Review of Amazon's MTurk

MTurk is owned by Amazon, though not a direct part of the Amazon site itself.  Mturk is a real-time database of online tasks, referred to as “hits”.  These are tasks, which can not be completed by computer software, and require human input. Writing/editing, tagging/moderating, data entry and answering questions are common MTurk “hits”.   The vast majority of these tasks are low paying, any “hits” that offer reasonable compensation, are scooped up fast, so if you want to make decent earnings, I advise checking in on a regular basis.  My best week using Mturk earned me around $50, though many Turkers report doing far better. It seems that most tasks here, net roughly $2-3 an hour. Some of the transcribing “hits” may pay better, but I am not an efficient enough typist, to claim these. I have mainly written articles and copy, as well as, reviews and some of the quick tasks like tagging images, which only pay a few cents.  Since I have been out of college for almost 10 years, I found the writing tasks, a good way to become accustomed to writing frequently, again. When completing writing hits, keep in mind the possibility that a hit submission can be rejected, thus you should make an effort to produce quality writing. Don’t let this possibility deter you, none of my writing tasks have ever been rejected (although a few of the quick “simple” tasks have been).  This site has no referal system, thus all income must be directly generated by you.

 

Payments are available as direct deposit ($10 min.).  Setting up for direct deposit,  into your checking account is easy.   After initial set-up, which takes a couple days to go through, deposits are generally made, in about a day. You also have the option choose immediate transfer of MTurk earnings, to your Amazon gift card balance ($1 min.). The minimum is not really an issue, since  Amazon will ask you if you want to put your your Mturk account balance,  toward your purchases at checkout, anyway.   You won’t get rich using Mturk , but it can be a reliable source for extra cash.