About the Expert Guarantee Processing Fee

Site Wide Message: (current site time 3/15/2010 7:59:28 PM EDT)

PayPal users, starting this payment period, the payout fee has been lowered (dropped from a percentage of 2%-3% to a flat fee of $2)! Please see the news page for the latest info.

We want your opinion! Please tell us what you think about the new pay-for-time beta and some new ideas regarding self-mediation.

The Expert Guarantee Processing Fee

When the coder is awarded the project from the buyer, they deposit the Expert Guarantee. When they do this, Rent A Coder incurs expenses in processing it. To cover those expenses, the coder is charged a non-refundable processing fee. This fee can be reduced or eliminated by the coder, if they choose a less expensive method of payment.

Deposit Type

Fee

No deposit - transfer of existing funds already in coder account

Snail mail check

Bank to bank wire Transfer

0%*

Pay Pal

3.5%

Credit Card

$ amount	Fee
Less than $100.00	3 % + $.50
$100.00 or more	3.5%

As an option, the coder can also ask the buyer to cover the cost of this fee for them. They can do this in a number of ways such as: increasing the price of the bid, asking the buyer to post a 2nd bid request to cover it (contingent on completion of the project), or by getting the buyer to promise to pay the fee to them as a bonus (upon completion of the project). Note to coders: If you choose the bonus route, just remember that due to credit card/PayPal rules, Rent A Coder CANNOT force a buyer to pay a bonus involuntarily...even when promised on-site. So don't choose this option, unless you trust the buyer, or are willing to take a small risk.

Notes:

If you use multiple methods to pay for a single deposit (for example: transfer some from your coder account and deposit the rest from a credit card), then the fee is computed by combining the different fees for each portion.

* On bank to bank wires, a wire transfer fee is charged: the same amount as charged to buyers on their bank to bank wires.