Just my 2 cents on whats been going on, on mturk lately...

Discussion in 'General' started by petegq, Sep 6, 2012.

  1. petegq

    petegq User

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    Mturk is getting alot stricter, Yesterday I actually recieved an email from a requester regarding my work. Not a block... so far (crosses fingers) but just asking questions about my work pattern, which is a first for me since joining mturk. I also haven't been able to do crowdsource hits now and every hit is welcomed by a message saying "Sorry, you are not eligible to work on this project." Idk if I'm blocked or reached some kind of threshold being that I've made slightly over $1300 since april on crowdsource alone. (Veterans of mturk your input about my Crowdsource problem is welcomed). But in closing, I am pretty much treading water nowadays trying not to get a block, so my daily goal is lower to $15-$20 as opposed to the regular $30- $50
     
  2. Hi. It's me

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    I know the yearly threshold is $1,500 PER requester (not total) before you have to file it on taxes.

    I work on Crowdsource a lot & have pretty much all of their Qualifications (editing, moderating, etc). I'm very familiar with Crowdsource, and have never had any issues (but I haven't made even half of what you have with them)


    Have you logged on to the Crowdsource website to check?
     
  3. ohsostrange

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    Just ask them. The Crowdsource people are really good about answering emails.
     
  4. petegq

    petegq User

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    Yes I checked the website and emailed them no response or feedback as of yet.
     
  5. Libby101a

    Libby101a User

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    This is crazy though. Because from doing a lot of good work you can get blocked... and if you get blocked 3 times from different requesters you can lose your account! That is very unfair! All from doing a lot of work and it doesn't matter if you are a valuable worker or not...it's just a requester wanting to limit you from working for them.

    Do requesters even know if they block us that we can lose our accounts?

    I just got a rejection from a requester on a $1 hit that I worked hard on... he noted that the work was very good but he doesn't do batch hits! I have never done a hit for this guy. I emailed him and he apologized and ask me how to unblock! First why would he block me for doing a two hits when I really only did one. Second because he didn't want me to do more than one hit, which I didn't, he didn't pay me, and I got a rejection and blocked but he kept the work. He is a nice guy and responded right away and I think he's trying to fix it... if he can figure it out :( but dang a block??? He said I did good! LOL! How fair is that? Two more times and I could lose my account for good work and just because a requester made a mistake! Very bad guidelines! MTurk needs to revise their block policy! Because many times it's the mistake of the requester not the worker!
     
  6. iceblink

    iceblink User

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    I get the same CrowdSource message but only for the "Moderate Answers to Questions about products" HIT.

    I emailed them and they said it's cuz I was mistakenly given the Moderate Answers To Questions qual and I shouldn't have had it.. Dunno if that helps you at all :S
     
  7. petegq

    petegq User

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    Not really since I am getting it for all hits
     
  8. dsm_dolouz

    dsm_dolouz User

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    This is disturbing.. Maybe they're starting to block all the long-time Turkers because they think they're in effect working the system. Who knows. I'm getting paranoid though and I'm still fairly new at this whole thing.
     
  9. petegq

    petegq User

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    Yea that would be my educated guess too
     
  10. ohsostrange

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    But... but... (stifled scream) their system depends on long-term turkers! Long term turkers are the workers who've proven to themselves capable and dependable, and the acceptable performance of hits is what causes money to change hands, generating Amazon's percentage of the cut!

    (stomps off grumbling...)
     
  11. dsm_dolouz

    dsm_dolouz User

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    Yeah, I agree. It makes no sense to me.. Why would you want to ban people who can produce quality work and also do it quickly? Isn't that what every employer looks for in his employees?
     
  12. 2muchTurkin

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    It is quite the mystery isn't it??
    #Takes account and hides it#
     
  13. clogan98

    clogan98 User

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    You guys are scaring me! I just started a week ago and had no idea about the BS that accompanies this (scams, suspensions, a$$ requestors) But I'm only doing about 10-12 a day tops so I'm hoping I'll fly below the radar (now that I know about all the scams! Stupid me had no idea it's a glorified craigslist sweatshop). I don't know how you guys get the hundreds or thousands of HITs you do. The transcribing, I can only do about 10 minutes per hour! Come on high school typing skills! Come back to me now!!!
     
  14. 2muchTurkin

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    better than me. Last transcript I did was 5 mins took an entire hour. I have excellent quality on them but just can not get them done any faster. Guess I take to long going over it again and again to make sure everything is right. Until the pay rate reaches $1 a min I give up on it. lol
     
  15. ohsostrange

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    Same here. 5 minutes of really clean, clear audio takes me about 45 minutes, but most of the files people want transcribed on mturk are of low quality and filled with noise, and the requester demands that you write out each grunt with what they consider the proper spelling for that particular type of grunt, and some of them even want each grunt time stamped.
     
  16. davebindy

    davebindy Active Member

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    It wouldn't surprise me if some requestors don't "soft block" workers who are close to the magical tax reporting threshold ($600 I think) so they (the requesters) don't have to file the 1099 paperwork. I don't know that that's the case, but as I said, wouldn't surprise me.
     
  17. bootybitch

    bootybitch Banned

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    Real Estate Research has a running qual that is equal to the amount of money you have earned from them. When you hit $500 (since the tax limit is $600) they pull the qual from you until the next year.
     
  18. petegq

    petegq User

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    Do you know if CS does this too ?/
     
  19. Scott

    Scott User

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    Actually the IRS threshold to pay takes on income earned on Mturk is $0.01.
    You won't get a 1099 from a requester till you earn $600. (If You are a US Worker)

    So bascially anything you earn is taxable in the US.
     
  20. chuck_h

    chuck_h User

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    I doubt this. My take is that they're sheerly glutted with people clamoring for work, so they don't care if they're dumping someone even if he has a 99%+ approval rating and several thousand or tens of thousands of successfully completed HITs. You really are just a cog in the MTurk "machine" and eminently and easily replaceable.
     

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