am getting done from a www.guru.com. I hope this will help somebody.

The Net Duck