Helium.com on Tuesday officially launched an online marketplace for articles in an effort to link publishers with freelance writers more efficiently using the web. Think eBay turned on its head.

Helium CEO Mark Ranalli said his goal is to “fundamentally change” the freelance industry and the way people purchase content. While this may be a boon for many publishers, writers should pause before laying down a snappy intro.

Here’s how the marketplace works: Publishers post descriptions of the articles they’re looking for, including word count, deadline, and fee. Current requests include 500 words on hair loss remedies and a 1500-word zinger about rezoning Harlem’s main street.

Then writers go to work, that is if they are tempted by the pittance offered. Most requests are like the former, the hair loss one, wooing the writer with 16 big ones (that’s $16) for 400 to 600 words (Helium takes a 20 percent cut in the gross fee, so that $16 is the writer’s portion, or 80 percent).

But wait, because it gets better—for the publisher, that is. After all those articles are submitted, the buyer selects one and ONLY pays that author.

I wish I could do that for furniture, hotels, and massages. I can imagine it now: “Sorry Bob, that desk you spent all day working on just isn’t as nice as Julio’s. Good luck selling it to someone else.”

Winner take all aside, the fees offered are simply too low to attract serious writers. I put in a call to Alexander Owens, executive director of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, one of the leading groups for nonfiction freelance writers in the U.S.

“Those are not what professional writers would consider professional fees,” she said. “Helium looks like a place to buy copy as a reprint.”

But it’s not a place to buy copy as reprint, which is why it has so far generally attracted people who are not professional writers, evidence in the quality of the copy I’ve read. And that’s fine—I’m no literary snob.

Also, the marketplace concept does bring some value to the freelance writer; he or she doesn’t have to spend time researching publications and crafting pitches. Jobs that are needed are posted there for you to pursue at your will.

Helium was kind enough to put me in touch with three of its contributors—none of whom have yet to submit to the marketplace but who have contributed to the general site which has an advert revenue-sharing scheme. They were generally positive about Helium and said it offered them an opportunity to get their work published.

Thirty-two-year-old Louis Albornoz, a professional race car driver, wrote to me: “Helium is an excellent outlet for people who like to write and want to share their writing to the world. Writers hoping to make a decent income should seek more traditional outlets.”

Margaret Linton, who described herself as “mature” and a clinical psychologist, wrote: “Nobody’s holding a gun to my head ordering me to write! I guess I really value the experience but wish it could be more profitable.”

Finally, 37-year-old Kathy Henry, a research editor, said she was attracted to the site’s simplicity. She’s made $60 off of 18 articles.

I think these writers tell the story best, whether you’re talking about the marketplace or Helium’s general site. It’s a place to post your writing, but don’t quit your day job.

Will it fundamentally change the freelance industry, as Helium’s CEO hopes? No it won’t. If prices rise enough to attract seasoned writers, editors will quickly realize that better quality comes from collaboration. That means working together from the start. That means no marketplace.