Quote
Have an idea? Just need funding? Want to join with others to support to an idea? This site is for you.
They also have an interesting fee system that encourages open source software development, and seems like a reasonable approach to me.
Quote
How much do I have to pledge?
As much as you like. On projects with a proprietary license, the developer may set a minimum.
Is microPledge really free?
Yes, our service itself is free for open source projects: we don’t take a cut. Plus, any open source product that is produced is free to the world. This is because we want to encourage others to give stuff away free, too. However, for closed source projects we do charge a small fee. Unfortunately, the bank charges a small fee for processing your credit card that we simply can’t avoid. We charge this straight to you without adding our own margin. For more detail, see our fees.
Can I get my money back?
You’ve only pledged the money. It remains yours until all the pledgers agree by vote to pay the developer. If the developer doesn’t do anything, the pledgers won’t agree to pay. You can get your pledge back when the developer’s quote expires or before he’s started developing. Do this on your profile page under your current pledges.
How does payment work?
As a pledger, you have a say in the project. When the developer completes all or part of the project, he will post an estimate of his progress. Now you get a chance to review his work and vote on whether you agree with his estimate. You will be emailed to say that the developer has posted evidence of his estimate on the project website (unless you chose not to be emailed on your profile page).
After the vote, if the majority of pledgers agreed that the project is done, then the developer will be paid your full pledge. If the pledgers vote that the project is only partly done then you will have to pay for that part.
SUMMARY:
Open source license: Free.
Closed source license: 3% of each progress payment.
Proprietary license: 6% of each progress payment.
Quitting a project early: 10% of your earnings so far; microPledge will pledge the fee to the project so it can be earned by any subsequent developer.
Refunds: Unless you are doing open source, you must refund all your earnings back to pledgers if you don’t finish the project. Either that or you must release your source.
Incubator: $20 basic fee. Challenges cost $60 per hour of arbitration after the first hour.
As much as you like. On projects with a proprietary license, the developer may set a minimum.
Is microPledge really free?
Yes, our service itself is free for open source projects: we don’t take a cut. Plus, any open source product that is produced is free to the world. This is because we want to encourage others to give stuff away free, too. However, for closed source projects we do charge a small fee. Unfortunately, the bank charges a small fee for processing your credit card that we simply can’t avoid. We charge this straight to you without adding our own margin. For more detail, see our fees.
Can I get my money back?
You’ve only pledged the money. It remains yours until all the pledgers agree by vote to pay the developer. If the developer doesn’t do anything, the pledgers won’t agree to pay. You can get your pledge back when the developer’s quote expires or before he’s started developing. Do this on your profile page under your current pledges.
How does payment work?
As a pledger, you have a say in the project. When the developer completes all or part of the project, he will post an estimate of his progress. Now you get a chance to review his work and vote on whether you agree with his estimate. You will be emailed to say that the developer has posted evidence of his estimate on the project website (unless you chose not to be emailed on your profile page).
After the vote, if the majority of pledgers agreed that the project is done, then the developer will be paid your full pledge. If the pledgers vote that the project is only partly done then you will have to pay for that part.
SUMMARY:
Open source license: Free.
Closed source license: 3% of each progress payment.
Proprietary license: 6% of each progress payment.
Quitting a project early: 10% of your earnings so far; microPledge will pledge the fee to the project so it can be earned by any subsequent developer.
Refunds: Unless you are doing open source, you must refund all your earnings back to pledgers if you don’t finish the project. Either that or you must release your source.
Incubator: $20 basic fee. Challenges cost $60 per hour of arbitration after the first hour.
They also make some interesting points about donations vs. pledges which is worth thinking about for people at donationcoder, especially for larger projects:
Quote
Why does pledging work better than donations?
* You either get the software or your money back.
* Software completion time is estimated by the developer.
* The developer has the assurance the funds are available – as long as he does the job.
* You either get the software or your money back.
* Software completion time is estimated by the developer.
* The developer has the assurance the funds are available – as long as he does the job.
They seem to have thought out the system quite well and there is a fair bit of documentation and explanation for how everything works (developers see this page).
from http://www.readwriteweb.com/
Logged
