What's the difference? I have a pair of designers/devs that I've spent a lot of money with, they're in the Ukraine. I've never met them. We skype, use basecamp

What's the difference? I have a pair of designers/devs that I've spent a lot of money with, they're in the Ukraine. I've never met them. We skype, use basecamp and email to get the work done. They invoice, I pay through paypal. We've done several projects together and I plan to work with them as long as they're available.