Site Wide Message: (current site time 3/14/2010 8:34:32 PM EDT) PayPal users, starting this payment period, the payout fee has been lowered (dropped from a percentage of 2%-3% to a flat fee of $2)! Please see the news page for the latest info. We want your opinion! Please tell us what you think about the new pay-for-time beta and some new ideas regarding self-mediation. The Expert Guarantee Are you a buyer and... ...have a crucial deadline and MUST find an expert who will finish the project on time? ...OR...have too many 'look-alike' bidders and aren't sure how to separate the experts from the amateurs ? Or are you an expert coder, whose bids are getting crowded out by a throng of less qualified bidders?      If you fall into any of the above categories, then the Expert Guarantee solves your problem, by quickly connecting expert coders with serious buyers. Here is how it works. At the beginning of the project, the expert coder puts their own money 'on the line', to prove that they have the skill to complete the project and are also 100% committed to completing it on time. They do this by placing a deposit into escrow, which is a percentage of the bid amount (for example 10%). If the expert coder completes the contract as promised (100% by the deadline), then they receive the deposit back (along with full payment for the work, as usual). If the expert coder does not complete the contract, then they forfeit the deposit. The deposit is used to pay for the buyer's cancellation charge, and the remainder is donated to a non-profit charity. (The money is not kept by Rent A Coder, nor the buyer). If the buyer is responsible for the project failing (for example: by pulling out prematurely, withholding important information, etc.) then the coder receives back the deposit. A coder does this via the arbitration process. (Note: To reimburse Rent A Coder for the cost of processing the deposit, the coder is sometimes charged a small, non-refundable processing fee when making their deposit. The coder can eliminate or reduce this fee by choosing a less expensive method of payment).      This above is merely a brief overview of the Expert Guarantee feature, and there are many additional important details that are not included here. Please DO NOT USE THIS FEATURE, until you've read and understood all of those details. Links to frequently asked questions and the detailed legal agreements are below: Frequently Asked Questions: Buyer | Coder Legal Agreement: Buyer | Coder