8) 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.
9) How can I accept more than one bid/coder on my bid request?
Normally, each bid request can only have one winning bid/coder. However, we can accomodate you with multiple choices,
just as long as you realize that all coders who deliver according to the bid request will be paid in full (i.e. this is not a method to
get 3-4 coders to work for free and pay only the one who finishes first).
To choose more than one, simply accept the bid on your primary choice and follow the prompts. This will log your payment information
in the system. Then, when you are done, email the facilitator your bid request URL, along with a list of your secondary choices (author and bid amounts). The facilitator will take care of the rest.
10) 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 alot 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 50-75% less expensive 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 this type of coder is a great way to save a lot of money.
However, if you have a less well defined project, then you will be relying alot on the coder to communicate with you to 'flesh' out your program. If this is
your case, you should strongly 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.
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.
11) 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.
12) 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.
13) 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%.
14) Can you give me a summary of what the 'Coder Deposit Guarantee' is?
The Coder Deposit Guarantee solves 2 sticky issues for both Buyers and Coders.
How does a Buyer make sure that a coder is going to complete their project?
How does a Coder set themselves above the crowd of other bidders and prove to a
Buyer that they are worthy of serious attention? The "Coder Deposit Guarantee" solves both
of these problems and takes the buying and selling of software to a new level.
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It works like this: When the buyer accepts the coder's bid, the coder deposits a certain amount of money to
guarantee completion (the exact amount is negotiated between Buyer and Coder).
If the Coder completes the project as promised, they receive the deposit
back. If the Coder does not complete the project, then they forfeit the
deposit (or a pro-rated percentage of it...if only a percentage of work is
completed).
To protect a Coder from a Buyer who unfairly witholds approval of fully completed work,
the bid request can be placed into legally binding
arbitration (like all projects), where an arbitrator from Rent a Coder will determine if it
truly was delivered as promised or not.
To further prevent an unscrupulous Buyer from abusing this
feature, the forfeited deposit is NOT paid out to
the Buyer. Instead it goes to:
- Offsetting the Buyer's cancellation charge (if any).
(See the Buyer Legal Agreement for information on when
a cancellation charge might apply.)
- 100% of the remainder is donated to charity.
Please understand all aspects of the Coder Deposit so you can best use it to your advantage.
Links to frequently asked questions and the detailed legal agreements are below:
15) On what types of projects can I request a 'Coder Deposit Guarantee'?
You can request a coder deposit guarantee on any of the following types of
projects:
