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.

About Us: Common Questions

About Us:

Overview

Common questions

Team

The pulse of vWorker.com

Where are we?

Partners

Safety, security and reliability

Other:

Press releases

Jobs

Charitable donations

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 367,089 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.

For employers:
- AccuBilling money-back guarantee^tm^* (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.
- Triple-point money-back guarantee^tm^* (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:
  1. To-contract (100% as described in your contract, and meeting industry-wide expected standards).
  2. On-time
  3. On-budget
  or we credit your money back. Click here for more details.
- Contest money-back guarantee^tm^* (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.
For workers:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.