Rent-A-Coder vs. Elance

Is ELance much better than Rent-A-Coder?  I am hesitant to give ELance a try
because you have to pay for it - and Rent-A-Coder is not "overly
profitable".  Is ELance worth the money?

I have yet to find ANY of these services that are profitable. Guru.com has
been the best for me, thus far, as I get regular updates on projects. Most
of these sites get people looking for people to build them highly profitable
sites for very low dollars. When I see a "build me a CRM" for $1000 or less,
I know that I am not interested. Just my two cents.

--
Gregory A. Beamer
MVP; MCP: +I, SE, SD, DBA

 ****************************************
********
Think Outside the Box!
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********
"michaaal" <res0gyio@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:uxPnP0KdEHA.2408@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> Is ELance much better than Rent-A-Coder?  I am hesitant to give ELance a
try
> because you have to pay for it - and Rent-A-Coder is not "overly
> profitable".  Is ELance worth the money?
>
>

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 09:14:02 -0500, "michaaal" <res0gyio@verizon.net>
wrote:

>Is ELance much better than Rent-A-Coder?  I am hesitant to give ELance a tr
y
>because you have to pay for it - and Rent-A-Coder is not "overly
>profitable".  Is ELance worth the money?

I'm not sure either is valuable to most programmers, since they do a
poor job of weeding out the requests like:

"I want to develop an online store with the capabilities of
Amazon.com, where I'll lease space to vendors.  I envision about 3,000
vendors, each with up to 20,000 products.  I have a budget of about
$300 for the code work and graphics, and need it to run on Microsoft
Access 97."

If they provided qualified, or at least realistic, leads maybe they'd
be worth paying for.

There are others out there as well, though I'm not sure they're much
better, a decent set of samples on your own web site might gte you
about as far.

Jeff

You should google alt.computer.consultants.moderated for this, and/or post
your inquiry to that ng.  The topic comes up now and again.

I wrote a rather scathing assessment of these services for Contract
Professional about 8 years ago when they started appearing, and it seems
that they have only gotten worse in light of what has gone on in the
industry since then.  My opinion of all of those services is they're just
shy of being MLM or Ponzi schemes.

The ones that want you to buy-in invariably refuse to give you any hard
evidence of satisfaction of other members (i.e., names and phone numbers of
people you can verify in the phonebook or on the web and contact as a
reference), which in and of itself sends up a big ole red flag.  If they're
successful at getting gigs for their members, they should be crowing about
it, not hiding behind "confidentiality" to get you to ante-up the initiation
fees to find out anything about how they really operate.  The "free" ones
are about as useful as having a luddite build a car for you.  All of them
have just about zero ability to screen reqs:  Sure, you may get "tons of
reqs" but for absolutely off-the-wall stuff like Jeff Cochran related.  They
may appeal to absolute beginners and offshore drones who think $2 a day is a
king's ransom cream like it's their first time, but they are way off in some
alternate reality when it comes to dealing with experienced US talent.

If you have the fortitude and resources to do your own
networking/marketing/promotion, do so and steer clear of all middlemen.  If
you aren't ready to, or can't, do it yourself, then you may have marginally
better luck using a bodyshop (if you don't mind being treated like cannon
fodder).

Alan

"michaaal" <res0gyio@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:uxPnP0KdEHA.2408@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> Is ELance much better than Rent-A-Coder?  I am hesitant to give ELance a
try
> because you have to pay for it - and Rent-A-Coder is not "overly
> profitable".  Is ELance worth the money?
>
>

Yeah. I will pay you $300 to make myself millions. I find that is pretty
much the norm there.

--
Gregory A. Beamer
MVP; MCP: +I, SE, SD, DBA

 ****************************************
********
Think Outside the Box!
 ****************************************
********
"Jeff Cochran" <jeff.nospam@zina.com> wrote in message
news:4107cf12.624690938@msnews.microsoft.com...
> On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 09:14:02 -0500, "michaaal" <res0gyio@verizon.net>
> wrote:
> 
try 
>
> I'm not sure either is valuable to most programmers, since they do a
> poor job of weeding out the requests like:
>
> "I want to develop an online store with the capabilities of
> Amazon.com, where I'll lease space to vendors.  I envision about 3,000
> vendors, each with up to 20,000 products.  I have a budget of about
> $300 for the code work and graphics, and need it to run on Microsoft
> Access 97."
>
> If they provided qualified, or at least realistic, leads maybe they'd
> be worth paying for.
>
> There are others out there as well, though I'm not sure they're much
> better, a decent set of samples on your own web site might gte you
> about as far.
>
> Jeff

What you guys says is true for a lot of projects on RAC. There is the possib
ilty of making some small money on the side though, you just have to know wh
ich projects that are offering a fair amount and know which projects you can
 do quickly. That being said, I wouldn't pay a recurring fee to be a part of
 any such site, as you're not guaranteed anything. There will be one or two 
fair projects a day that fit into your area of expertise. At least RAC is sa
fe for both the coder an buyer, which a lot of other sites that have started
 popping up are surely not.

It's as much about having common sense as it is being able to code -  know w
hat you limits are and stay within them.

quote:
Originally posted by Cowboy \(Gregory A. Beamer\) [MVP] 
Yeah. I will pay you $300 to make myself millions. I find that is pretty
much the norm there.

--
Gregory A. Beamer
MVP; MCP: +I, SE, SD, DBA

 ****************************************
********
Think Outside the Box!
 ****************************************
********
"Jeff Cochran" <jeff.nospam@zina.com> wrote in message
news:4107cf12.624690938@msnews.microsoft.com...
> On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 09:14:02 -0500, "michaaal" <res0gyio@verizon.net>
> wrote:
> 
try 
>
> I'm not sure either is valuable to most programmers, since they do a
> poor job of weeding out the requests like:
>
> "I want to develop an online store with the capabilities of
> Amazon.com, where I'll lease space to vendors.  I envision about 3,000
> vendors, each with up to 20,000 products.  I have a budget of about
> $300 for the code work and graphics, and need it to run on Microsoft
> Access 97."
>
> If they provided qualified, or at least realistic, leads maybe they'd
> be worth paying for.
>
> There are others out there as well, though I'm not sure they're much
> better, a decent set of samples on your own web site might gte you
> about as far.
>
> Jeff 

quote:

"I want to develop an online store with the capabilities of
Amazon.com, where I'll lease space to vendors.  I envision about 3,000
vendors, each with up to 20,000 products.  I have a budget of about
$300 for the code work and graphics, and need it to run on Microsoft
Access 97."
 
While  professionals use RentACoder as fount of jokes - I complete my 355 project: 
http://www.takereal.com/freelance/resume.asp
Yes, these projects not big, but _all_ completed.
System works fine. 

Why I prefer RAC and dislike elance:
1.In opposite to RentACoder - on elance you should pay(everymonth!) just for
 getting a possibility to get a job. RAC is free.

2. RentACoder has  feature: "arbitration process". If your buyer(or code
r) do bad things - just inform RentACoder. RAC designated
as sole mediator and arbitrator. Example:

Project: Install PHPBB and add to Advertising Program
Mediator:  Michele Nisi (RAC)
Arbitration/mediation result: The coder (coder_name) was unable to complete 
100% of the work because he was ill. The buyer (buyer_name) and coder agreed
 to cancel the bid request and return the funds to the buyer.

do not work with rentacoder , it is a fraud. search google and you will know
 why. scan thru. first few websites.

http://www.google.co.in/search?q=re...lient=firefox-a

quote:
Originally posted by nibble 

There are many rude suckers, who has been banned from RentACoder.
RentACoder is safe place to purchase coder related solutions and services. 
It is not right place for garbage posters like "nibble".

My name: Sergey I.Grachyov
Nickname: TakeReal
I am famous freelancer.
I have:
875 projects completed via RentACoder 
95 projects completed via GetAFreelancer 
32 projects completed via Scriptlance

why not search google and find it instead of blaming coders.