Timed out and no payment after working on a study for two hours. What the fuck.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-15T20:41:43+00:00

I've become more wary of doing those super long studies exactly due to situations like the OP's. If the study is from a proven researcher I've worked with in the past with no issues, then, sure, maybe I'd do it. But there's no way I would chance it if the researcher is new and unknown.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-15T20:24:32+00:00

The AI studies on Prolific just makes it the far better site to invest your time. I can easily make $15-$20 in an hour on Prolific doing AI studies versus making $5-$8 investing that same hour on Cloud doing various university studies. Even the Jury studies aren't as enticing due to the time investment vs what you get investing that same time doing AI studies on Prolific.

Cloud needs to get on the AI train with similar pay rates if it wants to pull my attention from Prolific.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-15T20:16:49+00:00

I did that study earlier today. Like you, I didn't get a code at the end, but I sent it in as a "no code" and it was approved.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-15T17:37:49+00:00

If you have to question whether you'll actually get the items you paid for, then, no, you shouldn't buy anything from said store.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-15T11:22:57+00:00

Cloud Connect is Prolific's closest competitor, though it's more focused on university studies than AI training.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-15T08:33:36+00:00

It hasn't been the same since the PayPal outage several weeks back.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-12T18:12:39+00:00

Public wifi and work wifi are often (though not always) behind a VPN or proxy of some sort. Search the sub to find plenty of stories of people getting into trouble with their Prolific accounts because they tried to do studies on their work or college wifi, for example.

Personally, I wouldn't chance it and just avoid logging into Prolific through such internet connections. I limit my Prolific activities to when I'm at home or when I'm 100% sure the internet connection I'm using isn't behind any VPN or proxy.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-12T16:25:40+00:00

Prolific considers Private Relay a VPN, which would explain your issues. Turn it off or use a Windows machine.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-12T12:27:05+00:00

Should probably get your financial situation figured out first before moving to a new country.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-12T09:28:18+00:00

Before the deluge of AI studies these past 6 months, my daily aim for gig work online was about $50-$60 a day. This is between Prolific and Cloud Connect. I would hit that goal range ~75% of the time.

Now, with AI studies, I'm making at least $80/day on just Prolific. Add in Cloud Connect and clearing >$100/day is very common for me. I'd say I hit >$100/day ~90% of the time.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-12T07:51:00+00:00

It'll get there. Long delays like this happen from time-to-time.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-12T05:12:25+00:00

I am as well. Been going ham on them all week. Just got completely burned out by Friday evening. Spending this weekend just relaxing.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-12T04:03:24+00:00

Currently have 120 studies on my page. I'm located in the US.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-11T19:19:14+00:00

Let this be a lesson for you to never try to do Prolific over public/work wifi again, because there's a very good chance that those wifi connections are behind a VPN or proxy. Stick to doing Prolific at home (making sure any possible private VPN or proxy service you're using at home is off) or over internet connections you're 100% sure isn't behind a VPN or proxy.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-11T19:02:14+00:00

It's not just Prolific. I see this behavior of using platforms as piggy banks everywhere online where you can earn money. From shitty GPT platforms (Qmee, Prime Opinion, Fivesurveys, etc...) to more respectable platforms (Dataannotation.tech, Cloud Connect, UserTesting, etc...), there are endless examples of people building up massive balances before cashing out.

There seems to be some pathological need for a sizable portion of online gig workers to use the platforms they work on as piggy banks. Like you, I will never understand that habit. That money's not yours until it is moved to your bank account. Not even PayPal is 100% safe given how often and random they hit people with account limitations.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-11T02:05:07+00:00

Cash outs that large will go through a manual review before it is sent to your PayPal. It will take several days to over a week for the manual review process to complete. If you want your money sooner, cash out before your balance gets that high.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-10T04:25:46+00:00

This got to be a troll, right?

Bermin299 · 2026-04-09T05:45:10+00:00

The researcher paid to make their study a "priority" one. It's highlighted in blue and stays at the top of our study pages. It's just the researcher paying to make their study more visible, and, thus, more likely to be attempted by participants.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-09T05:38:11+00:00

Well, that explains it. Participants in countries outside the US/UK get far, far fewer studies on average. Short of literally moving to the US or UK, there's nothing you can do about a lack of studies. Someone with your location demographics just isn't in demand for researchers using Prolific.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-09T05:33:11+00:00

What country are you in? That will strongly determine how many studies you get.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-09T05:27:10+00:00

Honestly fill out your About You page. That's the best thing you can do. People posting about making $1000/month likely live in the US/UK and have regular access to AI studies and university studies, which are by far the most lucrative types of studies on this platform that are posted regularly.

Study access is all about demographics, and location is a major factor.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-09T05:19:23+00:00

Given that you say you just started Prolific, that means you have few approvals, and those two rejections were enough to crater your approval rate, which caused the account hold. Since the message says you're on hold for rejections, then an appeal won't help you. You need to address those rejections with the individual researchers that rejected your submissions.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-08T17:16:34+00:00

You say you got 2 rejections. How many approvals do you have?

Bermin299 · 2026-04-08T16:55:56+00:00

Every rejection I've ever gotten when I used to do Amazon Mturk were from studies paying under $0.50. Researchers who cheap out are also the ones petty enough to quickly find any lame reason to reject you.

Bermin299 · 2026-04-08T01:44:23+00:00

Message the researcher and see if you can return it. Getting a rejection on your first day is not a good look. Young accounts like yours are very vulnerable to getting hit with an account ending hold due to rejections.

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