Arcbazar Inc

I bought a $25 discount for service. I looked at their work online and was very impressed with their plans displayed. They were very prompt to contact me after the purchase. However after further consideration, I went with a local designer instead so I could have more hands on help in picking out materials. I am spending quite a bit more with the designer but decided I needed more help with my projects than just a design.

They’ve been very helpful in giving me direction. They are very knowledgable. The service sounds wonderful. I haven’t had the need yet as part my remodel for my house is not yet done.

Setting up my contest was easy. 1. I wrote a description of what I was looking for. 2. I chose the prize money based on my criteria. 3. I picked a deadline of 6 weeks. 4. I attached photos and floor plans of my spaced Once done setting up, I reviewed that everything looked good. I then launched the contest. Arcbazar announced my new contest on Facebook and notified their designer contacts. I soon had designers signing up and posting questions using the "Wall" feature. This is where you exchange info with the designers for everyone to see. I ended up adding much more detailed floor plans and pictures, and answering a lot of questions for the next 6 weeks. I had 42 designers sign up from all over the world. I ended up receiving 16 submissions. It was a great experience. I got a ton of ideas. The hardest part was picking the top 3 designs, since there were incredible ideas from many of them. The quality of the submissions varied from designer to designer. Most provided high quality materials that were easy to follow. There were a few that were more amateur than the rest of the designs. The customer service was awesome! Ana was always very responsive and friendly. Overall, the website has a good user interface. I think they could make the following improvement points: 1. Allow clients to order how their attachments are displayed. The site currently orders them based on when you upload a file. (I imagine designers would like this ability too, as their submissions are ordered alphanumerically by file name.) 2. Allow clients to read comments from friends/family. You can only see a cumulative ranking of friends/family. 3. Improve site responsiveness. The site can slow down sometimes. I would highly recommend Arcbazar to friends and family. I had a great experience and am really happy that I used them.

We had hired an designer/architect to design this space. He charged $150/hr. 3 drawings and 3 meetings later it was clear that he was not listening to us and had not even come close to what we had requested. That debacle cost us $2100. We read about Arcbazar.com and decided to try them. We submitted drawings of the space with measurements, described the project and what we would like to see and accomplish, photos of the space. We bid a low $600 for the project and submitted asking for completion in 2 weeks. Within a few days we had 10 people from around the world interested in our project. During the process we received requests for clarification or more information. At the end of the process we had 7 submissions most including elevations, renderings, materials lists and sources. All of these submissions met our basic criteria. All were impressive and beat the $150/hr guy in presentation, value and execution. You can send the designs to friends and family to help you rank the designs. We all agreed on our top 1, 2 and 3 designs. I requested and was given the contact information for our top ranked designer. We have contacted that person to modify the initial design. That is outside of Arcbazar but have to say this part of the process is also going splendidly at a reasonable price. We are thrilled with this process and will never go back. Hints: ~ You might want to allow more time for your project ~ Offer a little more money. The top guy only gets a portion of the pie. ~ Ana, in the office, is also accessible by phone for questions. Just have to work in their time zone. ~ The more specific you are the better results. ~ Our bids came from Armenia, Belaruse, Italy, France, Romania, etc So you get an international flare.

The service worked out pretty good. I liked that it was an innovator as far as outsourcing a site from the US to other potential architects or up and coming students to get ideas or pretty good aspect of the company. I didn't have much interaction apart from on the Angie's List site. The sufficient summations and the designs were on par with what I had anticipated.

My experience with them was good. They provided web service. Everything went well. I had no problems with them.

Wow! The best money we ever spent on our home(s). This job was unique in that we were needing to redesign not only the outsides of two connected homes, but make interior changes as well. The challenge was increased in that both homes were on different levels. We knew how much additional space we wanted and we also knew what rooms we wanted to add, but we could not envision how it would work, or how it could look. Throughout the contest, communication was open for both the architects and Arcbazar for all of our questions. We even received a phone call from Arcbazar in a last minute change - a level of service that went well beyond our expectations. After the contest, we received 12 submissions for different designs - all having various features that enabled us to open our minds. The end result was that we were able to use the submissions with a local architect and create the perfect design. That said, we wish that some of the architects that submitted drawings lived nearby so we could use them directly. For those whom have read any articles that speak poorly of Arcbazar, please remember that in the U.S, we live in a Capitalist society. This site is an avenue for young proessionals to build their portolios and get their names out to the public. I don't know of any business that can be successful without demonstrating its products or services - especially a young start-up company/person. Further, without Arcbazar, our only other option would have been to contact one local architect (using Angies List, of course) and hope that they shared our same vision. Thanks Arcbazar - we'll be back!

As I was reviewing the service I noticed that the responses did not include any kind of structural plans other than floorplans. This might be to provide security for the design (which is ok) but in my case I know mostly what I want; but I need the plans and engineering calcs to flush out what I need to do. I first tried their live chat and after waiting quite a while with no indication that anyone was listening I tried to call them which just led to a automated phone system and a voicemail. I left a voicemail and if they call me back I will update this review. I'd rather not waste my time if all they provide is general design rather than architectural plans.

I liked the process. More direction from the site would have been helpful, maybe a template of information needed to be posted. Most of the designers didn't read, in detail, what my requirements were, therefore they were not met. Overall it was interesting and I might do it again.

I paid $25 for a coupon that was VERY misleading...stating I would get a huge discount blahblah and it was a scam in my eyes. I paid $25 for absolutely nothing - just to be told that if I wanted any kind of plan I would owe them hundreds of Dollars - so bottom line : I threw $25 in the trash - NEVER AGAIN. I also trusted Angie's list not to run gimmicks like that and only paid because I trusted Angie's list - never AGAIN on that one as well.

Went great! I put up a 400 dollar award up. I placed up specifics of what I needed and a time frame. I received more submissions than I could use!

Received 6 or so plans. 3 of which were good, and the rest were not very useful. The winner clearly spent a lot of time working on it. The space was extremely complex vaulted ceilings and nooks and crannies. I enjoyed the process. My only critique was the botoom tier of submissions were not even competitive. I gave the quality an A because of the winning submission, but the lower tier were a C and the mid tier a B.

What a great concept! Our cost to gain all of the drawings that we received would have been many times more than we spent, so thanks Arcbazar - we appreciate your service!

We feel it went very well. There were at least eight designers from all over that signed up. We ultimately had only four finished designs to choose from in the end. We were in contact via the website to the designers to answer any questions they had. The winning design was perfect for us. We will have to contract for some of the work to be done, but some we will be able to do ourselves, which will help with the bottom line.

For some time I had been wanting to re-do the front of my house and make it more attractive. I had no idea how to engage an architect that I would be sure to like. I worried that I would pay them lots of $ and maybe never be satisfied with the result. I found Arcbazar.com and decided to try it out. I deposited $500 (they recommended $750) into an escrow account that they held and uploaded photos of my house and gave a description of what I liked and what I wanted to change. I also uploaded photos of houses I liked even though they weren't to same as my house. I had people from all over the world sign up to enter the competition. I gave it 2 months since we were a month away from Christmas and I had many interactions with the participants who asked me specific questions such as dimensions of current windows, etc. Most of the entries (there were 7) showed colored diagrams of my home using Chief Architect or some other program. When the deadline passed, I selected a winner who was awarded $300, a second place finisher who won $150 and third place $50. I feel as though I got a very good deal for $500 and that an architect would have charged MUCH more. Plus, I had no way of knowing whether I would like the taste of just a single architect and that I'd be stuck paying someone who really didn't understand what I wanted. I was very pleased with the entire process. The only criticism I have was that the Arcbazar website needs to be improved. I had trouble uploading additional photos and directions and often the screen would go black. It was a bit frustrating. Otherwise, try it out. I love what I got.

I love this concept. If you can upload pictures on your computer, you can use this service.! If you have a new construction, remodel, renovation or even landscape project you should check this site out before hiring an architect or designer. For the cost of the "reward" money (which YOU determine you want to spend ... from $250.00 upward ) you will receive professional, dimension plans, renderings, elevations and perspective views from each designer who enters your competition. I ended up with 12 fantastic submissions to choose from. And with the outstanding software these professionals use, you receive photo-like renditions of your new design as well. It works like this (using my project as an example): I uploaded pictures of my kitchen and filled out an information form stating my basic needs/wants for the redesign. We submitted very specific measurements, as prompted to do by the site. While filling out the information form, the site gives recommendations for an appropriate amount to spend on the "reward", which is the ONLY cost to you. Ultimately, YOU determine the reward amount you want to offer, and the top three winning designers (which you rank), will split it, 60/30/10. You also determine the length of the contest. I personally set a 4 week limit for designers to submit. Once the contest expired, I had one week to rank the designs. Once I returned my decision, the top 3 split the reward, and I got to keep all 12 of the submissions. All designers worked within the budget I gave them. I received extensive materials lists, and in some cases, even local resources to purchase the lighting, counter tops and cabinets they had depicted in their plans. (This was amazing to me - as none of the finalists were located in the US!) During the contest period, designers will post questions directly, so I was able to communicate with each one if needed. There were two in particular that I had asked to tweak an element one way or another, and was amazed with the real-time, open communication available to all who were working on the project. What I loved about the entire process was the fact I received a dozen designs for less than the cost of hiring one local designer. So now - when I decide to move forward with the actual work - I can hire locally and there's no guess work about what I want done, whether it can be done within budget, or how the finished product will look. I will most definitely use this site again if the need arises.

I was in the market for an architect to sketch out a design for a community center, with various limitations and considerations in mind. I came across Arcbazar and was impressed and inspired to give this approach a try. I took careful measurements and thought through the multiple functions of the new building for almost a month before announcing. After announcing, I set a time frame for the competition, usually 4 - 8 weeks. As the 8-week deadline approached, I was a bit disheartened that I only had but one submission for the design work. But amazingly, it was a very smart, European-inspired design that took in all the elements and functionality of the proposed structure. I was thankful that I had something, so I awarded the architect 1st place. While not obliged to, I am in the process of working with him on the 2nd phase of the project, which necessarily involves other local architects and contractors. It will add a certain level of complexity, since it becomes a three-way relationship, but the simple and smart design of the edifice will be worth it, I believe.

We were very happy with the floorplans/layouts that the designers submitted. Although we felt we had tossed around so many different options on our own, several of the plans presented great options we had not previously considered. If we decide to make another update to our home, we would definitely use this service again.

Results: Amazing. I provide a modest cash prize for the competition, and provide details on the type of home we want, the characteristics of the site, zoning requirements etch. Designers interested in this project (A high-end passive solar home in my case) sign up for the competition and ask questions about our wishes and any constraints to develop their plans. The architects provided me with detailed floor plans, elevations, site plan, perspective views, sections, cut-away views, and in some cases construction details. The variety of custom designs was stunning. The award offered is up to the client, but higher awards are expected for bigger projects, and to attract more architects. I offered 2,000 dollars, which is less than I'd pay for an off-the-shelf plan from one of the house plan websites. In this case, I had 63 architects sign up, and 19 eventually submitted designs for the competition. Each was customized to our wants, our budget, and our unique site with exposure and views. They were incredible. The hardest part of the completion was deciding who was first second and third (award is split 60% 30% 10%), All of the architects were good, and it was obvious they worked hard and very thoughtfully on the project. Several submitted plans several times seeking feedback and making revisions before the competition ended. Getting architects from around the US and the world to design a custom project, even conceptually, for this amount of money is a deal. From here, one could either work with the designing architect, or take the plans to a local architect for final refinements and full-scale construction-plans suitable for permitting. Customer service from the website and by phone was immediate, and excellent. The website has a few wrinkles yet to be worked out, but the experience overall was extremely positive and rewarding. I recommend for anyone planning a remodel or construction project.

I received 6 professional quality plans and 2 novice level for my competition. The top 3 plans were so stellar it was very difficult to decide on a winner. All the plans came with multiple pictures and dimensions and product lists. I can use these plans to get bids directly with contractors and skip costly design services. This tool is so awesome, I will use it for my next interior design project as well.

Loved, loved, loved this concept! (Crowd-sourcing of interior design designs.) I had given some thought to hiring an interior designer several times over the years, but always held back because it tends to be so costly and, no matter how well you describe your desires, there's really no guarantee that you're going to like what the designer comes up with. Acrbazar mitigates that risk by providing you with multiple design options - from different designers - so, even if you don't love all of them, there's a good chance you're going to like a couple. I was super impressed with not only the designs (since I'm definitely not creative in that way), but also with the quality of the materials provided. The designers provided all kinds of different views of the room (bird's eye views, perspective views, etc.) and most of them provided shopping lists and pricing for all of the furniture and other design elements. The only area of opportunity I would point out is getting a little more buttoned up with the customer service processes -- e.g., They couldn't process my Angie's List coupon during my initial purchase -- they had to rebate it in a separate transaction. But, that's just a minor item and will probably be worked out as they grow and mature.

We moved out of the area and didn't have a chance to use the deal. Based upon my conversation with someone from the company, it would have been much more involved than I originally thought anyway.

As mentioned above, I choose to extend my deadline and also increase the pot of money available. I did increase it to $500, not the recommended amount which would have been close to double. Part of the appeal of this process was to get a lot of great ideas for a minimal investment. While I would have likely got more applicants with a bigger cash prize available, at some point the value of getting plans from unknown designers may not be worth putting up the amount it would take to simply hire a known quantity. It is a great idea, but in the end I only got 2 submissions, and 3rd applicant who put up a strange avatar of a boy with a tear stained face overwritten with bad poetry. There were files submitted that consisted of nonsense words or that I got an error message I could not open the file without knowing what created it. I felt like it was likely put up as an attempt to get part of the prize money if the client did not notice & was too busy to fight the 3rd place going to them. As it turns out, it looks like that very thing has happened with a fake applicant getting 3rd place and a $50 prize. It has been disappointing. I got one very good set of plans, even though it does not entirely fit with what I can afford to do (or my stated instruction of leaving the rockery intact) there were some great ideas. The other set of plans were for a completely flat piece of land, and my front yard is set on significant grade. This designer did submit a new set of drawings that was very slightly altered from the other 2, but I feel I payed $525 for 1 decent entry. I think I should have cut my losses and just gone with the $375 award - 3 more designers signed up after the deadline was extended but no one new came through with drawings. I don't think I would try this process again. It seems that for the funds required to get a number of quality submissions, you might as well just hire a designer you have already checked out. ADDENDUM: I did get the $50 returned to me that still shows it was awarded to the 3rd place designer who submitted nothing but one sentence of gibberish "wer werw er weda sd asd" and an avatar with photo of tearful child overwritten with bad poetry. I got a response from the company that they do not get many submissions of "irrelevant material" but when it happens the applicant is disqualified. I would not call this submission irrelevant, I would say it was more an attempt at scamming the system. They have asked me to revise my review because "We are a start-up company and any misrepresentation hurts us immensely, therefore we would be very grateful if you could help us in this." The next email told me it's unfortunate I got only 2 submissions (only one of which was a decent plan that fit the topography of my property) but that it may be due to "the amount of my award." Ok. My thought is that the biggest case of misrepresentation is selling certificates that advertise design bids for $25, and seeing that a $200 award is sufficient - putting it up to $500 and then getting the attitude that I got a bad result because I was too cheap to offer more. Mind you this was a $500 award, to get a landscape design for a small front yard. Period. If $500 is too small of an award to expect a decent result, then how much should an entire yard or house plan cost? Please save your money, the aggravation and just hire the designer who can come out, be responsive and give you a result after seeing your property.

I received seven plans, of which three were top notch and two were solid. I am incorporating design ideas in the top design as well as numerous other features from the second and third rated designs. The fourth and fifth also had some interesting ideas that may be utilized.

I enjoyed the user experience, and was amazed at how well you guys are able to leverage designer input in the world market. Further developing the contest input analytics to give specific directions to your users as they progress through the preliminary application and the actual contest is a good investment of resources. By the time we realized we should have allowed more time for our design project to be completed, we were half way through the allotted timeline. Perhaps adding the ability to extend the project timeline by increasing the commission or simply allow the user to extend without question. The format of the final design submissions was more streamlined than I expected it to be, which is a necessary attribute. Needs a photo measuring app integration Overall this is a great timesaving and idea generation tool.