Rent A Coder

A friend pointed out to me that I should have mentioned the online labor marketplace Rent A Coder in my Wired article. Rent A Coder is exactly what it sounds like, a service that allows programmers from around the world to bid on any bit of high-tech piecework posted on the company’s site. It’s also an excellent example of how effective crowdsourcing networks are in tech fields, where people can work – indeed flourish – outside the framework of the firm or academic institution.

According to the company’s own data, over 140,000 programmers and 55,000 buyers use the service, and roughly 11,000 projects are completed every month. Payment is held in escrow until the client is happy with the product. Most of the jobs presumably consist of rote programming tasks, but any way you cut it this represents a considerable volume of commissions that otherwise would have gone to professional firms through traditional channels.

So can Rent A Coder produce quality equaling what a professional might deliver? The answer could well be no. The next question – raised by an article in British newspaper The Independent – is "Does that matter?" In the piece, by Clint Witchalls, the author used Rent A Coder to find someone to design his Web site. He received 63 bids before settling on a coder named Luke in New Mexico that completed the job for $60, and even through in a tutorial to boot.

Witchalls then went to a London-based Web design agency to see what they charge to create a comparable Web site. “’The simplicity of the site’s design and functionality suggests that it was delivered on a very small budget,’” the agency’s marketing manager sniffed. “Our author clients generally invest between pounds 1,000 and pounds 5,000 [roughly $2,000 to $10,000] for … their personal Websites.”

Witchalls spent about $150 for the development and hosting of his site, which is a little less than 2 percent of the larger figure quoted by the London firm. His site won’t win any Webbies, he concedes, but it suits his purposes just fine. That disparity in cost is about as pronounced as that between iStockPhoto’s licenses and that offered by traditional stock houses, and it’s not too off from the difference between producing a half-hour of scripted network TV and producing 30 minutes of VH1’s Web Junk 20. I’m hoping to use this site to gather more examples, and eventually tease out the common elements among these otherwise disparate cases.

Comments

[Jeff Howe]

test. this is only a test.

[TheRaven]

Yes, but it has always been possible to get poorly designed websites created for a few dollars. Nothing new here.

My own website creates my brand, and my business. It cost the equivalent of $10,000 as I built it myself and this is what the equivalent amount of my time would cost. Was my time worth it? Every penny. Customers and other designers compliment the design, and people think, having seen it, that I am far more established in my business than I actually am.

Could I have done this with a $64, $1000, $4000 website. Not on your life.

[Darren]

Rent a Coder sounds great - but check out TopCoder.com. Rather than setting up the project on a per-bid basis, TopCoder has turned its now famous global programmer tourneys into a forum for getting development done.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060101/handson-global.html
The company initially used its tournaments to turn hackers into celebrities and then building a community and a rating system around it. Now, they can float more sophisticated projects to the community and get top talent to submit solutions essentially for free. (The programmers/designers can beef up their ratings based on the peer reviews even of they don't win the tourney.)
Perhaps this mode wouldn't work as well for web design, but think about it: rather than sorting out a project based on the bid, you get to pick the best submitted solution for the fixed cost of the prize your ponied up to host the tournament.

[tonyd]

I've never used rent a coder, but I have some experience with other online talent auctions, particularly with Elance (elance.com). While these can be good resources both for buyers and sellers, they are only so useful. In the my business (writing and Web design), I've found Elance to be good:

1) for clients looking for bargain services
2) for beginning talent trying to scrape their first clients together
3) for offshore outsourcers to build up volume

That said, I have also seen advertisments seeking that one special person to work on a unique project-- documentary films and small press books for example. So these kinds of resources might be a way to find talent who are interested in your special project.

[kamen 123]

with serious projects rentacoder staff are INCREDIBLY STUPID PROFESSIONAL LIARS
they lie even with their slogan
more details at http://kamen123.blogspot.com

[Sergey I.Grachyov]

The famous insulter "kamen123" has been banned from RentACoder:
http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/misc/ArbitrationInfo/KamenKaburov/RentACoderArbitration/KamenKaburov_RentACoder_Arbitration.htm

"kamen123" spoil perfect site in revenge.

[kamen 123]

Sergey please go to lie at rentacoder
here your behaviour is transparent
:-)

[DemosSoft]

I'm a freelancer with lots of online experience and I always welcome online work. RAC is definitely has ups and downs but you can find projects there with a lot of patience. Yeah there are many buyers there sometimes with unrealistic projects but it's a bit hard to resist because some of the coders simply work cheap.

[Bill]

Check out http://www.freelancewar.com . It's new, but it's like ren-coder and it it's free to bid and post. No Commission Fee's or Monthly Service Fee's.

[Nicholas E. May]

Quote:
He received 63 bids before settling on a coder named Luke in New Mexico that completed the job for $60, and even through in a tutorial to boot.

It's "threw", not "through":

He received 63 bids before settling on a coder named Luke in New Mexico that completed the job for $60, and even _threw_ in a tutorial to boot.

[Derek]

RentACoder is run by Exhedra. This company has horrible practices. The finance managers, are also the technical arbitrators. All of the VPs are family of the creator.

There is no customer service available via phone. The only customer rep that is available via the phone does not have interaction with other staff, other than the 4-5 people that may come into the office they are in.

If you are a buyer, chances are you will fair pretty well in this market place. If you are a coder (seller) be wary, and AVOID Rent A Coder. They have only a "satisfactory" rating with the Better Business Bureau for a reason.

From personal experiance, RentaCoder is not a market place, it is a dictatorship, where Exhedra stands to make money off of coders in poor countries, or those just starting off. The professionalisim of Exhedra, and RentACoder shows through once you begin to use thier services.

[Muhammad Saeed]

i want to take some work for data operator

[yuppi]

I always welcome online work. RAC is definitely has ups and downs but you can find projects there with a lot of patience. Yeah there are many buyers there sometimes with unrealistic projects but it's a bit hard to resist because some of the coders simply work cheap
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[Rac freelancer]

Mostly horrible for coders, there is a big chance you will lose money occasionally on the sporadic jobs you get. Buyers can cancel for almost anything and YOU will be charged for their cancellation almost every time without fail - plus a terrible rating on your profile to boot.

Coders, use as a very last resort if no other options and DONT EVER submit full working code until you are finally paid or verbally assured by buyer he will actually *release the escrow to you.

Their staff is mostly RUDE and nasty to coders from the CEO down. Use with caution.

[kamen 123]

Derek, Rac freelancer please note that the picture described by you is in consequence of the stupidity of rentacoder staff: their mental abilities do not allow them to provide good and consistent service when dealing with serious projects. And rentacoder staff are struggling to survive flattering clients, exploiting mislaid coders, making patches, barking, telling lies, etc

[Luis Lazo]

I own a website that teaches both buyers and coders how to succeed in Rent a Coder with videos 100% free. I also created a software application called the RACsuccess package which teaches both buyers and coders how to succeed in Rent A Coder.

Rent A Coder is for professional people. If you are a programmer, having the necessary technical skills isn't enough for you to succeed in Rent A Coder. You need to understand how to work in Rent A Coder to take the best out of Rent A Coder and that's why I created the RACsuccess package which is available for sale on my website!

If you are a buyer, knowing what you need for your project isn't enough because you also need to have techniques of choosing the best coders that less likely will let you down on your project or on the deadline of your project if deadline is really important for a specific project.

The RACsuccess package will teach both buyers and coders how to have a better and more successful experience when working in Rent A Coder for just $9.95!

Check out my site: http://www.racsuccess.com/index.php

[Luis Lazo]

I own a website that teaches both buyers and coders how to succeed in Rent a Coder with videos 100% free. I also created a software application called the RACsuccess package which teaches both buyers and coders how to succeed in Rent A Coder.

Rent A Coder is for professional people. If you are a programmer, having the necessary technical skills isn't enough for you to succeed in Rent A Coder. You need to understand how to work in Rent A Coder to take the best out of Rent A Coder and that's why I created the RACsuccess package which is available for sale on my website!

If you are a buyer, knowing what you need for your project isn't enough because you also need to have techniques of choosing the best coders that less likely will let you down on your project or on the deadline of your project if deadline is really important for a specific project.

The RACsuccess package will teach both buyers and coders how to have a better and more successful experience when working in Rent A Coder for just $9.95!

Check out my site: http://www.racsuccess.com/index.php

[kamen 123]

Luis Lazo please do not be evil. Rentacoder staff can't deal with serious projects because they are too stupid. So the professional people have to go far away from rentacoder.

[Outsorce programming jobs and Freelance work]

Rent a Coder sounds great - but check out http://www.ICanFreelance.com. I can communicate easily with programmers as they are working on my project. And better yet, there is an instant messenger built right into the site. How convenient. The site also allows you to communicate through a forum like interface. Managing my escrow is easy too as I can add small amounts to the escrow as the project advances and release it all at one time when i am done. Rent-a-coder makes this harder as i have to release every escrow payment 1 at a time. For ease of Use I give http://www.ICanFreelance.com a perfect 10.

[DukeM]

I am interested in starting a free web-site. It would need to be interactive. Where would I go for someone to design the sight? I know what I want but I don't know how to design it.

[DukeM]

I meant SITE not sight. Sorry.

[Bassem]

I am not here to tell you about RAC, I am here to tell you that racsuccess.com really met my expectations and now I have even more knowledge on how SUCCEED in RAC, and it can work for you as well. I am here to tell you about the site that will make you know RAC and succeed in RAC by watching videos:

http://www.racsuccess.com/

RACsuccess is owned and operated by Luis Lazo, who has completed over 200 projects on RAC both as a coder and as a buyer, to provide advice to RAC users and Approved by Ian Ippolito, the owner of RAC.

If it is your very first visit to RAC and you can’t get understand how everything is going, and you find it hard to read RAC help, then sign up NOW for free in RACsuccess.com with your name and e-mail, and you will get access to more than 40 video tutorials dealing with RAC essentials. Also you will have the opportunity to ask your questions and share your concerns about RAC through RACsuccess community Forum.
http://www.racsuccess.com/community/index.php
However, if you are familiar with RAC, many new members, especially coders, get bored easily from RAC, simply because they can’t land there first job in RAC for a long time. Also buyers, sometimes find it troublesome to have their requirements achieved.

Here is the good news! … now on RACsuccess you can purchase the RACsuccess package including: over 40+ pages Coders Guide+40+ pages buyers guide+40+ video tutorials for both coders and buyers . I did buy the RACsuccess package even though I already landed many projects but the RACsuccess package really works and I know from now on I will start experiencing more success on all the projects that I do as a coder in RAC.

You too, after studying these guides and videos, you will realize that you can use RAC in a better way.
========================
Bassem Abdel-Mohsen
RAC coder

[kamen 123]

Bassem Abdel-Mohsen please do not be evil. That the main problem with rentacoder is the stupidity of rentacoder staff. Just see above in my examples how they can not understand perfect explicit documentation of IIS/ASS from Microsoft during YEARS.

If coders study guides and videos this will not make rac staff smarter. It is much better to warn coders making serious tasks to go far away. Actually the people that need to study are rentacoder staff.

[Kamran]

Well, my experience with RentACoder has been excellent. Their team (Exhedra Solutions) has been excellent in support and the system is great! I have 61 jobs completed and all of them went fine. i have a rating of 'Excellent' there.

I would say that people like to blame others of their own stupid behavior. Those who are angry with RAC in the above comments must have done something stupid themselves (e.g. not delivering a project as per spec on time) and now they are blaming RentACoder for their actions - very bad! RAC rocks!