With workers from all walks of life turking for a variety of reasons, pricing a new set of HITs can be a very difficult task. If you were to post a question on the worker forum asking about fair pay, you will likely find an array of rates as varied as the workforce itself. In order to make sure you get as close as possible to a fair rate of pay, make sure you take into account the type of worker you need, how interesting your task is, and how much effort is required in completing the HIT.
Some of the more standard rates that pop up with regularity in worker discussions include ten cents per minute for copy, paste, and click HITs and once cent per word for basic writing tasks. Calculating out to six dollars per hour, these rates are a good starting point when searching for the right payment amount. In order to determine if you are close to this rate, make sure you factor in the intricacy of your instructions and the focus of your HIT development. Two different HITs searching for the same output that are both priced at ten cents per task can have a huge difference in hourly pay if one HIT is well organized and succinct while the other is confusing and involves extra scrolling, scanning and clicking.
If you need results that require more effort, whether it be research, evaluation or specialized knowledge, then consider raising up to a rate calculating out to nine dollars per hour or even higher. As with everything in life, you get what you pay for; higher priced HITs are sure to catch the attention of the more experienced and qualified workers. You must also take into account that the more specialized worker you need, the higher your pay will have to go. Just like in the brick and mortar job marketplace, specialized jobs, such as doctors, lawyers, etc. are guaranteed to cost you more money to work with than the deli counter at your local grocery store. To ensure the workers who start working on your task truly are qualified, always start with a qualification test or another quality control metric to make sure you are not paying for poor work.
Is it possible to get results with HITs priced below the standards listed above? It all depends on if your tasks are fun and if you do not mind waiting a little longer to get your work completed. There are plenty of workers that enjoy a task that they can do while watching their favorite show or preparing a meal, and the lower rate is OK because the work is fun and simple. Another variable that may have workers leaning towards doing tasks with lower pay is whether or not you are willing to accept and pay the completed HITs quickly. Workers are more likely to work for a little bit under the normal rate if they know that the payment will come quickly and not after 7 to 30 days.
One recurring error that new requesters make in regard to pay is to price a new set of HITs according to the largest, most comparable batch of tasks currently posted on Mechanical Turk. What these requesters do not take into account is that there is a reason that so many HITs are still available; it is because the pay most likely is not considered to be fair! If you want to use another requester’s batch as a means to judge what may be good for you, look out for HITs that are posted and disappear at a quick and steady rate. Better yet, read about different requesters in the Requesters Boardroom on TurkerNation.com.
Pricing your HITs is an important part of ensuring you get the results you need. Workers know that by crowdsourcing you are able to save money compared to hiring someone to sit in the office and complete your tasks, so make sure you take the time to find a rate that is truly fair. By finding a decent rate you will attract great, dedicated workers that will happily dig in to your next big batch of HITs!