Media Piston Question

[CJWrite]

I have a Media Piston account, but I haven't written anything there. I was poking around the site today, and I noticed that the pricing for a 500 word article is $18 for the client, and a 350 word article is $15, etc (MediaPiston | Pricing)

When I was looking through the available writing jobs, though, the 500 word ones pay around $8, and the 350 word ones pay around $3.

I know mills like this usually take a small cut, but wow. Am I missing something?

[Kiernansmom]

Yeah, that's ridiculous, and another reason to get private clients instead. I know it's normal to take a cut, but for the company to be paid more than the writer per article is not fair. I'd never take that large a cut. But what this shows is that there are lots of people out there willing to pay $18+ for a simple article. Why are so many people working for $1-5 an article?

[Ella R.]

Originally Posted by CJWrite

I have a Media Piston account, but I haven't written anything there. I was poking around the site today, and I noticed that the pricing for a 500 word article is $18 for the client, and a 350 word article is $15, etc (MediaPiston | Pricing)

When I was looking through the available writing jobs, though, the 500 word ones pay around $8, and the 350 word ones pay around $3.

I know mills like this usually take a small cut, but wow. Am I missing something?

Were they prices for the same type of article? I was thinking about trying them out, but I don't think I will if they take so much out.

[CJWrite]

Wow, so that IS there cut? I wondered if there was some sort of "special" articles that I should be looking for with those rates, or if I had to work up to them. That's nuts!

[CJWrite]

Originally Posted by Ella R.

Were they prices for the same type of article? I was thinking about trying them out, but I don't think I will if they take so much out.

I'm not sure. I just saw the "Article Pricing" page, then I saw the amount they pay their writers. I just looked again and saw something about "premium" articles in the assignment page, so maybe that's it.

[Pink Widow]

Oh boy does this make sense now...

I posted several days ago here about the rewites I was asked to do for an article I had subitted (my 6th article - my first 5 flew thru with no rewrites requested).

The article was a 500 word article (it actually was closer to 600 words when I finished). I was frustrated because I felt that for the 8$ I was being paid, it was not worth it to me to do as many rewrites as the client was asking.

But now that I have seen the pricing page it makes more sense. These clients think that they are getting an $18 or $20 article from a writer who (unbeknownst to them probably) is getting paid $8.

This seals the deal for me, I will no longer be writing for them - what a rip off to the writers.

[luvcamerasnic]

Originally Posted by Kiernansmom

Yeah, that's ridiculous, and another reason to get private clients instead. I know it's normal to take a cut, but for the company to be paid more than the writer per article is not fair. I'd never take that large a cut. But what this shows is that there are lots of people out there willing to pay $18+ for a simple article. Why are so many people working for $1-5 an article?

Because they feel desperate, like me. If I cannot drum up some more private clients with consistent work (I love the ones I have, about 5-6 of them, but the work is so inconsistent) I will be forced to look for a traditional job or pull my kiddos out of the very wonderful school they are in and homeschool, which would make finishing the work I do have so hard. I am so torn right now as you all know from my various posts!

[luvcamerasnic]

I have one place I can get regular work for $5 for 500 words, but I just can't bring myself to do that!

[anonemoose]

There's one place that charges close to $100 per article, but pays their writers around $20 per piece. It really does put a kick into the pants to build personal websites and get the money for ourselves instead of paying a middleman.

[skcandles]

I just want to post another side of things for you guys. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing to what the company is doing.

but there are expenses that the company is incurring and they have to pay somehow
- Hosting
- Possibly staff
- Advertising to get clients

And depending on their situation, they may have other expenses out there.

Basically, all I am saying is you do not see the big picture as a writer. There are other things in the background that are taken into account with the pricing structure.