Important alert: May 9, 2012 11:29:40 AM EDT.

My apologies for the inconvenience: the system for processing emailed responses was not processing all of them correctly (and it was only reported to us recently, so we didn't realize it). This has been fixed, but may result in older messages (from the last two weeks) showing up on May 8 and May 9 in your message thread. We have also taken steps to monitor this system more closely so we will know immediately in the future if there is a problem. Again, my apologies and thanks for your understanding. Ian Ippolito CEO and Founder of vWorker
Attention employers: One Million by One Million is looking to interview employers who have used vWorker to help build their business and have earned at least $1 million in revenue over the past 12 months. Your company must be independently held and you must be willing to openly discuss revenue numbers. If you are interested in being interviewed, please contact us for more information.

Compare the Long-term Costs of using vWorker.com to Apples-to-apples Competitors

When you use vWorker best practices, you incur some of the lowest long-term costs in the industry, while receiving the most value. Our cost structure is designed to encourage enduring, mutually-beneficial and profitable relationships between employers and workers.

General

1) How much does each site in the industry charge?

Apples-to-apples head-to-head comparisons:

2) Apples-to-apples: Which site costs less in the long-term (vWorker or Elance)?

3) Apples-to-apples: Which site costs less in the long-term (vWorker or oDesk)?

4) Apples-to-apples: Which site costs less in the long-term (vWorker or Guru)?

5) Apples-to-apples: Which site costs less in the long-term (vWorker or Scriptlance)?

6) Apples-to-apples: Which site costs less in the long-term (vWorker or LivePerson)?

1) How much does each site in the industry charge?

Below is a list of what each site charges.

		vWorker	Elance	Guru	Scriptlance	oDesk	LivePerson	99 Designs	CrowdSpring
These fees are paid by the worker and not by you. However, they may be passed on to you in the form of higher prices.
	Project fees: more...	7.5% - 15.0% details...	8.75% (6.75% if over $10,000) details...	10% (5% if worker pays for upgraded membership) details...	5% details...	10% details...	15% - 45% details...
	The fees are calculated as a percentage of the project price.
	Subscription fees:		Optional $9.95/month - $39.95/month more...	Optional $9.95/month - $45.44/month more...
	Workers on Elance cannot place more than 3 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95/month for 20, $19.94/month for 40 or $39.95/month for 60). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Guru cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95-$34.95/month for 100 bids for a person, $12.94-$45.44/month for 100 bids for a company). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Freelancer cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee to Freelancer. (At the $24.95/month rate, it also reduces their commission fee from 10% to 5%). The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees.
	Employer verification fees: more...	Free	$5	N/A *10	Free	$10	N/A *10
	Verifications are a safety feature that ensure the employer is the legitimate owner of their credit card or PayPal account. They protect the owner from someone else using their payment method without their authorization and give the opposite party the assurance that the employer can truly pay. They are mandatory on all sites that offer them. Only vWorker and Scriptlance do not charge for this service. This site does not offer the protection of a verification feature.
	Additional Fees:			N/A
	Workers on Guru are charged charged 2.5% if the employer uses Pay Pal or charged up to 4% if the employer uses a credit card. The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge these fees.
	Cheapest over the long-term:	View...	View...	View...	View...	View...	View...

Raw comparison of site charges
However, the above is not an apples-to-apples comparison, because most of the services are not the same across all sites. For example: vWorker's standard pay-for-deliverables service comes with a no-cost triple-point money-back guarantee for employers and payment guarantee for workers. It also includes safety protections such as escrowing and no-cost arbitration. However, oDesk and Scriptlance's standard pay-for-deliverables services are bare-bones. They give you no money-back guarantees, no safety guarantees and will not provide arbitration if a dispute arises. So they are not the same services.

To view detailed apples-to-apples comparisons between vWorker and its competitors, scroll down to the sections below.

Or, to view a full list of over forty differences between the above sites, click here for the employer feature comparison, and here for the worker feature comparison.

2) Apples-to-apples: Which site costs less in the long-term (vWorker or Elance)?

Below is how much each site charges:

Fee Description		vWorker	Elance	99 Designs	CrowdSpring
These fees are paid by the worker and not by you. However, they may be passed on to you in the form of higher prices.
	Project fees: more...	7.5% - 15.0% details...	8.75% (6.75% if over $10,000) details...
	The fees are calculated as a percentage of the project price.
	Subscription fees:		Optional $9.95/month - $39.95/month more...
	Workers on Elance cannot place more than 3 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95/month for 20, $19.94/month for 40 or $39.95/month for 60). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Guru cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95-$34.95/month for 100 bids for a person, $12.94-$45.44/month for 100 bids for a company). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Freelancer cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee to Freelancer. (At the $24.95/month rate, it also reduces their commission fee from 10% to 5%). The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees.
	Employer verification fees: more...	Free	$5
	Verifications are a safety feature that ensure the employer is the legitimate owner of their credit card or PayPal account. They protect the owner from someone else using their payment method without their authorization and give the opposite party the assurance that the employer can truly pay. They are mandatory on all sites that offer them. Only vWorker and Scriptlance do not charge for this service. This site does not offer the protection of a verification feature.
	Additional Fees:
	Workers on Guru are charged charged 2.5% if the employer uses Pay Pal or charged up to 4% if the employer uses a credit card. The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge these fees.
	Cheapest over the long-term:	View...	View...

So what is the bottom line to you? Below shows the difference in the cost to you and how it changes as you do more and more business. (Green items are where vWorker is lower cost, and red is where Elance is lower cost):

Comparison of costs between projects done on Elance and on vWorker (using Sourcing Best Practices "Hybrid Payment Method" and "Preferred Payment Method" on both sites). Click here to view more details including the raw data behind this graph.

For virtually every level of business, vWorker costs you less than Elance. More importantly, vWorker encourages long-term repeat-business relationships better, by discounting your costs further. The more business you do with vWorker, the more you save.

Apples-to-apples note: the above is not a 100% apples-to-apples comparison. In the red-range where Elance is shown as a few dollars cheaper, it does not take into account one factor. On vWorker (and on all pay-for-deliverables projects), you receive no-cost arbitrations if there is a dispute. Elance charges an extra $99-$199 for arbitration. So if you have just one arbitration, then your costs (assuming Elance charges you the lowest possible price of $99) change to the below:

Same comparison as the last graph but with the costs of just a single arbitration added. Click here to view more details including the raw data behind this graph.

With just one arbitration, vWorker is lower cost than Elance at every level of business.

3) Apples-to-apples: Which site costs less in the long-term (vWorker or oDesk)?

Below is how much each site charges:

Fee Description		vWorker	oDesk	99 Designs	CrowdSpring
These fees are paid by the worker and not by you. However, they may be passed on to you in the form of higher prices.
	Project fees: more...	7.5% - 15.0% details...	10% details...
	The fees are calculated as a percentage of the project price.
	Subscription fees:
	Workers on Elance cannot place more than 3 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95/month for 20, $19.94/month for 40 or $39.95/month for 60). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Guru cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95-$34.95/month for 100 bids for a person, $12.94-$45.44/month for 100 bids for a company). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Freelancer cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee to Freelancer. (At the $24.95/month rate, it also reduces their commission fee from 10% to 5%). The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees.
	Employer verification fees: more...	Free	$10
	Verifications are a safety feature that ensure the employer is the legitimate owner of their credit card or PayPal account. They protect the owner from someone else using their payment method without their authorization and give the opposite party the assurance that the employer can truly pay. They are mandatory on all sites that offer them. Only vWorker and Scriptlance do not charge for this service. This site does not offer the protection of a verification feature.
	Additional Fees:
	Workers on Guru are charged charged 2.5% if the employer uses Pay Pal or charged up to 4% if the employer uses a credit card. The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge these fees.
	Cheapest over the long-term:	View...	View...

oDesk does not offer its users a pay-for-deliverables service that is apples-to-apples comparable with vWorker's. vWorker's pay-for-deliverables comes with a no-cost triple-point money-back guarantee for employers and payment guarantee for workers. It includes safety protections such as escrowing and no-cost arbitration. However, oDesk's pay-for-deliverables product is bare-bones. It gives no money-back guarantees to employers and no payment guarantee to workers. It provides no safety guarantees, no escrowing and will not provide arbitration if a dispute arises. vWorker does not believe that such a service promotes success and long-term relationships, and does not offer a similarly stripped-down service.

However, oDesk and vWorker do offer "apple-to-apples comparable" pay-for-time services.

So what is the bottom line to you? Below shows the difference in the cost to you and how it changes as you do more and more business. (Green items are where vWorker is lower cost, and red is where oDesk is lower cost):

Comparison of costs between projects done on oDesk and on vWorker (using Outsourcing Best Practice "Preferred Payment Method" on both sites). Click here to view more details including the raw data behind this graph.

At every level of business, vWorker costs you less than oDesk. More importantly, vWorker encourages long-term repeat-business relationships better, by discounting your costs further. The more business you do with vWorker, the more you save.

4) Apples-to-apples: Which site costs less in the long-term (vWorker or Guru)?

Below is how much each site charges:

Fee Description		vWorker	Guru	99 Designs	CrowdSpring
These fees are paid by the worker and not by you. However, they may be passed on to you in the form of higher prices.
	Project fees: more...	7.5% - 15.0% details...	10% (5% if worker pays for upgraded membership) details...
	The fees are calculated as a percentage of the project price.
	Subscription fees:		Optional $9.95/month - $45.44/month more...
	Workers on Elance cannot place more than 3 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95/month for 20, $19.94/month for 40 or $39.95/month for 60). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Guru cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95-$34.95/month for 100 bids for a person, $12.94-$45.44/month for 100 bids for a company). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Freelancer cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee to Freelancer. (At the $24.95/month rate, it also reduces their commission fee from 10% to 5%). The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees.
	Employer verification fees: more...	Free	N/A *10
	Verifications are a safety feature that ensure the employer is the legitimate owner of their credit card or PayPal account. They protect the owner from someone else using their payment method without their authorization and give the opposite party the assurance that the employer can truly pay. They are mandatory on all sites that offer them. Only vWorker and Scriptlance do not charge for this service. This site does not offer the protection of a verification feature.
	Additional Fees:		N/A
	Workers on Guru are charged charged 2.5% if the employer uses Pay Pal or charged up to 4% if the employer uses a credit card. The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge these fees.
	Cheapest over the long-term:	View...	View...

For all levels of business above $700, vWorker costs you less than Guru. More importantly, vWorker encourages long-term repeat-business relationships better, by discounting your costs further. The more business you do with vWorker, the more you save.

For levels of business below $700, Guru costs less by a few cents to a few dollars:

Difference in vWorker to Guru cost below $700 of business.

However, the above is still not a 100% apples-to-apples comparison. In the red-range where Guru is shown as a few dollars cheaper, it does not take into account one factor. On vWorker (and on all pay-for-deliverables projects), you receive no-cost arbitrations if there is a dispute. Guru charges an extra 2% for arbitration. So if you have just one arbitration, then your costs change to the below:

Same comparison as the last graph but the costs of just a single arbitration added. Click here to view more details including the raw data behind this graph.

With just one arbitration, vWorker is lower cost than Guru at every level of business.

Guru Subscription Option:

Guru also offers a subscription option where they lower their project fee in exchange for a monthly subscription. Here are the differences in costs with the Guru subscription option (using the same situation as the last chart):

Same comparison as the last graph but with the Guru subscription option. Click here to view more details including the raw data behind this graph.

The Guru subscription option does substantially lower its cost. However, the cost of using vWorker is still lower at all business levels.

5) Apples-to-apples: Which site costs less in the long-term (vWorker or Scriptlance)?

Below is how much each site charges:

Fee Description		vWorker	Scriptlance	99 Designs	CrowdSpring
These fees are paid by the worker and not by you. However, they may be passed on to you in the form of higher prices.
	Project fees: more...	7.5% - 15.0% details...	5% details...
	The fees are calculated as a percentage of the project price.
	Subscription fees:
	Workers on Elance cannot place more than 3 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95/month for 20, $19.94/month for 40 or $39.95/month for 60). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Guru cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95-$34.95/month for 100 bids for a person, $12.94-$45.44/month for 100 bids for a company). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Freelancer cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee to Freelancer. (At the $24.95/month rate, it also reduces their commission fee from 10% to 5%). The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees.
	Employer verification fees: more...	Free	Free
	Verifications are a safety feature that ensure the employer is the legitimate owner of their credit card or PayPal account. They protect the owner from someone else using their payment method without their authorization and give the opposite party the assurance that the employer can truly pay. They are mandatory on all sites that offer them. Only vWorker and Scriptlance do not charge for this service. This site does not offer the protection of a verification feature.
	Additional Fees:
	Workers on Guru are charged charged 2.5% if the employer uses Pay Pal or charged up to 4% if the employer uses a credit card. The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge these fees.
	Cheapest over the long-term:	View...	View...

However, an apples-to-apples comparison cannot be made because Scriptlance does not offer its users any services that are apples-to-apples comparable to vWorker's.

vWorker's pay-for-deliverables comes with a no-cost triple-point money-back guarantee for employers and payment guarantee for workers. It includes safety protections such as escrowing and no-cost arbitration. However, Scriptlance's pay-for-deliverables product is bare-bones. It gives no money-back guarantees to employers and no payment guarantees to workers. It provides no safety guarantees, no escrowing and will not provide arbitration if a dispute arises. vWorker does not believe that such a service promotes success and long-term relationships, and does not offer a similarly stripped-down service.

The same is true between the two sites on pay-for-time. vWorker offers an AccuBilling money-back guarantee to employers and a payment guarantee to workers. It also provides the ability for employers to fully track and supervise a worker's desktop (and optional webcam) via the AccuTimeCard™. Scriptlance provides no billing guarantees to employers or payment guarantees to workers. It also provides no tracking software to manage and supervise the process. Again, vWorker does not believe that such a service promotes success and long-term relationships, and does not offer a similarly stripped-down service.

6) Apples-to-apples: Which site costs less in the long-term (vWorker or LivePerson)?

Below is how much each site charges:

Fee Description		vWorker	LivePerson	99 Designs	CrowdSpring
These fees are paid by the worker and not by you. However, they may be passed on to you in the form of higher prices.
	Project fees: more...	7.5% - 15.0% details...	15% - 45% details...
	The fees are calculated as a percentage of the project price.
	Subscription fees:
	Workers on Elance cannot place more than 3 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95/month for 20, $19.94/month for 40 or $39.95/month for 60). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Guru cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee ($9.95-$34.95/month for 100 bids for a person, $12.94-$45.44/month for 100 bids for a company). This may reduce the number of bids you receive and the worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees. Workers on Freelancer cannot place more than 10 bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee to Freelancer. (At the $24.95/month rate, it also reduces their commission fee from 10% to 5%). The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge subscription fees.
	Employer verification fees: more...	Free	N/A *10
	Verifications are a safety feature that ensure the employer is the legitimate owner of their credit card or PayPal account. They protect the owner from someone else using their payment method without their authorization and give the opposite party the assurance that the employer can truly pay. They are mandatory on all sites that offer them. Only vWorker and Scriptlance do not charge for this service. This site does not offer the protection of a verification feature.
	Additional Fees:
	Workers on Guru are charged charged 2.5% if the employer uses Pay Pal or charged up to 4% if the employer uses a credit card. The worker may pass these fees on to you in the form of a higher price. The majority of sites do not charge these fees.
	Cheapest over the long-term:	View...	View...

LivePerson does not offer its users a pay-for-deliverables service that is apples-to-apples comparable with vWorker's. vWorker's pay-for-deliverables comes with a no-cost triple-point money-back guarantee for employers and payment guarantee for workers. It includes safety protections such as escrowing and no-cost arbitration. LivePerson does not offer a similar service.

However, LivePerson and vWorker do offer "apple-to-apples comparable" pay-for-time services.

So what is the bottom line to you? Below shows the difference in the cost to you and how it changes as you do more and more business. (Green items are where vWorker is lower cost, and red is where LivePerson is lower cost):

Comparison of costs between projects done on LivePerson and on vWorker (using Outsourcing Best Practice "Preferred Payment Method" on both sites). Click here to view more details including the raw data behind this graph.

At every level of business, vWorker costs you less than LivePerson. More importantly, vWorker encourages long-term repeat-business relationships better, by discounting your costs further. The more business you do with vWorker, the more you save.