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Thoughts on a Repair Bounty program?

So I've had this idea that has been bouncing around my head for a while now, and I want some thoughts from other community iFixit members. Most computer companies have a "Bug Bounty" program, with the idea being that members of their community would search for specific exploits, and the company pays the person who finds and documents how to perform that exploit (i.e Google's bug bounty program).

So my thought was, what if iFixit had a bounty program for specific repair processes, with the key difference from Google's bounty program being that bounties are created by other iFixit members rather than the company itself. Users could provide an amount of money for a repair method that they would like to see, and the user that provides the repair method will be paid upon completion.

I want to develop the idea a bit more on my own, but I want some community members' thoughts on the idea.

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Late to the party I guess but thought I just throw this out here. Let's NOT do this. Not at all, in no way, shape or form. I believe that this is a really bad idea. It does go against every reason why I am here. I see this creating (long term) competition and does not promote a team approach. It could lead to people joining for all the wrong reasons ($$$) and create extreme criticism about who is right (who has the right process)etc. IMHO this is a very bad idea. "We're all in this thing together, and if we work together we can fix the planet. " https://www.ifixit.com/Info/index

Repair is War on Entropy, not to look toward a bounty or any other recognition. Do it to help others not because there is a reward (or whatever) involved. Count me out!

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@oldturkey03

I think you have answered this question really well

I too think that the best way of helping people is by doing it out of kindness

I thought that we could possibly have some form of reward that you could get as a mile stone a bit like the badge system that we already have,except we have it in more areas so rather than a reward being a competition or having it as a competitive oriented reward it could be a personal achievement similar to the graph that shows your reputation

Something easy to do so it’s not competitive like being able to edit your own page in more ways

Or the same system we have across the ifixit but in more areas so that people can work towards something personally rather than trying to make it into a competition

But I am 100% fully onboard with what you are saying

Our mission is to help people as a TEAM not to make it a competition

I just thought that if we had some more things to say well done and to keep up the good work it would be really nice for the community

Thanks:-)

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@hellomacos rewards are always hard to hand out since there are always situation that can lead to misuse etc. It is my opinion that rewards must be fair to all, cannot be tight to a specific area of expertise, and has to benefit the community. For anything else with already have the Badge system. I dislike the idea of monetary rewards but liked your idea "pictures EG.a gold screwdriver as a reward" Who is going to give those out? How about rewards coming from the community? Let say a user who receives 10 positive comments to their answers (not 10 on one answer but an accumulation). Those comments need to have a brief explanation of what makes the answer valuable to the community. That way rewards are not just handed out. They are earned since the community needs to be involved and decides with their comments etc. on the reward.

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@oldturkey03

Rewards coming from the community sound good I think

There could be a new picture every month and people could design their own and submit them to a post

Similar to the one where you added information to your about me page and got the chance to win a screwdriver kit

And as you said about people writing positive comments,that could be how it’s rounded up

But we would have to think carefully about how to make it’s so it won’t turn into a competition at all

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Correct. That is why it should be the community that decides with their comments. It will require active participation by the community and only then should the reward be awarded. Anything else can be an upvote on the reputation points and would not lead to the Golden Screwdriver. Everyone gets involved, everybody has an opportunity to get rewarded.

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@oldturkey03

That sound like a great system

I wonder if it will be implemented into the currant system

It would be really nice to see it:-)

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We would need a secure way to pay each other. Displaying banking info publicly would be very dangerous. The site admin would have to be involved at least a little bit.

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Right, the bounties would be hosted through iFixit. Users who want to put a bounty would front the money to iFixit, and the site does a payout once the bounty is complete.

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@jmehnert

I know this could be a bit out of reach but there could be a ifixit digital currency or a crypto currency of some sort that can be exchanged for things in the store:-)

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@hellomacos

Like a credit system? It wasn't initially a part of the idea, but now that the idea is there I like it. I could see that being an interesting way of making payments to other users. .

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@jmehnert

Yes ,a bit like a credit system,that way it will be less reliant on the Admin of the website:-)

For example Someone gets 5 accepted answers or creates a guide ,they would be rewarded with a ammount of points

A bit like the currant reputation system but it’s put into a digital wallet:-)

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@hellomacos Exactly! The idea is that the tokens can be exchanged for real money.

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Sadly, I can't see iFixit doing this as it doesn't offer them any benefit. I also doubt anyone will be willing to pay for an answer in its self, its the repair that counts!

I would say the hardware vendors would be a better play if you are looking for a Hardware Bug Bounty.

Even still we already have a badge system to reward people for their efforts here. True theres no money but it does offer a bit of prestige and the people who offer good solutions often get recognized for their contributions.

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Hardware vendors offer bounty programs for this kind of thing?

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@jmehnert -You'll need to ask them!

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This is a tricky one. It's a clever idea but I don't think it would align with our mission.

Our main goal is to provide free repair information to help people fix their things. Once a bounty/money is attached to requests for content, it creates a layer of inaccessibility to those who don't have the money to back their requests.

Beyond that, logically holding and distributing money (even with a fee for us) is rather complicated. We're actually a rather small company and we'd probably need to hire on a new team to handle all of that.

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What if we had special profile pictures EG.a gold screwdriver as a reward

A bit like the badges except you could have it as your profile picture

That could be a reward

Just a thought

Thanks :-)

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That's a good idea! Like giving gold on reddit? I have a running document of badges I'd like to make in the future. I'll add it to my list!!

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@amber

After looking up what giving gold is on reddit is it just like that XD

Thanks!!!!

:-)

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Jacob Mehnert will be eternally grateful.