Trying to get a software coded but...

I know exactly what you mean.

The issue is there are a lot of coders from third-world countries that will accept the product and do it for close to nothing. However, they can be often unresponsive, and deliver a sub-par product at the end, or under-deliver, even disappear completely.

I assume you're using elance or a similar site?

If so, I'd suggest you to look into other projects, find a few that have something similar to yours, and look at the price they were listed at, just so you have an idea at how much other similar products were listed.

List it at a reasonable price yourself, I'd suggest going a little below what you consider reasonable. So if the market value for it is $1000, list it at $700, and once offers start coming in, make sure to reviews the profiles of each coder. The ones with a lot of positive feedback and experience are usually okay (tho not always). Beware of those with a couple of feedbacks or no feedbacks at all.

So you don't have to make it too high or too low, try to give it average, actual price for better work.

There are also programmers right here on the forum, you might be able to outsource it to another warrior for a reasonable price.

Without going into detail about your exact idea, what are you looking for? A web script/web app? Desktop software (Windows? Mac?)? A mobile app (iOS? Android?)?

For web apps in particular, you should have no problem finding someone here who can do it for you. I'm a Ruby on Rails programmer myself, I've contributed to a number of large and successful opensource projects (including the Rails framework itself), there are at least a couple other Rails programmers here too.. or if you prefer PHP, there are plenty of PHP programmers here, check the Programming forum and maybe Warriors for Hire.

Desktop software might be a little harder, with the exception of a couple friends who work for Microsoft or Apple (and one at GitHub) I don't know too many people who write any kind of useful desktop software anymore, not with so many people and businesses moving on to web-based software as a service. I don't do it because I don't like it.. lol.. I absolutely hated C# and VB.NET when I had to learn them in college.

As far as I'm aware, if you register at Freelancer.com and post a project, you can set bid range for your product (the lowest can be $30-250) and pick the bidder who bids the lowest and seems to be most reputable.

Desmond,

Would it be possible to write a specification for
a "lite" version and then submit a request for bids
for that version?

You could then use that as a way of evaluating a
small number of coders. Then you can hire based
on the quality of their work, costs, ability to meet
deadlines, etc.

Alternatively, you might consider developing your
software on a modular basis and the you can keep
tight control on each module rather than having to
manage the entire package.

I'd also suggest you look into using the Adobe Air
platform. It will give you access to a much wider
group of operating systems/potential customers.

John

I read and observe almost all the jobs and prices. You will get a good idea at how much software costs and how much people are paying to get the software developed.

As a software developer with 10 years of experience that has used sites like Craigslist, Elance... I've realised they are like a powerful tool. But you take a powerful tool like a chainsaw and use it the wrong way and you'll cut all your fingers off in 5 seconds flat.

I have two tips

a) Remember the term GIGO Garbage in, garbage out - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, or Garbage In = Garbage Out. I've seen plenty of guys posting jobs on eLance, Guru, etc that say 'they want an app like xyz' with maybe a couple of pages of pretty vague documentation. In order to get a product as close as possible to how you want it, you must define a tight spec that details page by page/screen by screen/etc precisely what the interactions will be. What happens if you don't enter in an email address when it asks you for it? What happens if you just try and quit out of the app if you have written 500 words into a text box, does it ask you to save or just close, etc. I'm not saying that you haven't done this already - but you really want to get this watertight.

I've seen many guys on Craigslist asking to get stuff done, where I think they don't even know precisely what they want to get done themselves. They just want an app that does xyz. Recipe for disaster right there. Again, not saying this is what you're doing at all, but something you want to sure up 100%.

b) One step that surprisingly gets overlooked often is really diving deep into any potential bidders portfolio. Make sure you can see a working showcase of apps that look and work great. On a site like elance this will probably wipe out 90% of potential bidders already. Install them, and spend 5 minutes with each app to see what you think. If they don't work/have problems/etc move on!


And remember this:

Something I did that seemed to work was to offer a low price, but give generous bonuses for being on time and quality.

Take into account you will also very likely add a feature or two as the project progresses. Don't expect the coder to do this for free, after they gave you a bid. Be sure to increase your payment if and when you add new features.

Remember, money talks and most programmers have more than one client at a time. They will give their attention to the person that treats them the best.

Just check others price, and you will get the suitable price with your job.