Hello blue_bna-ga,
The wishy-washy but honest answer with respect to price is: "It
depends". A somewhat more concrete answer is at least $50. In any
event, this certainly looks like the kind of question that can be
answered, since other organizations have had experience with this
issue, and (presumably) some of them have described their solutions.
At the risk of stating what you already know, I'll start with the
basics of the Google Answers FAQ:
"The more research required to find an answer, the higher the price
you should set for your question. Three-quarters of your question
price goes directly to the Researcher who answers your question; the
other 25 percent goes to Google to support the service. Setting a
price too low to compensate for the time required may result in your
question not receiving an answer. The more you are willing to pay,
the more likely your question is to get answered quickly."
"Google Answers: Frequently Asked Questions: How much should I pay for
my question? What price should I set?"
Google Answers
http://answers.google.com/answers/faq.html#howmuch
The material on "Tips for Great Results" (which you can click on the
Google Answers home page) expands upon the factors for pricing:
"The price you set for your question should take into account the
following factors: How quickly you want an answer [;] How complex the
question is [; and]
How valuable the information is to you[.]"
"Answers Help and Tips: How to get a better answer to your question"
[under "C. Price"]
Google Answers
http://answers.google.com/answers/help.html#howtospecify
This is why a legitimate answer is "It depends". The price does
depend on factors that are specific to you. You must balance how fast
you want an answer, against how complex your experience tells you the
question is, against how much monetary and non-monetary value you
place upon a good answer.
So, how does this translate into dollars? This guide should help:
"Google Answers: How to price your question"
Google Answers
http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html
As you can see, $50 is "the minimum price appropriate for complex,
multi-part questions. Researchers will typically spend at least one
hour on $50 questions and be very responsive to follow-up questions."
For this price, and all prices above that, a Researcher will start to
work on an answer very quickly.
I think that your question falls under the rubric of "complex" and
"multi-part". It is possible that a Researcher will happen to know
about this topic, and provide a quick answer; in that case, the $50 or
more is fair compensation for the Researcher's expertise. Otherwise,
the price is fair compensation for the Researcher's time and
resourcefulness. (One way to think about the pricing issue is to
consider how much you would pay an expert or a high-quality freelance
researcher per hour.)
If your budget is somewhat low, I think that $50 would be enough to
pique the Researchers' interest. You can always change the price
later on if it seems that no Researchers are willing or able to submit
an answer. (And if you do receive an answer, you can always add a tip
if you are quite pleased with the Researcher's efforts.)
"Answers Help and Tips: What you can do once your question is asked."
Google Answers
http://answers.google.com/answers/help.html#followup
If your budget is larger, and you want to ensure that Researchers take
especially great interest in your question, you can certainly go as
high as $200. A price of $200 should result in a significantly longer
and more detailed answer (e.g., a rather specific description of the
benefits structure).
I hope that this information is helpful.
- justaskscott-ga
Search strategy:
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