@connectedgeek I'm wondering the same thing, and I think your best answer for this question is, "it depends" and depends on a few things. Today I asked a question for M$15, which I decided to say there was no best answer, and I'm reconsidering offering a higher tip. I think people would have answered the question for M$1, but that wasn't the quality of answer I was asking for. Even when you ask a higher valued question, some will answer it at a lower value, just so they can answer a question. You will always get people answering, even if you offered nothing. People answer for nothing on other sites, so they will do the same hear at Mahalo Answers. I believe the quality of the answer will be better when the stakes are higher. I don't think someone answering a question for M$10 will answer the question the same as they would for M$100. That's obvious, as the question increases, people will provide a better answer, and duly more people will answer. What I do know, the more research a question requires, the more people become to expect, at least here on Mahalo Answers. If you offer too small of a tip, people will still answer, and if it's too large of a tip you'll get more answers to choose from as your best answer, but that doesn't always mean there will be a better answer. I was thinking of asking a question, "What kind of tip would you expect to answer this answer the best?" By asking this question for a question, then you can get feedback to ask the question with that tip amount on it. I've yet to see anyone do this on Mahalo Answers, thought.

I think it's not the amount of the tip that matters, but rather the question that's more important. If you ask a tough question that doesn't clarify things, or what you're looking for, no tip amount will make the question better. So, if you have a question and you tip M$100 for it, and the question is ambiguous, I don't think people are going to answer it best for you. So, two things that are important:

1. Ask a question that interests people.
2. Ask a question that people understand how to answer.

If 1 and 2 above are not there, the tip is irrelevant. You can have a question with a high tip amount, but if people aren't interested or don't understand the question, it's pointless. I found a M$100 question that selected "no best answer" and people put a lot of effort into this question, but they weren't able to answer it the way the asker wanted, simply because they were not clear of what they wanted in an answer.

If a question is 1. above, then more people are likely to add to your tip amount. I think that's what people don't always think about, and that's wording the question better. The bottom line is, it's not about the tip, it's about the question. A better question is more likely to get a better answer, than a higher tip.

I think you get answers regardless of the amount you offer on Mahalo.
The difference in amounts in my opinion only changes the quality of the answers. Especially if you ask a question that requires a lot of research.

I also find that if you offer "too big" of a tip you often get "too many" responses if that is possible. What I mean is, a large amount of the responses will be from people just hoping that they will get their answer chosen as the best for the $12 tip. I find it just bogs it down.

If you are really trying to get people just to answer I would suggest writing a more interesting question that intrigues people. I find that this really helps in getting quality answers (and I guess a reasonable tip couldn't hurt). Plus if you ask a quality question you are more likely to be tipped yourself!

Many of these factors can boil down to 'time and effort required'. For instance, if I think I could have found something by google if I had used the right keywords, and someone else might chance on them, .25 cents will do it.

.25 Cents is just the lubricant if someone is passionate about what they're talking about. If someone already loves the martial arts, knows them, and has strong opinions about them, you can get an interesting essay for that .25 cents, as I found to my delight.

If the question is rather specialized, and you want to make sure most people see it, you might need to offer a dollar tip, since not everyone scrolls through every .25 cent question. The flip side of that is Mahalo is great for things that everyone is supposed to know and you are almost embarrassed to ask - someone is being paid .25 for explaining without telling you you should find it in the manual, even if you already know that.

more than $5 attrats attention of most of the people.if u don't believe test yourself

I feel money is not a concern ,if question is interesting enough it will tempt user to answer it ..But to encourage them to answer minimum can be $ 2.00.

I love the $1 questions, but if the question does require considerable research then $3-$5 tip would drive me to at least attempt that question. Of course that is assuming that I know anything about the topic. I try to stick to things I know something about. If it is an interesting question then most people will probably answer it for a small amount. The more difficult and obscure the question the greater the tip needed.

It depends on the type of question and what it’s about.

But then some of us are just quarter whores...