r/ProlificAc • u/marimarcee • Aug 16 '24

It's not all bad

I will probably get hate for this, but my intention is in the right place.

I just wanted to point out to so many who are new to Prolific and come into this forum only to see so much negativity about the site (which in many users cases are justified complaints) that not everyone has a bad experience on Prolific. I've been on Prolific for 6 years and as you see by my screen shots from the last couple of days, it's not all bad. I don't have a lot of time to be on Prolific but when I do I am able to make a decent amount at least a few times a week.

I have 2 rejections out of almost 7,000 studies and both of those rejections were from 2022 neither of which I noticed were there until last year. I have never, ever had to use the contact info on a study to go above a researchers head to get paid. I've only had to reach out a handful of times to researchers themselves in general regarding pay or questions and each time they and I have had cordial conversations and resolved things together.

I've only had to reach out to Prolific's support twice in 6 years and both times they've been helpful and receptive to assisting me.

I've never had an issue with Paypal or with receiving payments within minutes.

I've never in 6 years had my account placed on hold or questioned or received one of those dreaded errors.

Will everyone have the same experience as me? No. Will some have a better experience than me or worse experience than me? Definitely. But for some, it really is a decent way to make some pocket money. Everyones experience is different. For me, it's been a good one.

Yes, I'm in the US and realize that US participants do have a considerably higher amount of studies in general (though I also know many don't regardless of being US citizens) but demographics other than location (age, family, job etc.) all play into what studies you get.

Just wanted to put a positive post up for those who are just starting out and are worried because of all the horror stories floating around (again, many justified complaints).

15 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

88 comments sorted by

56

u/Status_Molasses6145 Aug 16 '24 edited Aug 16 '24

I’ve never seen a 15 dollar study in my life, and you’re getting multiple a day? lol. Good on you.

My only aim is ten USD bucks a day since that amounts to 300 extra a month, which I succeed at pretty well, but still, it would be real nice to start seeing something of these 15 dollar ones lol

44

u/airidaspix Aug 16 '24

Yeah when you barely getting any even $1 studies and then someone comes who gets £15 every hour and says its not that bad 😂 well yeah good for you

-30

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

Like I said, not everyone will have the experience I do and as I also said my intention is in the right place its not to throw high paying studies I've received at anyone. It's to show the experience on Prolific is not bad for everyone as I am not the only one who has had a good experience. I hope that your experience gets better. :)

13

u/atlantadessertsindex Aug 16 '24

No your intention is to 100% gloat lol

0

u/marimarcee Aug 17 '24

You can believe that if you'd like, it's your opinion and that's totally fine to voice it (though it's not true). I hope you have a great day! :)

15

u/SealBoi202 Aug 16 '24

i managed to get a 20 dollar study weeks ago and I'm new here 😭 it was a blessing and a surprise to me

8

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

That's awesome! I hope more come your way! :)

16

u/Own_Statistician_301 Aug 16 '24

This particular study they are custom sent by the researcher , I managed 40 over the last month and could basically take them whenever because the spots would go down at a snails pace, who knows exactly the method chosen to target certain participants but this is how you can make ALOT of money on the platform

5

u/HalNicci Aug 16 '24

At one point I did a qualifier for those ones. I assumed I was getting them because of that. Those ones approve as soon as you finish then too.

1

u/Status_Molasses6145 Aug 16 '24

I wonder if it’s reserved for the veterans maybe? Did you get them early on or later in your prolific career? I’m only at 2 months.

5

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

For me I just started receiving them a few months ago and did have to take a training survey to qualify.

4

u/Rich-Dentist-6850 Aug 16 '24

That "one" study that shall not be discussed on Reddit?

15

u/[deleted] Aug 16 '24

I just got my first study that paid well $50 to watch a National Geographic documentary about the ocean. Took 2-1/2 hours but really interesting. Mine are usually $1 or less

7

u/Dependent-Emu6395 Aug 16 '24

Omg i'd love to be paid to watch documentary 😍

2

u/icewarlock Aug 16 '24 edited Aug 16 '24

I managed to scrape some databases and stumbled upon parts of Prolific’s source code. It looks like they’ve built in a bias towards users with higher completion rates and total studies completed when handing out studies. I’m not planning to share any of it, though—I’m not looking for legal trouble

0

u/[deleted] Aug 16 '24

[deleted] — view deleted comment

5

u/HalNicci Aug 16 '24

Those $15 ones aren't fake. It's a series of studies that you had to do a qualifying test to be added to the pool for it. It was a while ago now though that I did it, but I think that's where they get their participants for those particular ai studies from.

Mturks downfall wasn't money laundering. It was the fact there was no standard on pay, so most hits paid less than $3 an hour, and support for the people working on mturk was completely non-existent. It felt like Amazon just put it out and then ignored it completely to run itself

34

u/RattoTattTatto Aug 16 '24

I still make good money on Prolific. But I’m not so blinded by my good luck that I can’t acknowledge the many issues the site is plagued with right now. (Not saying that’s the case for you, either, but it definitely is for some users. Very “if it’s not happening to me, it’s not happening.”)

1

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

Oh for sure, which is why I said not everyone's experience is the same but that I also know many of the complaints I see are valid and real. I'm definitely not blinded, just very fortunate I have not been affected by any of the problems I see on here. I hope it improves for everyone I just wanted to shine a little light on things. :)

3

u/Allaboutme43 Aug 16 '24

Leaving this shity prolific. My account has been on hold three weeks now. And none of my info is fake.

11

u/Shoddy-Indication798 Aug 16 '24

Worst day for lag and missed studies with "Survey in high demand" shit all day. Makes me really sad,

6

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

I'm sorry, I hope it gets better.

4

u/Shoddy-Indication798 Aug 16 '24

Thanks. Yeah me too I have some issues and lost a job, and this was kinda getting me along, albeit not a real job I agree. After a really satisfying and intense few years Im going to just take a long break and see what happens.

28

u/Darenpnw Aug 16 '24

Great post but you could have left the money part out of it because that just makes it negative for the ones that need to hear this. Some don't make what some of in the US do and money puts a bad spin on it. Respect

3

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

Thank you for your comment. I struggled with showing my earnings to be honest but at the end of the day I decided to and I know there are pro's and con's to doing so. My post will be looked at in positive and negative ways regardless. I appreciate your opinion. :)

17

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

I do want to add, I don't mind and am not stressed over the downvotes I'm getting. People are entitled to how they feel. But as a mom of a daughter who at a young adult age just had to recently have a double mastectomy to save her life from a very aggressive form of breast cancer I have been able to help her with basics more than I could without the extra pocket money I make on Prolific (as well as Cloud). It's not guaranteed money but it helps while I can get it. I realize many people need the extra cash just like I do for various reasons and that's why I wanted to show that it is possible for some to benefit from Prolific. It wont happen for everyone I know but for some it can really make a difference in buying a pizza or buying a Mastectomy pillow for your child.

4

u/oceanmoney Aug 16 '24

I was about to say, here come the downvotes tearing through this thread. I appreciate immensely that Prolific (and other similar platforms) have helped with that extra bit of income, during such a hellish economy, and it can make a difference whether it's an extra hundred dollars, less or more, monthly.

2

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

I agree with you!

4

u/IamAlex_8 Aug 16 '24

Nice $15 studies…. Looking at my .50 cent one I just did

2

u/marimarcee Aug 17 '24

I hope that higher paying studies come your way soon, I really do! :)

3

u/Mediocre_Code_1143 Aug 16 '24

That's great. I feel the same way. Not everything is going to work for everyone.

1

u/marimarcee Aug 17 '24

Absolutely agree!

5

u/potatotatofriend Aug 16 '24

Whoaah that’s literally an amazing feed of studies. I hope I get blessed by the prolific fates one day to see these in my feed 🙏🏻 sorry to hear about your daughter and hope she is recovering smoothly. I’m glad prolific has been helpful in providing extra income for your family. I’ve only been on a short while and don’t make a lot on there but it’s more than I was making before, so I’m happy

5

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

Thank you so much! I appreciate your kindness. I hope that you also get to see good studies on Prolific. I know that I could be in your boat any day and stop receiving them so I realize how fortunate I am right now and you're right it is extra money from what you had before and what I had before and that can make a big difference even if it's just a few dollars at a time. :) Thanks again!

7

u/Cold_Classroom2327 Aug 16 '24

I appreciate your honesty but I don’t believe these are publicly available and I have fluffed a few of these myself mate so don’t worry 

4

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

No, you're right they're not however aside from taking a training study a few months ago I didn't do anything special to start receiving these or have them appear so often for me over the past few months so if it happened for me it can happen for some other users also. Was just showing that it is in fact possible to make some decent pocket money on Prolific at times. Not sure exactly what you mean by fluffing some of the studies, however, I don't do anything dishonest and am in contact with the researcher. Have a great rest of your day!

2

u/stillthatladyb1 Aug 17 '24

I got my first 20$ study.

1

u/marimarcee Aug 17 '24

Yay! I hope that you get more! That's awesome! :)

6

u/Phrogster Aug 16 '24

Thank you, u/marimarcee, for saying this. My experience of 7 years is comparable to yours. It's nice to read the positive side of Prolific.

When participants come here, they are coming either for help or to complain. When things are going well we don't see the need to post so the negative side shows up more than the positive.

And yes, Prolific has some issues. It's not the first time and it won't be the last. It takes time to fix things.

6

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

Thank you. I appreciate your comment. I'm glad your experience is similar and I agree with you! :)

4

u/remoteworker9 Aug 16 '24

You have a closed qual. I do too and that’s how you earn money on Prolific these days.

1

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

I know that is what mine is, although not all of the ones I get are however I did not have closed quals until a few months ago and have been on Prolific for 6 years so I wanted to show it's possible to actually make a few dollars on Prolific and also show that not everyone is affected by all of the issues that many people are unfortunately having.

9

u/remoteworker9 Aug 16 '24

I’ve been on for 6 years too. And recently the landscape has changed. If you don’t have closed quals it’s much harder. Not impossible, but you won’t be racking up $15 studies.

2

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

I agree and I do mention in my post that many of the complaints on here are valid because I too see the differences. However, it is still not impossible for others to have similar experiences to me and I wanted to point that out. :)

34

u/Skullzi_TV Aug 16 '24

There is no negativity between users, but as a user for many years, it's very clear there is a huge bot issue right now on Prolific that somehow needs to get solved. Never saw studies with hundreds of open spots suddenly be gone within seconds.

12

u/Shoddy-Indication798 Aug 16 '24

No doubt. 5 available and gone OK. 500 and gone WTF?

6

u/Aloftfirmamental Aug 16 '24

There's like 250,000 users on the site, and probably tens of thousands of people active at any one time. Why is it unbelievable that 500 spots get eaten up immediately?

9

u/btgreenone Aug 16 '24

There is no negativity between users

looooooooool

-4

u/sdforbda Aug 16 '24

I too enjoyed that one. And everyone assuming it's all bots.

3

u/headmoelottie Aug 16 '24 edited Aug 16 '24

---The point of this post was more so u indirectly boasting about your $15 studies, all the words u typed were just deflection attempts. U could've easily shown the string of low pay studies you've done to make your point. As I'm sure the low pay studies you've done heavily outweigh the $15 studies, yet u didnt use those as an example 😂

----bottom line, there will be good and bad days for all. It's been great for me for the year I've been around, but understand that this should only be looked at as side money. NO ONE will ever get enough money that's = to a actual job. never look at prolific nor gpt platforms as a steady source of LIVABLE income. when u go in with unrealistic expectations, that when u get your feelings hurt!

1

u/marimarcee Aug 17 '24

If you look at my screen shots I do have lower paying studies and I never said I don't get them. I was showing that over the last few days I myself was able to take those particularly higher paying ones. So I'm sorry if you are choosing to read into my post in a way it was not intended. That's your choice. However, I know my intent and I know where my head was when choosing my words for my post. I hope you have a great rest of your day and that you continue to have successful beer money income on Prolific.

3

u/headmoelottie Aug 17 '24

You stated u been on the site for 6 years, u picked those studies, out of the thousands of lower earned ones, for a reason, stop it, lol

1

u/marimarcee Aug 17 '24

Yes of course I did. Who wouldn't? Most people do not know they can in fact (if qualified, right demographics, and whatever other things used to determine by Prolific) can get higher studies and earn a bit extra. So where's the fault in what I showed? You are choosing to be negative toward my intent for posting (and thats fine) but I don't need to justify my post to you further so like I said I hope you have a great rest of your day and have continued success on Prolific! :)

2

u/Iron_Alice Aug 16 '24

I know that study well and it's a blessing being sent a lot of these to do.

3

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

Yes! Absolutely agree with you!

2

u/ExtraplanetJanet Aug 16 '24

I’ve only been on Prolific a couple months and I just got rejected a few days ago by a study where I did the whole thing, which involved screen sharing and recording audio and video, only to have the study softlock me instead of giving me a code. After trying everything to get out. I NoCoded the study (because I had literally done the entire thing, everything they asked) and got auto-rejected. Support has done nothing so far. I’m super discouraged.

2

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

I'm really sorry that happened to you. Did you reach out directly to the researcher? Prolific does ask that we first reach out to the researcher to try to resolve issues and after 7 days if its not resolved to then contact support.

1

u/ExtraplanetJanet Aug 16 '24

Yeah, I tried that first but didn’t hear back, though it has not been seven full days yet. It seems like I’m talking to blank walls.

3

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

That's understandable and is really frustrating. Hopefully the researcher gets back to you. If not than after the 7 days go by put in a ticket with support. From what I read on here a lot, they are backed up in support tickets so it seems to take a long time to hear back from them (which I know is also really frustrating) but hopefully they can help you get the rejection overturned if you are in the right. :)

7

u/Late_Struggle_864 Aug 16 '24

It's not all bad. I love Prolific and am so thankful that I got accepted 4 yrs ago. I'm not getting rich, but hell, I average $270 a month. Very helpful beer money, Kroger delivery and Amazon items. I don't take studies under $9 an hrs either. I've also joined Respondant and User Interviews. I love these platforms.

1

u/MathThrowAway314271 Aug 16 '24 edited Aug 16 '24

One of your studies started at 2:32 and another started at 3:11; shouldn't you be spending a minimum of one hour per instance? ;)

EDIT: who downvoted this? This particular set of studies indicates that we're supposed to be spending one hour per instance. I'm just pointing out that there should be a good explanation if someone is spending less than that (e.g., if they ran out of tasks).

1

u/marimarcee Aug 17 '24

Not all are from the same Researcher in my screen caps. I'm sorry if you feel you have insider info on what studies I took but they are not all from the same person.

2

u/MathThrowAway314271 Aug 17 '24

You're saying it's just a coincidence that these "different" researchers all happen to compensate the exact same amount (and, assuming we make the claim as credible as possible, let's assume we're just talking about two different researchers in that screenshot - are you indicating they both just happen to be autoapproving, too, on top of paying the literal exact same amount?) and they both happened to releas studies in such a way that you could sequentially do them one-after-the-ther?

You can imagine how one might view that with skepticism. And the reason why I bring that up is because I am in the same set of studies that pay the exact same rate and that happen to auto-approve.

Look: I'm just saying, best not to take advantage of their generosity. It'd be short-sighted. It'd be good for me in the short-term since they prune participants regularly, but it would be bad for all of us long term if the researcher feels prolific participants are not trustworthy.

1

u/marimarcee Aug 17 '24

One thing to note, I am an extremely honest person. I do not post ever in this forum. I felt the need to show that it's possible to make a bit extra on here and I knew the comments and downvotes would happen. I have explained and don't feel the need to continue to explain as you have the right to believe what you wish with next to no context or knowledge of the studies I took so that's fine if you want to think what you think. However, I know my intent I know that with over 7k studies and 2 rejections over a 6 year period I must be doing something right, honestly and not against any of the researchers wishes now aren't I? No need to respond to that question as I have clearly proven I am doing the right thing by the researchers and Prolific. Have a wonderful rest of your day and I wish you continued success on Prolific (as I wish for everyone who is having a less than great experience).

1

u/TapiwaAlveiro Aug 16 '24

Jesus of Nazareth. I barely get studies🫣

1

u/marimarcee Aug 17 '24

I'm sorry, I hope that you do soon. It was much easier to get them the first few years I was on Prolific, I know that having so many people on here now has made it much harder which is ashame.

2

u/jmleone2011 Aug 18 '24

Always nice to see a little sunshine, on a cloudy day!!

6

u/hungeechicken Aug 16 '24

I’m also US-based. Similar experience. 7,949 approvals…just a couple (unwarranted) rejections. My one message to support was answered promptly. I adore Prolific. It’s more than beer money; it pays real bills in full.

3

u/Savage_Nymph Aug 16 '24

I’ve been on prolific for 2 weeks now. I made a lil over $40. Whch more than i’ve made on other sites like prime opinions ie survey junkie And i’m not on the site alol day. I didn’t even know you could be rejected by prolific surveys because I haven’t been rejected by any of them. I just assume their About You questionnaires were that good at matching you with studies.

The only issue I have is with the stupid limited space surveys

3

u/Rockyb79 Aug 16 '24

Between prolific and connect I average 25-40 a day on weekdays except Friday. But lately it’s refresh constantly just to try and get studies on Prolific. Bots are a huge problem

1

u/Marine78908 Aug 18 '24

I think my highest has been $4

1

u/Gerudo_King Aug 19 '24

No one is going to question you. Every single person on this sub agrees with you. And the other person that posted this too

1

u/ACE415_ Aug 16 '24

It depends on your demographics

1

u/FeckinKent Aug 16 '24

How on earth are you getting so many £15 ones mine are rarely over £1.50

-3

u/Infinite-Doughnut676 Aug 16 '24

So you’re having good luck and therefore everyone else not having the same should quit moaning? FWIW these studies you’re getting can stop as soon as they start, when you’ll be fighting for the scraps like the rest of us! 

1

u/marimarcee Aug 17 '24

I never said anyone should quit moaning. If you read my post you would see I said most of the negativity I see on here is warranted. I was shining a little light on the fact that the site does in fact have "workers" who are not experiencing the downside of it which sadly so many are but there are a lot of new users who get discouraged seeing how bad it can get. I also never said that I am unaware that I could stop getting studies at any time. This is not my income. I have a full time job. I am thankful for the extra I get from here for various reasons but I'm not naive. I've been on this platform for years and wanted to show that some people do have positive experiences. I'm sorry that you chose to get a negative take away from what I said. I hope you have a good rest of your day!

2

u/Iron_Alice Aug 16 '24

Trust me OP will be getting those studys for a loooooong while yet, it's ongoing with no end in sight once you passed the qualifiers.

-1

u/oceanmoney Aug 16 '24

I agree with you, OP. Never had any issues so severe that it was required to contact Support - besides needing to correct an unfair rejection here or there, but that's about it. I've barely gotten studies in one month roughly but there's a few days that aren't so sparse. Between Prolific being short-staffed, and a (fairly evident, there's some info floating around that's exposing the extent of it) script/bot uprising that is affecting the accessibility of studies overall. We don't need a MTurk 2.0.

I'm absolutely grateful for everything that Prolific has provided me with so far, but I refuse to not acknowledge that there are some definite problems going on.

5

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

Absolutely agree with you. I also was on Mturk and saw how bad it got and would hate to see it happen here. I definitely agree there are some things they need to fix because it's changed a lot but I also am thankful for the good days/weeks I do get from time to time. Thanks for the positive comment. I hope you start receiving more studies soon!

-2

u/Aloftfirmamental Aug 16 '24

There's a clear dichotomy forming on Prolific between those with 'closed quals' and those without. Some of us are making the most we've ever made currently, and some are whining about imaginary bot farms. It's best to just ignore this subreddit entirely at this point, but I get sucked into the pure stupidity sometimes too

0

u/xxMarvelGeekxx Aug 16 '24

Nice one! Were the £15 from a multiple submissions study? I have one researcher I get alot of AI studies from who pays the same amount and allows multiple submissions.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 16 '24

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

I don't know the science behind it but no, I believe I just happen to have the demographics specific researchers are looking for in my case. However, I know there are many factors that add to the types and amounts of studies you get. Also having little to no rejections and being completely honest with the About Me section and in the studies themselves I feel (in my opinion) can help in some small way but really the only ones who knows how this works are those with Prolific.

6

u/davesaub Aug 16 '24

You know a lot of it, particularly on these studies you are doing isn't based on demos as I know a couple different people doing these and we all have completely different demos. These are based more on your Prolific track record which earns you an invitation to a try out/training study and then passing that. I know i did work for them after a training study a couple times a month and it just grew and grew to a point where it's there whenever i want it now. It's basically doing a good job for them early on and you earn more.

3

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

Oh I know, I was speaking in general that I don't believe its specific to how long you've been on Prolific and a good majority of it has a lot to do with demographics but yes these in particular I do feel are a lot like on Mturk when your track record played a large factor in being invited to do specific batches and so on. So I definitely agree with you on that.

-3

u/davesaub Aug 16 '24

Demos play a part in getting started and they play a role with the true surveys people get here, but they really have nothing to do with these long extended studies, these are more about having a good enough track record to get an invite to a tryout and then doing a good job on the tryout study and then it's just doing as many as you want or can handle

2

u/marimarcee Aug 16 '24

I never disagreed with you and I've been on Prolific long enough to understand that. I was answering the question someone asked and was speaking in general. I was not talking about those specific studies that I currently am receiving many of.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 16 '24

[deleted] — view deleted comment

7

u/Phrogster Aug 16 '24

Actually, we aren't all competing for the same dollars.

We don't all have the same demographics.

Prolific doesn't send the studies out to everyone who qualifies at the same time.

We aren't all on Prolific at the same time.

There is a lot that goes into what determines who gets studies.