-The commission is huge
This starts at 38% from teachers, which goes down every USD100 you make. Then they take 10% of what the student pays. So that's a 48% starting rate. Ridiculous for what amounts to a teacher-student matching service.
- They once literally stole loads of money from their teachers.
The commission for teachers was once 15%. Of course, the teachers set their price with this in mind (we all have bills to pay and need to plan our finances etc.) Without giving any notice, AmazingTalker suddenly DOUBLED commission to 30%. The teachers were then in a position to either (a) quit out of protest and suddenly be unemployed, or (b) continue with their scheduled lessons and make much less money. Whatever the reason for not giving notice (probably financial and self serving), this was apparently more important than allowing teachers to plan financially. This has created a lasting feeling of distrust among teachers, who (quite rightly) felt stolen from.
- They limit teacher's prices based on where they are from. Some would call this racism
Despite their claims, you cannot set your own price on this platform anymore. In fact, they set a limit based on your region. Are you from the Philippines? Or India? Well guess what, AmazingTalker have decided that the value of your lessons is less than those from other countries.
- They want YOU to work for them and earn as LITTLE MONEY as possible.
This sounds like I'm wearing a tin foil hat, but stay with me. Once you've been on the platform, and know how they operate, it makes sense. The commission rate is on a sliding scale. The more money a teacher makes, the less % of commission they pay to AT. So, it is more profitable for them to have a huge number of teachers earning barely any money, than to have a teaching staff which is full of quality teachers earning a reasonable wage. This is their business model, and it's why they have implemented a system which punishes you (gives your profile less exposure to students) if you increase your price.
