Frequently Asked Questions

ElectroHire is an online marketplace for electronics and hardware engineering. Customers post projects, freelance engineers and PCB suppliers bid on them, and the customer hires one bidder. The customer pays the accepted bid plus the 10% customer fee with Pay Now once the work is completed and approved. Nothing is charged when a bid is accepted.

A project goes from posting to payment in a few stages:

• The customer posts a project for free.
• Freelancers and PCB suppliers bid on it; each bid costs 5 Sparks.
• The customer accepts one bid. Nothing is charged when a bid is accepted.
• The freelancer or supplier does the work and clicks Request Approval.
• The customer clicks Accept Approval. The customer pays the accepted bid plus the 10% customer fee with Pay Now once the work is completed and approved.
• The freelancer or supplier receives the bid minus 5% and withdraws it to PayPal.

The customer pays the accepted bid plus the 10% customer fee with Pay Now once the work is completed and approved, and freelancers and PCB suppliers receive the bid minus a 5% fee. Nothing is charged when a bid is accepted.

On a $1,000 bid, the customer pays $1,100 and the freelancer or supplier receives $950. Creating an account, browsing and posting are free, there is no marketplace subscription, and all prices are in US dollars.

Pricing policy

Yes. One email can hold a customer, a freelancer and a PCB supplier profile, so you do not need separate accounts. Each profile keeps its own projects, bids, cards, wallet and Sparks.

To add a role, open the sign-up page while logged in, choose the new role under I'm here to, and use the same email and password.

You switch from the profile menu in the header.

1. Click your name in the header to open the profile menu.
2. Pick the other profile under Switch to. On mobile, open the menu and use Switch Account.

The option appears once you have more than one profile.

No. Each profile has its own balance and history: freelancer and PCB supplier profiles have a Wallet, and customer profiles have Payments. Switch profile to see the other one.

You sign up free on the sign-up page.

1. Open Create your account.
2. Under I'm here to, choose Explore Talent, Explore Work or Onboard as PCB Supplier.
3. Enter your name, email and password, tick the Terms box and click Create Account.
4. Enter the 6-digit code from your email on Verify Your Email and click Verify Email.

You can also tick the Terms box, leave the fields empty and click Sign up with Google. No code? Click Didn't receive the code? Resend OTP after the 30-second countdown.

If you forgot it, reset it from the login page.

1. On Log in, click Forgot Password?.
2. Enter your email and click Send Reset Link.
3. Open the link in the email within 1 day and set your new password.

To change it while logged in, open Account Settings → Reset Your Password and click Update Password. This signs out your other devices.

Filling in the required fields finishes onboarding and unlocks the marketplace: your dashboard, projects, inbox and Account Settings.

Profile Strength on My Account shows how complete your profile is, and identity verification counts toward 100%. For freelancers it matters most: only freelancers with a finished profile can be recommended to customers, and verified profiles with a photo, a bio and more experience rank higher in search.

Open Account Settings in the dashboard menu: it holds Identity Verification, Payment Methods, Notification Preferences, Reset Your Password and the option to delete your profile.

Your profile details (photo, skills, rate, company information) are edited from My Account → Edit Profile, then Edit on the section you want. Your login email and username cannot be changed.

Get verified starts identity verification, an optional check through Stripe Identity that puts a verified badge on your profile. Verified profiles are listed first in talent search and in a customer's list of bids.

You verify from Account Settings, and it costs $2.

1. Open Account Settings → Identity Verification and click Verify my identity (or click Get verified in the header).
2. Read the Verification Fee box and click Continue to Verify.
3. Pay the $2 by card.
4. Photograph your government ID (a passport works best) and take a selfie.

It usually takes a few minutes. Verification is optional and applies to the profile you are using.

The one-time $2 fee covers the Stripe Identity check, and you get it back as a credit. Customers get $2 off their next project payment, which does not expire. Freelancers and PCB suppliers get 5 free Sparks plus $2 in their Wallet, locked until their first completed paid project and then withdrawable. If the profile is deleted before that project, the locked $2 is forfeited.

If the check fails through no fault of your own, the $2 fee is refunded automatically.

It usually takes a few minutes, and at most 24 hours. While it runs, Account Settings shows Verification In Progress, and Check Status refreshes it. Verification is optional, and verified profiles are listed first.

Yes. Stripe Identity collects your ID document and selfie, and ElectroHire does not hold the images. We store the result, the document type and country, your name and date of birth as verified, and a reference to the Stripe session. Authorised staff can view the images briefly through Stripe to review a verification.

No. Sharing phone numbers, email addresses or any other contact details is not allowed at any stage, before or after hiring. Links to other websites, such as a portfolio or LinkedIn, are hidden from the other person too; links to electrohire.com pages are kept. All communication happens in the ElectroHire inbox and on ElectroHire video calls.

The one exception is a delivery address for a PCB order, which may be shared in the inbox after a bid is accepted.

No. All payment for work found on ElectroHire goes through ElectroHire: the customer pays the accepted bid plus the 10% customer fee with Pay Now once the work is completed and approved, and the freelancer or supplier is paid into their Wallet. Arranging payment outside the platform is not allowed.

The details are hidden from the other person, a flag is added to your account, and the ElectroHire team may review the conversation. Repeated sharing can lead the team to restrict the account. See "What are flags and restrictions?" for the details.

Links to websites other than electrohire.com are hidden from the other person too, but a link on its own does not add a flag.

Messages are checked automatically, only for contact and payment details. Each time they are found, they are hidden and a flag is added to your account:

• After the 1st flag, and again after the 3rd, you get a warning.
• Repeated sharing can lead the team to restrict the account. You can appeal from the inbox with Appeal this restriction.

While restricted, messaging, calls, bidding, posting projects and editing your profile stop; you can still read your conversations, pay, withdraw and delete your account.

On each project, the customer can message bidders at any time. A freelancer or supplier can message the customer once the customer has messaged them on that project, or once their bid on that project is accepted.

You start a call from a conversation in your inbox.

1. Open Inbox and the conversation with the person.
2. Click the camera icon Start a video call in the conversation header.
3. Read the recording notice and click Continue.

Calls are one-to-one, between a customer and someone who bid on their project, and you can share your screen during a call.

Each call can last up to 20 minutes, and each person can spend up to 60 minutes a day on calls. Calls are one-to-one, and screen sharing is available.

Yes, calls are recorded (audio only) and transcribed, as the notice before you join explains. Both people in the call can open Play recording and View transcript on the call card. We keep them until a participant's account is erased, or earlier if we no longer need them to resolve disputes or enforce our Terms. Erasing an account removes its call recordings and that person's side of transcripts.

Your messages are kept while your account is active, and they are deleted when your account is erased.

You choose your emails in Account Settings.

1. Open Account Settings.
2. In Notification Preferences, tick or untick each kind of email.
3. Click Update Preferences.

Account and security emails always arrive. Every other email also has an unsubscribe link.

You delete a profile from Account Settings.

1. Switch to the profile you want to delete.
2. Withdraw your available Wallet balance and finish any project in progress.
3. Open Account Settings and click the delete button for that profile, for example Delete Freelancer Profile.
4. Enter a Reason for Deletion and click Delete Profile.

Only that profile is deleted; your other profiles stay. The locked $2 verification credit does not stop you deleting a profile, but it is forfeited if you delete the profile before your first completed paid project. To erase all your data, every profile and the account, use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat. Financial records are kept for legal reasons.

Yes, contact support: use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat and say which profile you want restored.

Connections to ElectroHire are secured over HTTPS, and ElectroHire never sells personal data. The Privacy Policy explains how your data is handled.

Privacy Policy

Yes, the website works in your phone's browser, but there is no app-store app. On mobile, the menu holds navigation, My Account, Switch Account and Logout.

A negative amount is money going out. On a customer's Payments page every payment shows as negative, and in a freelancer's or supplier's Wallet a negative entry is a withdrawal.

You can review the other side once the customer has paid for the completed project.

1. Click Leave Review on the completed project, or Write review on Pending Reviews.
2. Choose an Overall rating and add any other ratings and a Public comment.
3. Click Submit feedback.

One review per side per project, and it cannot be edited later.

Use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat for any problem, dispute, refund or report about another user.

1. Open the help chat and click Raise a ticket.
2. Fill in Subject and How can we help?, naming the project if there is one.
3. Click Send to the team.

The team replies by email.

Yes. You have two options, for any topic:

• Use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat, and the team replies by email.
• Book a call with the team.

Yes, ElectroHire is available anywhere. All prices are in US dollars.

ElectroHire is VAT registered but does not currently add VAT to its fees. For VAT documents, use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat.

If a payment is charged back, the account is paused while the support team reviews it.

This is done by support: use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat and say which you want.

Ellie is ElectroHire's AI assistant. In the help chat she answers questions about using ElectroHire, but she cannot see or change your account, projects or payments. To reach the team, use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat. She also guides you when you post a project with AI or set up your profile.

Yes. Your onboarding progress and chat history should remain saved.

You post a project from the header or your dashboard, for free.

1. Click Post Project in the header, or Post a Project on your dashboard.
2. Choose Post Manually or Post with AI.
3. If you have no saved card, add one when asked; nothing is charged.
4. Fill in the Project Title and Description and tick the terms box, or answer the AI's questions.
5. Click Post Project to publish, or Submit Project if you chose Post with AI.

Your project goes live straight away, and freelancers and PCB suppliers can bid on it.

Yes, you need one saved card before posting, but nothing is charged: Stripe runs a $0 check. You pay the accepted bid plus the 10% customer fee with Pay Now once the work is completed and approved. Nothing is charged when a bid is accepted.

You pay the accepted bid plus the 10% customer fee with Pay Now once the work is completed and approved. There is no rate card: each freelancer or supplier sets their price in their bid, so a $1,000 bid costs you $1,100.

Posting a project is free, and nothing is charged when a bid is accepted: there are no deposits or milestones.

Go to My Projects in the dashboard menu to see every project you have posted. There are no drafts: a project is saved only when you post it.

On My Projects, use the tabs All, New, In Progress and Completed. New projects are open for bids, In Progress means you accepted a bid, and Completed means you approved the work.

You can edit or delete a project from its page while no bid has been accepted.

1. Open the project from My Projects.
2. Click Edit and save with Update Project, or click Delete.

Deleting removes the project's bids and conversations and cannot be undone.

Use the Search Talent bar at the top to search by role, name, industry, expertise, location, experience or hourly rate, or click View All Freelancers. On your own project, Recommend engineers shows freelancers matched to it.

No, you cannot invite or message a freelancer who has not bid. Post your project so they can bid, then message any bidder with Talk to Freelancer.

Each project card displays a "View Bids" button with the number of proposals received from freelance electronics engineers.

Open Inbox in the dashboard menu to see your conversations. To start one with a bidder, open your project and click Talk to Freelancer.

You accept a bid from the bids list of your project.

1. Open My Projects and click View Bids on the project.
2. Read the bids, and click Profile to see a bidder.
3. Click Accept on the bid you want and confirm.

The project moves to In Progress, the other bids are marked Rejected, and every bidder is notified by email. Nothing is charged when a bid is accepted. You pay the accepted bid plus the 10% customer fee with Pay Now once the work is completed and approved.

You approve the work from Approval Requests once the freelancer asks for approval.

1. Open Approval Requests from the profile menu.
2. Click Accept on the request.
3. Add a comment if you like and click Accept Approval.

The project becomes Completed. You pay the accepted bid plus the 10% customer fee with Pay Now once the work is completed and approved. There is no button to reject work.

Use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat with the project details, and the team mediates between you and the freelancer or supplier. The same applies to any dispute.

Post a new project for the follow-up work, and the same freelancer bids on it. Each project is paid separately, with Pay Now once its work is completed and approved.

You pay the accepted bid plus the 10% customer fee with Pay Now, from My Projects, once the work is completed and approved.

1. Open My Projects and choose Completed.
2. Click Pay Now on the project.
3. Click Pay on a saved card, or use Add new card or Continue with Stripe Checkout.

You pay the accepted bid plus 10%, minus any $2 verification credit, and the button changes to Paid.

You add cards in Account Settings.

1. Open Account Settings → Payment Methods.
2. Click Add New Card.
3. Enter the card details and click Add Card.

Stripe runs a $0 check, and full card numbers are never stored on ElectroHire.

Yes, you can save up to 5 cards per profile and mark one as Default. You still choose which card to use each time you pay.

Default is a label on your preferred card, and nothing is charged automatically. When you pay, you pick a saved card and click Pay, or use another card or Stripe Checkout.

Card payments are processed by Stripe, and connections are secured over HTTPS. Full card numbers are never stored on ElectroHire.

Open Payments in the dashboard menu to see Total Paid and your payment history. Each completed payment has an Invoice button for a PDF invoice, and Export downloads a statement for a date range.

It shows everything you have paid on ElectroHire, including the 10% customer fee and the $2 verification fee.

Refunds follow the Refund policy. To ask for one, use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat with the project details and the reason.

You can get a refund if you ask within 7 days of the payment date and one of these applies:

• The freelancer has not started or delivered any part of the work.
• You are not satisfied with the initial delivery, and attempts to resolve it with the freelancer have failed.

Completed projects and work delivered as agreed are not refundable, unless the work is demonstrably not aligned with the agreed terms or quality standards. The team replies within 5 business days, and approved refunds reach your original payment method within 14 business days.

There is no cancel button once a bid is accepted: use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat, and the team handles the cancellation and applies any fee from the Refund policy:

• Within 24 hours of the bid being accepted: no fee.
• More than 24 hours after: a 5% fee of the project's total value, which is non-refundable and deducted from any payments already made.
• If both sides agree to cancel: no fee.

Joining is free, and you find work by bidding on the projects customers post.

1. Create your account and choose Explore Work.
2. Complete your profile with Fill in Manually or Get Onboarded with AI.
3. Open Projects and bid on projects you can deliver.

Each bid uses 5 Sparks.

Open Projects in the dashboard menu to see every open project; turn on Verified Only to see only projects from verified customers. You can also search project titles with Search Work, and New Project Alerts emails you about new projects.

You bid from the project page, and each bid costs 5 Sparks.

1. Open a New project from Projects.
2. Click Submit Proposal.
3. Fill in Your Estimate (USD) and the Project Timeline, and add a cover letter or files if you like.
4. Tick Agree to Terms and Conditions and click Submit Proposal.

A bid is one total amount in US dollars. You can have one active bid per project; if you withdraw it, you can bid again.

ElectroHire Sparks are credits that freelancers and PCB suppliers spend to bid on projects: each bid uses 5 Sparks. You can buy them or earn them free, and customers do not use Sparks.

One project requires 5 Sparks to place a bid.

There are three Spark packs, bought by card on ElectroHire Sparks → Buy Sparks:

• Trial: 5 Sparks for $2
• Starter: 10 Sparks for $3.50
• Growth: 15 Sparks for $5

You earn free Sparks by verifying your identity and completing projects:

• Verify your identity: 5 Sparks
• 1st completed and paid project: 2 Sparks
• 3rd completed and paid project: 3 Sparks
• 5th completed and paid project: 5 Sparks

Sparks help ensure that only serious professionals make bids. By requiring a small investment to bid, the platform reduces low-quality or spam proposals and attracts committed freelancers and PCB suppliers.

No, Sparks are never refunded, including for a withdrawn bid, a bid that is not chosen or a deleted project. If you withdraw a bid and later bid on the same project again, the new bid uses 5 Sparks again. Sparks do not expire, but unused Sparks are lost if your account is closed.

You can edit or withdraw a bid while it is Pending.

1. Open My Proposals from the profile menu.
2. On a Pending bid, click Edit to change it, or Withdraw and then Yes, Withdraw.

Editing is free. Withdrawing removes your bid but is not final: you can submit a new proposal on the same project later, while it is still open, and the new bid uses 5 Sparks again. The Sparks from the withdrawn bid are not returned. You can have one active bid per project. Once the customer accepts a bid, the other bids are marked Rejected and can no longer be edited.

Use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat, and the team handles the cancellation and applies any fee from the Refund policy:

• Within 24 hours of acceptance: no fee.
• More than 24 hours after: a 2% fee of the project's total value (for PCB suppliers, of the order's total value).
• If both sides agree to cancel: no fee.

Repeated cancellations may lead to an account review and possible suspension.

No, identity verification is optional. Verified bidders are listed first to customers, and verifying gives you 5 free Sparks plus a $2 Wallet credit, locked until your first completed paid project.

A project is marked complete in two steps: the freelancer or supplier asks for approval, and the customer accepts it.

1. The freelancer or supplier opens the project from Projects or My Proposals, clicks Request Approval, adds a comment if they like and sends the request.
2. The customer reviews the work, opens Approval Requests and clicks Accept, then Accept Approval. The project becomes Completed.
3. The customer pays the accepted bid plus the 10% customer fee with Pay Now once the work is completed and approved.

The bid shows Pending Approval until the customer clicks Accept Approval.

After the customer pays, the bid minus 5% appears in your Wallet and becomes available to withdraw within 2 business days of the customer's payment (weekends and bank holidays excluded). You then withdraw it to PayPal whenever you choose.

You withdraw from your Wallet to PayPal.

1. Open Wallet and click Withdraw.
2. Choose PayPal and enter your PayPal Email and the Amount (USD).
3. Click Continue, check the details, then click Confirm.

There is no minimum and no ElectroHire withdrawal fee. Withdrawals cannot be reversed, so check the PayPal email. Each completed withdrawal has a Receipt in your transaction history.

It is your identity verification credit, for freelancers and PCB suppliers alike. The $2 stays locked until your first completed paid project, then it joins your withdrawable balance. It does not stop you deleting your profile, but if you delete the profile before your first completed paid project, the locked $2 is forfeited.

Joining is free: sign up as a supplier and bid on the projects customers post.

1. Open Create your account and choose Onboard as PCB Supplier under I'm here to.
2. Complete your company profile with Fill in Manually or Get Onboarded with AI.
3. Open Projects and bid on projects you can deliver.

There is no separate order or quote system: suppliers bid on the projects customers post, the same way freelancers do. Browse Projects, and New Project Alerts emails you when new projects are posted.

Your quote is a normal bid: click Submit Proposal on the project and give one total amount in US dollars with your start and end dates. Shipping is included in that amount, so describe it in the cover letter; each bid uses 5 Sparks.

You receive your bid minus a 5% fee, per completed project, paid into your Wallet when the customer pays. It becomes available to withdraw within 2 business days of the customer's payment (weekends and bank holidays excluded), and you withdraw it to PayPal whenever you choose.

Once your bid is accepted, the customer may share the delivery address with you in the ElectroHire inbox. Phone numbers, email addresses and links are still not allowed. Shipping is included in your bid amount.

Not yet. PCB suppliers find work by bidding on the projects customers post.

You need your name, location, an hourly rate, your company name, company email and company website, and at least one PCB type. Certifications are optional. You can also upload a prototype price sheet and set up the profile with Ellie; portfolios are for freelancers only.

Fractional Engineering gives your company ongoing hardware, PCB and embedded engineering capacity on a subscription, without hiring permanent staff. A Dedicated Senior Lead Engineer, with access to specialists, works on your projects every week, and you follow the work in the Fractional Engineering workspace.

Posting a project gets one piece of work done: freelancers bid with Sparks, you award one bid and you pay with Pay Now once the work is completed and approved. Fractional Engineering is an ongoing subscription: engineers work on your projects every week and log their time in the workspace, with structured documentation and quarterly engineering strategy reviews for continuity.

It is for organisations building connected and hardware-driven products that need ongoing engineering capacity. That includes scaling product companies (launching connected products, expanding hardware capability, preparing for CE / UKCA) and established enterprises (managing regulated product lines, reducing contractor dependency, needing documentation traceability).

Fractional Engineering starts with an onboarding call with the ElectroHire team.

1. Book an onboarding call.

On the call the team reviews your needs and plan, then sets up your workspace and emails your team an invitation.

Existing clients and fractional engineers log in on the workspace login page, which is separate from the marketplace login.

1. Open Log in to the workspace.
2. Enter your email and password, then click Access workspace.
3. If asked, enter the 6-digit code sent to your email.
4. Choose your workspace under Select your workspace.

The workspace is where your projects, team and time come together; each role sees only its own items.

• Projects, each with Overview, Board, Calendar, Milestones, Risks & Dependencies, Files, Activity and Timesheet tabs.
• Boards: the task boards of every project.
• Roadmap and Project analytics, for client admins.
• Team, Time reports (exportable to Excel) and Activity logs.
• My time, to log time and submit weekly timesheets, and My earnings, for fractional engineers.
• Leave requests, from the user menu.

Fractional engineers log their time in the workspace and submit it each week, and ElectroHire approves it.

1. Open My time and click Add time log, or Start timer for a live timer.
2. At the end of the week (weeks run Monday to Sunday), click Submit week.
3. ElectroHire approves the week, or returns it with a reason so it can be edited and resubmitted.

Client admins can see every logged entry in Time reports.

Pricing and contract terms are tailored to your scope and discussed on the onboarding call.

The public page lists three plans by hours per week (Starter, 8; Growth, about 24; Scale, 40, with a minimum 6-month engagement), with pricing on request. Invoicing and contract terms are handled directly by ElectroHire and agreed during onboarding.

Book an onboarding call

To change or cancel your plan, use "Raise a ticket" or book a call with the team, and the team will confirm.

Contact the ElectroHire team in either of two ways:

• Use "Raise a ticket" in the help chat.
• Book a call with the team.

No. The Fractional Engineering workspace has its own login, separate from your ElectroHire marketplace account, and there is no single sign-on.

ElectroHire creates workspace accounts and emails an invitation with a link to set your password, valid for 7 days. Log in to the workspace