Buyer FAQ

Buyer Frequently Asked Questions:

1) I have a program I’d like created or a technical question I need answered. How does “Rent a Coder” help me?

“Rent a Coder” allows you to locate experienced programmers from around the world quickly and easily. You just enter your project or problem, along with the maximum you are willing to pay, and programmers will bid down the price in order to earn your business.

You can quickly view the qualifications and resume of each programmer who bids on your project as well as their approval rating from previous customers.

2) What does this service cost?

There are no service charges or finders fees for buyers.

3) How do I pay the coder?

After you accept a buyer's bid, you submit the bid amount to an escrow account via credit card, PayPal, postal mail check or bank to bank wire transfer (wire transfer involves a small surcharge to cover our expenses). Only after you receive the deliverables and approve them, will the escrowed funds be transferred to the coder. This guarantees that the coder will work his or her hardest to get you the results that you asked for.

4) What is a preferred payment method and how does it help my selected coder?

When you escrow funds via a means that is cheaper for Rent A Coder to accept and process, Rent a Coder passes the savings on to the coder. If you use either a bank to bank wire transfer or snail mail check to escrow all of the funds for the bid request, the winning coder receives a Rent a Coder Fee reduction of 2.5% from the normal fee that they would pay. This can be a great way to reward a coder with extra money with no extra effort on your part. The preferred payment discount began on 8/26/2004 1:00:00 AM.

5) I am a U.S. business or citizen. Do I have to mail yearly IRS 1099 forms to all coders I hire?

No you don't. In the offline world, this is a time consuming process for most U.S. businesses. But on Rent A Coder we handle this thankless task for you. Per IRS rules, we automatically issue all U.S. coders who made $600 or more in the past year an IRS 1099 form at the proper time of the year. That gives you one less thing to worry about.

6) How much do wire transfers cost?

Wire transfers involve a small surcharge to cover our expenses.

Domestic (if you send from the United States): $10.00 (USD )

International (if you DO NOT send from the United States): $35.00 (USD )

7) How are buyer and seller disputes handled (arbitration)?

Most transactions are completed harmoniously, but every now and then a buyer and coder cannot come to an agreement. If this happens to you then you can simply request one of the Rent A Coder arbitrators place the bid request into arbitration to determine if the contract was met or not. During a court-like process, the arbitrator follows the rules of arbitration to determine what has and has not been delivered, and may even test the final deliverables to verify a buyer's flaw list. (For complete details, see the complete rules of arbitration in either the buyer or seller legal agreements). To ensure fairness, all parties have already agreed in advance to abide by the Rent a Coder settlement.

8) What if I don’t know how much to bid as my maximum?

If you are unsure of how much your project or problem is worth, you can leave the bid blank and programmers will suggest different bid amounts to you.

9) What protections are there for buyers?

Rent a Coder has a number of features that make the site an easy and safe place to purchase coder related solutions and services.

When choosing a coder:

1) To help you choose a coder, you can instantly check the reputation and history of all bidders. Ratings range from 1 to 10 (with 1 being worst and 10 being best). A comment log left by other buyers who have worked with the programmer in the past, is also available. Additionally, if you feel uncomfortable and would like assistance in choosing the best coder for your situation, a Rent a Coder Facilitator with experience in project management is available to assist you in choosing the best coder for your needs.

2) To guarantee that your coder is motivated and committed to completing your project, you can require that they place a Expert Guarantee. The coder deposits a certain amount of money (which the two of you can negotiate) into a deposit escrow. If they fully complete the project, then they receive the deposit back. If they do not complete the project then they lose some or all of the deposit. This is the best way to find a Coder who is fully committed to your project. (Click here for full details on the Expert Guarantee).

3) If you need to protect trade secrets while selecting a coder, Rent A Coder offers a non-disclosure agreement feature for maximum protection of your intellectual property.

When working with a coder:

4) The "Safe Project Escrow" (tm): This Rent A Coder exclusive feature, guarantees a stress free transaction by putting you in control of releasing funds to the coder.

Before Rent A Coder, many companies had to make non-refundable up-front payments to coders to hire them. This often resulted in 'dead-beat' coders making off with deposits, and buyers being left with nothing but empty promises and empty wallets.

However, with the "Safe Project Escrow" (tm), you don't pay the coder directly, but instead deposit the funds into an escrow account. While giving the coder the reassurance that you have the funds, the coder also knows that they do not receive any funds until work is completed (or a work phase is completed if you are doing a phased project).

Upon completion of work (or work phase), you verify that you've received what you've asked for, and authorize the release of funds though the site. Since you are in control, you can guarantee that you'll get the deliverables that you're asking for!

5) Once your bid is accepted, you receive the coder's email information and may exchange phone numbers, addresses, etc. at both parties discretion. In addition to this, weekly coder status reports keep you updated. (required only of Coders working on projects over $150). That way, if the coder is running into problems or getting off course...you'll know right away rather than after its too late.

6) If you find yourself in a dispute with the coder, you can put the bid into arbitration with a Rent a Coder arbitrator. They will determine what has actually been delivered (or not) and the coder (and yourself) has already pre-agreed to abide by their decision. If it turns out that the coder is unable or unwilling to do the work, you can also switch to another coder at no charge. See the Rent a Coder Rules of Arbitration for full details on arbitration.

10) How is my financial and personal information kept safe?

All sensitive information is protected via the highest level of SSL encryption (128 bit) to prevent it from being intercepted by unauthorized parties. Once the information arrives at our data center, it is password-protected in a datastore. The data store is additionally fortified by an ICSA Certified firewall that blocks out instrusion attempts. Additionally, we subscribe to vendor security notification lists, and install new vendor patches as promptly as possible...most often with 24 hours. Finally, 3rd party security experts go through all of our system on a routine basis looking for holes, and anything they find is promptly sealed and documented.

11) How can I accept more than one bid/coder on my bid request?

To choose more than one, go to the "messages summary" section of the bid request. Then click on "Accept More than One Bidder's Bid" and follow the prompts.

12) I need help choosing a bid/coder. Can you help?

The best way of choosing a coder depends on whether or not you have a deadline that you need your project finished by. Put another way, the best way depends on whether you have more time than money, or money than time.:

If you have a deadline (more money than time)...

...then the single most important criteria in evaluating a coder is his/her previous experience on the site (followed closely by their job skills).

Narrow down your coders only to ones that:

1) Have done work on the site before in your price range. (click on their name to see their work history). Don't pick a $100/job coder to do your $10,000/job and vice versa. Make sure the coder has received favorable ratings from past buyers. If a coder has 2 or 3 or below average ratings (below 5) then that is a warning sign. You may wish to skip them and move on to another.

2) Have a resume that matches your project requirements. (click on their name to see their resume). The closer their resume is to the skills required to accomplish your current project, the better.

The #1 mistake that inexperienced buyers with time frames make is picking the cheapest coder. This generally means the coder has no work experience or history on the site. Then, when the project is not completed on time (or at all) by their 'discount coder', they are stuck in a bind. (The Rent A Coder escrowing process protects their money, however, their problem is that they want completed software, not their original money back.) So, if your timeline is important, don't make this mistake.

If you have NO deadline (more time than money)...

...then time is on your side and you should strongly consider taking a chance on a coder with little or no work experience on the site.

You can generally get quite a discount this way, and you can do it safely, since the Rent A Coder Safe Project Escrow protects your money should they not deliver. In the worst case you can simply pick another coder at no charge, but in the best case you pick up your project for substanially less money. This can result in getting the project done for a lot less money.

   Another issue that many English-speaking buyers have, is whether or not they should consider coders where English is not the country's first language. These coders can be 50-75% less expensive than native-English speakers and so this is a very good question. The answer depends on your situation. If you have a well defined project (meaning a thorough, well-laid out requirements document), then choosing a non-native coder can be a great way to save a lot of money. However, if you have a less well defined project, then you will be relying a lot on the coder to communicate with you to 'flesh' out your program. If this is your case, you may wish to consider using a native English speaking coder. If you would still like to try a non-native-English coder...make sure that you can understand them and that they understand you in your correspondence.

   One additional issue is that of confidential and proprietary information. If you have a project that involves this type of information, you should first be getting any coder you are considering, to sign an Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to protect that information. However these agreements (like any contract) have no teeth if the country the coder is from doesn't enforce them. If the coder is from such a country and walks away with your secrets, you may not have much recourse. So to protect yourself, after having your attorney draw up an NDA, ask them which countries you should avoid. Generally 1st world countries have excellent intellectual propery laws and agreements, but you start to take a risk once you go to a country that is either 2nd world or a developing country. Your lawyer can advise you of the specifics depending on your contract, and make more specific recommendations.

   Finally, if you're still lost and need some help choosing a coder...you can always contact the facilitator with your bid request URL along with your 'short list' of coders (if any) and they can give you some advice.

13) How long do I have to accept a bid?

   You have until your self-specified bidding expiration date to accept a bid (which you can modify at any time). After this, the site will give you an additional week to further decide on a coder. If you still haven't selected a coder at that point, the system will close out your bid request so as not to clutter up the site with 'dead' bid requests. If this happens, and you change your mind and want to reopen the bid request, you can write to the facilitator to have it reopened.

14) I've hidden one or more bidders, but now want to review them again. How can I view or restore a bidder I've hidden?

   To view or restore a bidder you've hidden from your bid request page, do the following. First go to your bid request page, and click on the "Show bidders I've hidden" checkbox.
The hidden bidders will show up in grey with the heading "This bidder was hidden by you". To restore them, click on the hide/unhide check box to the right of the bidder and then click on the hide/unhide button.

15) How can I protect my trade secrets/confidential information?

     The Rent A Coder 'Non-disclosure Agreement Protection' feature allows you to safe-guard any trade secrets you might have, by requiring coders who wish to bid on your project to sign a legally binding non-disclosure agreement before you reveal any confidential information about your bid request to them.

     Here's how the NDA process works:

You select that you want your bid request protected by the 'NDA Protection' feature. (see screenshot...)

The only information made initially public to the coder, is the bid request title, bidding type, project type, category(ies) and a pre-NDA public message of your choice. (see screenshot...)

Coders who are interested in learning more, must first download your NDA, sign it, scan it back in and re-upload it. (see screenshot...)

Upon receipt of their signed NDA, Rent A Coder will notify you via email (see screenshot...). You can then review that coder's background and choose to approve or reject them for further access to your confidential information...all from your bid request page. (see screenshot...)

Once the coder is approved, they receive an email informing them of your approval (or not) (see screenshot...). If approved, they are given a link where they can see the full bid request information that you have setup including the bid request description, deliverables, platform, etc.

You are in control of the release of confidential information at all times, ensuring you the safest experience possible.

16) Can I setup milestones and/or negotiate partial payments for milestones?

Yes. Simply negotiate these with your coder before beginning work. When you accept work at each milestone completion, you can use the 'accept work' feature to accept a percentage of the entire payment rather than 100%.

17) What is the Expert Guarantee?

The Expert Guarantee is a useful feature, if you happen to be 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 seperate the experts from the amateurs.

The Expert Guarantee is also useful, if you happen to be 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

18) On what types of projects can I require an Expert Guarantee?
You can require an Expert Guarantee on any project that is large enough to justify the additional overhead, and long enough to handle the possible delay of verification. So you can require it on any project that is one of the following types:

Enterprise Business Project: $50,000.00 (USD )+
Very Large Business Project: $25,000.00 (USD )+
Large Business Project: $5,000.00 (USD )+
Medium Business Project: $500.00 (USD )
Small Business Project: $100.00 (USD )+
Unsure of Project Price or Beginner Assistance

...and has a minimum deadline of 6 days.

19) What are the minimum and maximum percentages I can set for the Expert Guarantee?
   The Expert Guarantee can be from 3.5% to 100% of the bid. The typical percentage is 10%.

20) How long do I have to wait for the Coder to make their Expert Guarantee?

   The Coder has up to 3 business days to make your Expert Guarantee. During that time we also send them daily email notifications to prompt them to respond. Please do realize that the coder's circumstances may have drastically changed since the time they initially bid (for example, they may have won additional projects in the meantime and no longer have spare capacity). As a result they may choose to decline your project during this time at no penalty (other than noting the incident as a neutral item on their rating).

   Once the coder escrows the Expert Guarantee you will both be notified and work will begin.

   If for some reason, the coder neither escrows funds, nor declines the project in 3 business days, they will receive a negative rating. If this happens, you will be notified and can choose to switch to another coder at no charge.

   Due to the delay usually required for a coder to complete the escrowing of the Expert Guarantee, it is not recommended to use an Expert Guarantee on a project with a very short deadline.

21) If I choose to extend the deadline for the coder, how does that affect the Expert Guarantee?

   If you extend the deadline, then the old deadline is discarded and the newest one is enforced. As long as the coder completes the work 100% by the newest deadline, they will receive back their Expert Guarantee.

22) Why are forfeited Expert Guarantees donated to charity?

After covering the buyer's cancellation charge, the remainder of the Expert Guarantee is donated to charity. We do not keep the funds, so as to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest during the arbitration process.

23) Can you explain the security verification measures you perform on my payments?

   Yes. Please see the security verification page for more details on security measures.

24) I'm getting a warning about my Internet Explorer browser being old and possibly buggy. What is this all about?

   You are running an old internet browser (Internet Explorer v5.x) that Microsoft has found a number of bugs in. These bugs will not only cause problems for you on some of the advanced features of Rent A Coder (like posting bids and attachments), but also exposes you to security risks on all sites on the Internet.

      Microsoft provides new and upgraded versions of its software for no charge via download from the Internet, or via CD for a nominal charge. You are highly recommended to take advantage of all the latest bug fixes and security advances by downloading the free newest version of Internet Explorer. To learn more click here.

25) What types of bid requests are not allowed?

   Here is a complete list of disallowed bid request types.

26) Is contact information allowed in bid requests and bids? How about in projects > $500?

   To protect our fee, contact information is never allowed in any bid, no matter what the project amount. However, to facilitate the requirements gathering stage of larger projects, the site "Information Release" system allows the coder to release information to you without having to post contact information. For complete information click here.

27) What information in my bid request and bids is private and what isn't?

       The Seller and Buyer may exchange one or more bids and replies on the bid request. Exhedra wishes to make clear in this section exactly what is shown and what is not shown to other people on the site regarding bid requests and bidding.

Profiles:

Both buyer and coder profiles are publicly available. Profiles are viewable by clicking on the person's name at various places on the site, including bids, bid requests and ratings. 3rd party search engines outside of the control of Exhedra (such as Google) may index and show these profiles on their sites. If you wish to keep your identity private, you are advised to use the 'Screen Name' feature of the site and use a name different than you real name or company.

Open Auctions (with no NDA):

Project Details: (description, etc.)

Project details are viewable by the public

Bids/Replies:

While the bidding is open, the auction is conducted as a 'closed auction' and bidders cannot see the bids placed by other bidders.

Once a winning bidder is chosen, the accepted bid (made by the winning bidder), and the last bids (made by losing bidders) are made public and are viewable by the general public... to show that a fair and honest auction was conducted. This does include the screennames and site links of the bidders. Everything else remains private...including the text and attachments of all comments made. The bid request page itself is removed from general public access on the site's search system. However, the general public can view the title of the bid request on the winning bidder's resume. Clicking on the link will allow a person from the general public to view the bid request itself and the information stated above. Additionally, 3rd party search engines outside of the control of Exhedra (such as Google) may index and show this information on their sites.

If a buyer wishes to hide the details of their open bid request from the general public, they may choose to 'privatize' the open bid request once a coder is chosen. This converts it into a private auction (see below) which, as the name implies, is much more hidden. Click here for instructions on how to do this.

Open Auctions (with NDA):

Project Details: (description, etc.)

Project details are viewable only by those Sellers whom the Buyer approves for viewing by accepting their NDA. The general public or those rejected may only view the "Pre NDA" message that the Buyer posts for the public.

Bids/Replies:

While the bidding is open, the auction is conducted as a 'closed auction' and bidders cannot see the bids placed by other bidders.

Once a winning bidder is chosen, the accepted bid (made by the winning bidder), and the last bids (made by losing bidders) are made viewable by those Sellers who had their NDA approved by the Buyer...to show that a fair and honest auction was conducted. This does include the screennames and site links of the bidders. Everything else remains private...including the text and attachments of all comments made. The bid request page itself is removed from general public access on the site's search system. However, the general public can view the title of the bid request on the winning bidder's resume. Clicking on the link, however, does not allow a person from the general public to view the bid request itself.

Private and One-on-one auctions

Project Details: (description, etc.)

Project details are viewable only by those Sellers whom the Buyer invites to the auction. The general public may not view the project details.

Bids/Replies:

While the bidding is open, the auction is conducted as a 'closed auction' and bidders cannot see the bids placed by other bidders.

Once a winning bidder is chosen, the accepted bid (made by the winning bidder), and the last bids (made by losing bidders) are made viewable only to those Sellers whom the Buyer invited to the auction...to show that a fair and honest auction was conducted. This does include the screennames and site links of the bidders. Everything else remains private...including the text and attachments of all comments made. The bid request page itself is removed from general public access on the site's search system. However, the general public can view the title of the bid request on the winning bidder's resume. Clicking on the link, however, does not allow a person from the general public to view the bid request itself.

28) Why would I want to privatize my bid request?

    In order to demonstrate to the public (or the invited coders in a private auction, or your approved coders on an NDA auction) that auctions are being conducted in a fair and open manner, the top-level bids made by coders on certain auction types are made viewable to them after a final coder is selected. (IMPORTANT: This applies ONLY to the top-level bids made by the coders. The private low-level/private bids made by you and/or the coder are NEVER shown. For a more complete explanation please see the open bid request privacy explanation section of your Buyer Agreement).

In addition to top-level bid information, other parties may be able to see your project by clicking on the coder's ratings (again please see the agreement as there are major exceptions. The public may see project details on open auctions, but private auctions are more restricted, and NDA auctions do not allow any viewing of the project). When the public can see the project details, 3rd party search engines beyond the control of Exhedra (such as Google) may index your bid request page and show it in their search engine.

    Some buyers may not wish to have this information known. If you wish to hide the details of your project from the public, you can do so by 'privatizing' your bid request. This changes your auction from an open bid request to a private bid request to better protect you, while still allowing your selected coder and yourself full access. This can be done on a bid request by bid request basis, or you can set a setting in your profile to automatically privatize every future bid request, the moment you choose the coder.

29) How do I privatize my bid request?

   You can privatize individual bid requests from the control panel of your bid request. Or you can choose to auto-privatize all future bid requests that you choose coder's on, using the auto-privatize feature.

30) How does auto-privatize work?

   Auto privatize automatically converts your open auctions into private auctions after you select a coder. It's a handy feature that combines the flexibility of an open project during bidding, and the privacy of a private project once you select your coder. It works like this:

Before you select a coder, your auction is open to the public, so that coders can bid. (This is necessary because you don't yet know which coder you wish to pick, and normal private auctions require you to provide an invitation list of authorized coders...which you cannot yet create).
Once you select a coder, the site automatically converts the auction to a private auction and auto-invites your selected coder. This enables only you and the coder to access the bid request from this point on.

You can activate auto-privatize by checking the box in 'My alerts/other' left hand menu item, under 'My Buyer Account'. It's important to understand that when you first activate this feature, it can only convert new auctions (when #2, above, occurs). Any old auctions where you've already chosen a coder will not be converted. However, you can privatize indvidually, as described above.

31) Can you give me more advice?

Yes. Check out these additional articles for buyers...

32) What is a bulletin board auction and how do I post one?

The new Bulletin Board auction has more lenient posting rules than the Project auctions. This bulletin board auction is ideal for:

Job position postings
Hourly rate jobs
Announcements
Requests for completed software
Any other situations that do not involve the typical escrowing of funds for a fixed price project

For more information as well as information on posting a bulletin board auction, please see: Bulletin Board Auction Info...