 Important alert: Jan 27, 2012 1:22:08 PM EDT.
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- We have rolled out another round of enhancements and bug fixes, including: changes to the posting policy, enhancements for on-the-job trials (crowdsouring/trialsourcing) and to the project pages, updates to Skrill payment information and the browse/search worker pages, and various other bug fixes. View the Site Improvements Blog for the complete list of changes.
- UPDATE January 20th on phishing scam: We've received new reports of a second phishing email (claiming to be a prize from vWorker and Julia Robertson). Click here for full information.
- We have published another story in our case study series, provided by employer Marco-Hans Van Der Willik (Zoe-X). Click here to read about his story.
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About Us: Common Questions
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How does it work?
Employers looking for business or personal help,
post their project on the vWorker.com web site.
The
project is distributed to 354,582 workers
world-wide, and they can ask questions and place a bid to complete the work.
The results are often very quick: 12.4 workers typically make a bid within the
first twenty four hours.
The employer then browses through each bidder’s responses, resume,
certifications and previous work history (including comments and ratings left by previous
employers) on the site. If the employer's deadline is especially tight, they may also require
bidders to guarantee on-time completion with a forfeitable deposit called the
Expert Guarantee.
Once the employer finds a worker they like, they can hire them
on the spot, and focus on either safety or affordability...with both parties
enjoying the protection of our unique combination of
industry-leading money-back guarantees and
money-payment guarantees.
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For employers:
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AccuBilling money-back guaranteetm* (via pay-for-time)
You pay the worker by the hour and they must log their time using the
AccuTimeCard™.
We show you images of their desktop
(and optionally their webcam) as they are working, so you know
what they are doing at all times.
We credit your money back if they:
- Pad/fudge their time.
- Bill you for time they weren't working.
Click here for more details.
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Triple-point money-back guaranteetm* (via pay-for-deliverables)
You pay the worker a fixed price for the entire project (or for portions
of the project, if you prefer to pay for achieved milestones).
They must deliver:
- To-contract (100% as described in your
contract, and meeting industry-wide expected standards).
- On-time
- On-budget
or we credit your money back.
Click here for more details.
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Contest money-back guaranteetm* (via crowdsourcing)
Workers compete to complete your contest for a prize.
If you do not get an entry that you like, your
prize money is credited back. Note: if you choose to guarantee to
award a prize, then this no longer applies.
Click here for more details.
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For workers:
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Payment guarantee (via Pay-for-time)
You log your time in the
AccuTimeCard™ and are paid for each hour you work.
We guarantee to pay you for every hour you truly work on the employer's project.
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Payment guarantee (via Pay-for-deliverables)
You do the work and are paid when you deliver the entire project
(or pre-agreed upon milestone) to the employer.
We guarantee that if you fully complete the contracted work by the deadline
(or pre-agreed upon milestone), and it is up to industry-expected standards,
then you will be paid.
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Payment guarantee (via crowdsourcing)
If the employer selects your submission as the winner then we
guarantee you will be paid the prize amount.
Further, if the employer guarantees to award the prize, then we
guarantee that there will be a winner.
In order to make the above guarantees possible,
the employer does not pay the worker directly, and instead
escrows the funds with vWorker.com. They then release it to the worker,
once
the work, milestone or timecard is complete.
This allows the employer to avoid having to make a risky advance payment (and possibly getting nothing in return).
It also allows the worker to avoid having to extending risky credit (and possibly getting no money after doing the work).
Once the funds are released, both parties rate the other party to help
future customers on the site. This is done via a
double-blind
rating system, to make sure the ratings
are accurate and protect parties from retaliation. Should a dispute arise, the
vWorker.com arbitrator steps in to help and/or enforce guarantees. If a party is found
to have acted inappropriately, the arbitrator also notates that in their public rating as well.
How does vWorker.com make money?
vWorker.com makes money as
a percentage fee of the final transaction amount. This vWorker.com fee
ranges from 6.5% - 15%
(depending on the services offered)
and is taken from the worker. It goes to pay for employer advertising, employer credit card/PayPal processing, security verification of employer payments, facilitation, mediation/arbitration, bandwidth usage, customer service, site costs and a small profit.
Unlike competitors, vWorker.com does not
charge workers monthly subscription fees.
How did the idea for vWorker.com come
about?
vWorker.com was the
brainchild of Ian Ippolito, the CEO of Exhedra Solutions, Inc.
Back in 2000, Ian was a programming consultant, and didn't like the fact that his
busy schedule forced him to turn down request after request for paid work.
Realizing there was a need that wasn't being met, he began sketching out the idea for a marketplace
while on training trips and a long vacation in Italy.
By the middle of 2001, the site was ready to go live. Just a year later (March 2003),
the site facilitated 1,478 successful software projects per month, and since then the
number has skyrocketed. (See the pulse of vWorker.com for the latest statistics).
The site has been featured in numerous publications, magazines and newspapers and is a four time
winner of the INC 5000 (fastest growing companies in the U.S.).
The majority of employers on the site are from the United States, the United
Kingdom and Australia (in order of volume). The majority of workers are from
the United States, India and Romania (in order of volume).
See the pulse of vWorker.com for more details.
Where can I get more info?
Click here to visit the help summary page for detailed answers on further questions and information
on how to contact us.
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