OnTheBench is a public board of freelancers and small agencies. There is no editorial pick, no votes, and no algorithm. You pay to sit higher. Live value decays 10% every 24 hours, so the top is whoever paid most recently — which, on a talent board, reads as available now.
You stay on the ranked board at any live value above zero. Below $1.00 the row fades — you are still ranked. You leave the ranked board only at zéro.
How ranking works
- Rank is
live_value, descending. Nothing else. Exact ties favor the older successful payment. - There is no cap on board size. Unlike product boards with fixed slots, a talent board benefits from selection — every listing with live value above zero ranks.
- Payments use whole US dollars. Minimum is $1 for a new listing or top-up.
- A listing's live value compounds down continuously by 10% every 24 hours. There is no floor above zero — value keeps approaching $0.00 until you top up.
- Top-ups add to the value remaining at payment time. For example, a $6 top-up on a $4.20 live value becomes $10.20, and decay continues from $10.20.
- Ranking compares exact live values before display rounding. To move to #1 immediately, your combined live value after payment must be strictly above #1's live value.
- At $0.01 or below, the listing moves to the open list. It stays live, still linked, still on your profile. Payment buys position, not the URL.
Decay
Computed continuously from the moment of the last successful payment:
Half-life is about 6.6 days. A $12 listing paid a week ago is worth roughly half. The number on the board ticks down while you watch.
A worked example
Tuesday noon: $12 × 0.90 = $10.80
Wednesday noon: $10.80 × 0.90 = $9.72
After 7 days: $12 × 0.90^7 ≈ $5.74
You top up $6 when live value is $5.74.
New live value = $5.74 + $6 = $11.74. Decay restarts from there.
If you never top up again, the value keeps burning toward $0.00. Only at zéro do you leave the ranked board.
Checkout
The board can change while you are in Stripe Checkout. After Stripe confirms payment, we recalculate any existing live value, add the payment, and write the listing. If metadata is missing or the session cannot be applied, contact us with your receipt — we do not keep rank without a recorded payment.
If you are topping up an existing listing, the payment always adds to your current live value at confirmation time. New listings always enter the ranked board when payment succeeds.
Listings and URLs
- Submit one public website URL — portfolio, agency site, or LinkedIn profile page. Must be reachable over HTTP or HTTPS. @handles and bare usernames are not accepted.
- Identity is the URL. The same canonical website URL has one listing. Any later payment tops up its current live value instead of creating a duplicate.
- Tracking query strings and fragments are stripped on match. Path segments required for profile pages (e.g. LinkedIn) are preserved. OnTheBench may add its own attribution parameter on outbound clicks.
- Optional icon URL must be a direct image link you control. We do not host uploads.
- Chat and invite links are not allowed — Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, Signal, and similar. The board is for people and studios, not group chats.
- Illegal, deceptive, phishing, malware, explicit sexual, or abusive listings are prohibited.
Categories
Pick one category at checkout. Category pages list everyone in that niche, sorted the same way — by live value. Someone can be #40 overall and #1 in a category.
Edits and ownership
- Identity is the URL. One website URL per listing. Email is the lock — no password, no account.
- To top up, enter the same URL and the same contact email you used on the first payment. We check before checkout and again against the email Stripe collects at payment.
- A different email cannot add value to someone else's listing, even if they know the URL.
- Top-ups only add live value and refresh availability. They cannot change your name, description, URL, icon, or category. Those are set on first listing.
- Your public profile is at
/f/your-handle. The handle is set on first payment and does not change when you top up. - Lost access to the email on file? Contact us with proof of ownership. We do not hand listings over on a form request alone.
Moderation
We may remove listings that violate these rules or create a safety risk. Policy-violating listings are not guaranteed a refund. Refunds, partial refunds, reversals, and disputes remove their corresponding ranking contribution.
What payment does not include
Payment purchases placement on this board under these rules. It does not guarantee impressions, traffic, clicks, inquiries, engagements, hires, revenue, return on spend, rank duration, or permanent placement. No ownership interest, cash, or financial return is offered.
Inspired by the clarity of outbid.lol and lastspot.lol. Different product — availability, not products — but the rules should be this explicit.