conceptual discussion about paid add-on requests and "group buys"

[User]

Preface:
I came across some thread in the add-on section ( [Paid Work] Photo Contest Script )where a few people seemed to have gotten together to pay a share for an add-on. It also seems as if that effort then fizzled though that may not necessarily be true.

Observations:
Few admins are willing and able to just go out and commission a coder to create an add-on considering that many add-ons require considerable effort (billable time, if you will). Many admins are willing to financially contribute to the development of an add-on that they need. The Photo Contest Script clearly demonstrates that there are some ownership issues though.

While one can imagine all kinds of elaborate schemes to compensate the coder and the fractal owners none of those schemes are particularly practical from an implementation and administration point of view.

Then there are trust and follow-through questions. Taking the Photo Contest Script as an example, many have pledged support but it appears as if no actual transactions took place yet. It seems what's needed is some sort of escrow service which holds the payments from the pledges and disburses the funds to the coder. That way the coder is sure that he or she will get paid, and the admins are sure that there is actually code being developed before their money gets paid out.

The ownership of the script remains one of the sticky points of the whole scheme though. Some admins may be fine with releasing the script into the wild after it has been created, others may want to get a return on their "investment". Issues of long term support for the script are also to be considered.

Question:
While I don't have the time to do this myself I am wondering whether there's a market for a commercial script depository? That company would hire coders to create add-ons. Admins would be able to invest in add-on creation (so that coders can get paid) and the company would then sell the add-ons for eternity to come. The coders and the investors would receive royalties on add-on sales and the company would collect overhead on development and transactions to stay financially viable.

The true difficulty I see is the global nature of the industry. I wouldn't trust a non-US incorporated company and likewise I'd expect that the Euros wouldn't want a US based business to run the show. I am conveniently ignoring the rest of the World and issues they would have with either location.

Ignoring everything I just wrote the only other solution seems to be that a bunch of people pay for an add-on, and then it's released as public domain and that's the end of it. Users can then pay the coder for support.

 

[x4rl]

Yea its called google
you type in "hire a coder" and hit that big shinny button.

I wouldn't trust a non-US incorporated company and likewise I'd expect that the Euros wouldn't want a US based business to run the show. I am conveniently ignoring the rest of the World and issues they would have with either location.

Joking aside now.
You bought a "English" company's forum software but you would'nt "trust" the coders this is very interesting indeed. any reason why?

 

[User]

Your reply makes me wonder whether you were suckling on that bottle again!

Hiring a coder isn't the issue, it's about no one person wanting to hire a coder to make an add-on but rather a group of admins getting together and sharing the cost. eLance or scriptLance etc don't work like that. One party contacts another party, you can't have approximately 473,931 people all pay $0.001 to the coder to share the cost of the work.

You bought a "English" company's forum software but you would'nt "trust" the coders this is very interesting indeed. any reason why?

Again, that's really not what I wrote at all. I was talking about a company that collects partial payment from admins, pays the coder, and administers the sale of the add-on that was created with those investment funds. It then disburses royalties to the coder and the investors.

Buying XF was totally different because you pay and then you download something. There's essentially no further obligation. Yes, XF says you are eligible for upgrades and support for a year but it doesn't say that there will be upgrades and you cant' foresee whether there will be support cases. If XF were to stop performing today then nothing would be lost.

On the other hand, if you have a company that collects investments, then sells products created from those investments, and is then obligated to pay out the profits to the investors, then I am really not going to trust some guy who runs that business out of his shack in Nigeria with it (no offense to any Nigerians present).

 

[x4rl]

I see thanks for that ^_^ and nono too early to drink (when I posted that anyway )

I guess its just a bunch of people after the same "idea/s" than bunging some money up hoping the job will get took on.
At this point I think all the devs/coders are working on there own sites. Saying that I know a few people here take on custom jobs too.

 

[Shelby]

Honestly,

I've done this but not in the way you imagine. I've come up with the concept for a few addons, designs, and then I've hired folks to do the work for me, then turned around and resold copies of the work I commisioned. It's kind of a round about way of handling things. I like your way, but with my way, there's only 1 client to deal with regarding demands.

 

[User]

I've come up with the concept for a few addons, designs, and then I've hired folks to do the work for me, then turned around and resold copies of the work I commisioned.

How did you ensure that the coder didn't just turn around and sold the script himself? I understand that you can write an NDA, non-compete, etc. into your contract but such contracts are really not enforceable when one considers the global work force.