Any client can sponsor a new feature, by paying the "development cost" of that feature, and we would add the feature to the software or create a new addon to add the feature. Note that we will still only add features that benefit the software as a whole, for instance we aren't going to add built-in forums since it does not relate to classifieds or auctions. But we may add a bridge to an outside forum software to allow users to be shared!

When you sponsor a feature, you are paying us to add a new feature to the software that might not have been added otherwise for a much longer time, or perhaps not added at all. Sponsored features get top priority. If we have multiple sponsored features at once, we will work on them in the order that they were paid for. Once the feature is complete, we will make a beta version of the software available to you so that you can start using the new feature right away. You would also have the option of just waiting for the next feature release to come out if you did not want to use a beta version and you didn't need the feature right away.

But note that sponsoring a feature is not obligatory for a feature to get added, it is merely an option you have if you wish to take advantage of it to ensure a feature you want gets added right away and customized to fit your specific business plan/process. See the next section to read about how we decide on what features to add when they are not sponsored.

There are a few different factors that go into the decision of what features we will add next:

• Demand for the feature¹⁾<
• Feature offered by competitor or popular website ²⁾<
• Features that keep our software at the top of the industry. There may be zero "demand" for a feature simply because no one has "thought of it yet". These are the types of features we add that continue to put our software at the top of the industry; the features that help to define us as the guys to "catch up to".<

The above factors are balanced against the amount of development time the feature will take to add. If a feature does not have much demand, but would be a "quick change" to add the feature in a way that adheres to our high development standards, we may go ahead and add it even if there is another feature that has "more demand" but might take 10 times more work to add. In other words, the demand for a feature, along with the other factors mentioned above, has to be able to justify the amount of development time it is going to take to add the feature.

If you are interested in sponsoring a feature, just send us an e-mail to [email protected] that explains exactly what you want to have added. It helps if you make the title something like "quote request for …" so that we can easily identify the quote request. We will also use e-mail records for reference later, for that reason we typically will need you to e-mail us the request rather than requesting through chat.

The quote process is a multi-step process, below is the general steps a quote request will go through:

1. First, you send in the request to [email protected] with exactly what you would like to do. Note: Do not start a new bug inside Bugzilla for the quote request, we will do that for you, send your request to the [email protected] e-mail. <
2. Follow-up questions: Sometimes we will need to ask questions about exactly what you need. We want to make sure we understand exactly what you want to have added. Or we may think of a different way to accomplish what you need that might make it work for more situations than just yours, in which case we'll check with you to make sure that would work. <
3. Once we have a clear understanding of what you want to have added, if we already have a quote for that feature or a similar one we'll send the quote directly. If it requires a new quote to be generated however, we will tell you the rough "project size" before generating the quote, along with a very rough idea of what the cost might be. There are 3 main "project sizes" listed below:

^ Project Size ^ Ballpark development time ^ Ballpark Cost ^

NOTE: At this stage, the project size is not guaranteed, it is just a way to give you an idea of the size and make sure you are interested before we invest time to generate a quote, the final quoted price may end up being much larger. <

1. When you verify that you are still interested after we give you the rough project size ballpark, we will create an accurate price quote. In order to be as accurate as possible, this process can take a lot of time to generate. While we do not charge for price quotes, and you are under no obligation to accept the quote we give you; we ask that you only request a quote if you are interested in sponsoring the feature, since it does take significant amount of time away from the developer(s) to generate each accurate quote. <
2. To generate the most accurate price quote possible, we typically follow these steps:
   1. We first add the feature inside Bugzilla, what we use for issue / feature tracking.<
   2. Then we create a "task list" and try to calculate every technical "task" that is required to add the feature, and we will usually post that task list in the Bugzilla bug entry for the feature.<
   3. Once we have the task list, we will calculate how much time each task will take, add it up, and that is the quote. The cost is usually $100 per estimated hour of development work. <
   4. Features that have been quoted this way, we will record the "estimated time" in the Bugzilla bug for reference later, so that if you do not accept the quote, we have a pre-made quote if anyone else requests the feature later. <

<

1. We will send you the price quote, along with the detailed "task list" that was generated as part of the quote process. You will need to go over the quote task list, and make sure nothing is missing. Anything that is not part of the official quote task list, is not included in the price. If there is anything not part of the quote that you want it may cost extra to have it added. If the quote price is good let us know and we will send you any paperwork to sign³⁾ and create an invoice. <

Because of the process explained above, we are usually very accurate with the estimate, so once we quote adding a feature the price stands even if the "actual" time goes under or over. In other words, the final price quote we send does not change (unless the specs of the quote change). The quote is guaranteed to be good for at least one month. It may still be good after that time, but it may change if things that would affect the feature have changed in the software.⁴⁾

Also be aware that depending on how complicated the feature is, the more time it would take to add the feature, the more the feature is going to cost. The more complex the feature is, the longer it might take to generate the quote for that feature.

Between accepted sponsored features, and features that we plan to add without sponsorship, sometimes our development schedule is just too full to accept any new sponsored features. This can happen if we feel we won't be able to even start on a new feature for several months. When this happens, we'll let you know when you make the request, and give you the option to be in the "long term queue". What this means is we will add you to a queue, so that later down the road when our development schedule is freed up enough to take on a new sponsored feature, we will contact you back and see if you are still interested to pick up the quote process where it left off. When this is the case, the quote is "on hold" until we are sure that we would be able to work on the feature in a timely manner. We do not generate the accurate price quote⁵⁾ until we know that we can work on the feature. We want to make sure you are still interested in sponsoring the feature at the time we can work on it, before taking the time to generate the price quote for you.

One common misunderstanding when it comes to having a feature added, is the development cost for adding the feature. The most common reply we get when people are surprised that a feature will cost so much, is "That is more than I paid for the software!". So just be aware, when you sponsor a feature, the cost is based on the "development cost" for the feature not the "retail cost". With the "retail cost", meaning the cost you pay for a pre-made software, you are only paying a small fraction of what the full cost to create the software was. That is because that cost is "spread out" by selling the software to multiple clients. The development cost is always going to be significantly more than the retail cost for that reason.

By sponsoring a feature, you are helping to cover the development cost, meaning the amount of time a Geodesic developer has to spend working on adding that feature that they might otherwise be spending on something else.