I’m curious too if you got paid for your writing work, and how long it took to get paid on everything you did.

Comment #18, Jason,said they developed a script to make it easy to get the task completed. The user agreement says that is not allowed, but I’m sure it’s hard to catch. “Section 3b: You specifically acknowledge and agree to the following: (i) you will not use robots, scripts or other automated methods to complete the Services;”

Good luck to you all.

Actually, I looked at their terms of use, and US citizens outside of the US are not allowed to participate, so shhh! :P. Makes me glad I have a dual citizenship, so technically I’m a Turk right now (the real kind)
I’m a teenager on summer break, and I’ve got nothing to do. I’ve earned $12 in the past three days, and should be getting over 20, as some of my HITs are still pending. It’s not that much money, but it’s fine. Better than me wasting the time watching tv. This way I can at least buy some stuff from amazon without using my parent’s money…

I wouldn’t say that at all – there’s quite a bit of legitimate work being done on MTurk. I would clarify your comment to say that a lot of the high-paying tasks are fraudulent. e.g., “get a car insurance quote” for around $3, that type of thing.

And since when was SEO content fraudulent? You might think it’s annoying and spammy, which a large part of that kind of SEO writing is, but it isn’t fraudulent.

MTurk is a really powerful tool which I have used on a couple of occasions with great success. There are a lot of honest and straightforward workers who get the job done, and likewise a lot of requesters with legit needs.

What happened with me is that on that first day I did some .04 and .09 tasks and a few .50 ones, which I found somewhat novel and enjoyable, as I’ve never tried to make money this way before. I spent a lot of time viewing hits without accepting them, simply trying to understand the system. Then I figured out I could order the hits in terms of which offered the most rewards. I found that I could earn between $1 and $4 for various “how-to” articles, guides, reviews, and even blog comments. Now, on my 4th day, I don’t do anything for less than $1.50. Most of the limited extra time I have throughout the day (SAHP)is devoted to writing for mturk requesters. I figure if I weren’t doing this I’d be watching tv or pointlessly cleaning the living room for the 12th time that day, so at least this way I’m earning some money. So far I’ve earned about $15. Not a bad paycheck for time that would have been otherwise wasted.

And, as I’ve said, I’m still “in training.” In another couple of weeks I expect to be earning double what I am now given the same amount of time.

Still, if you want to make some real money, find your passion and see if you can make some real money. If you want to try MTurk in your spare time, then go for it.

Also, Trent–have you heard of utalkback.com?

My problem now though, is that I’m still waiting for the money I’ve earned to become ‘available’ for transfer to my bank account. Most of the hits I’ve completed have been approved and payed by the requester on Mturk, but the funds don’t seem to be available in my Amazon balance, in order for me to be allowed to transfer them to my bank account to pay bills. I sent a help email to both Amazon and Mturk on Friday afternoon, and I’m still waiting to hear back from both of them. Though perhaps, tomorrow on Monday I’ll get an answer or some resolution.

If you can truly transfer the funds to your bank account (I live in the USA) then I’d say that Mturk is a legitimate way to make some extra money each month, if you don’t mind doing the tasks.

But, if I’m only allowed to exchange my earnings for an Amazon gift card, I will be truly dissapointed. I’m using Mturk for a way to make a little extra money each month, not to buy more ‘stuff’.

I’ll be sure to bookmark this post, and follow up when I get some kind of answer.

Also, has this ever happened to anyone else?

Shevy, you are paid in U.S. dollars. You can cash out either by transferring the money to an American checking account or receive Amazon credit. Can’t help you with the rest, though, sorry.

Those are the only 2 countries that they mention in their FAQ and there is quite a bit about how, if you earn more than ‘x’ amount with any one referrer you have to provide your US tax information or you can’t participate any more. Plus, they tell you how you can get paid in rupees but nothing about whether Canadians, Brits, Europeans, etc. can participate.

And, if so, can you be paid in US$ or do you have to take a gift card (which I’m not nearly as interested in having). I mean, money is money, but a gift card means you have to buy more stuff. It’s not like you can pay your credit card or your electric bill with it.

Being a graphic designer, I know there are and have been unscrupulous people just waiting for a few unsuspecting artists (usually young and innocent of standard business practices) to draw them something or pitch an idea, then take it and alter it ever so slightly so they can say that it was really “theirs,” and thus shut out that artist from any money they might see.