I’m a relatively new member of sweatcoin and I’m finding it difficult to get remotely motivated to work for prizes when the rate of inflation for these auctions is higher than my rate of earnings.
Taking the Amazon $1000 gift card:
01 November 2020 it went for 19,900.00 coins
27 November 2020 - 20,931.01
15 December 2020 - 21,888.93
08 January 2021 - 23,222.25
So on average, every 22 days, the price goes up by around 1,100 coins. This trend acts in a similar way for all the prizes that have been repeated, as far as I can tell.
I started properly earning 2nd January this year (I had around 38 coins until this point from welcome bonus and daily bonuses but my phone wasn’t recognising my steps), and so far have amassed 519.99. So in those 22 days, I’ve earned a whopping 482 coins.
Now, I know that’s not the maximum I could have achieved had maxed out every day, however it wasn’t a lackluster 22 days and it’s really demotivating to know I am now effectively 600 coins further away from reaching a reward than when I started.
Of those 482 coins I earned, 251 were from steps (around 6k converted steps per day though I actually walk closer to 10k most days), and I did the 3 bonuses and double boost every day, so let’s say the amount earned from non-step activities was 231 coins. This by the way was mainly during the first few days off the month where I got 50 coins 3 times. I believe this was an increased probability of getting high amounts as a new starter/on a free trial of trouble maker, especially considering the last time I had more than 2 coins was on 7th January - however I can’t prove this so will take 231 going forward.
If I were to max out at 50 coins per day on the trouble maker package (spending $1 per month of real money), that would earn 1,100 coins in the 22 days. This involves getting over 25,000 steps per day (probably significantly more since my conversion rate is 60%) every single day, and only then do I MATCH these price increases.
So at this point, my only source of gaining ground on this inflation is the non-step related income, which, as I’ve mentioned is probably no where near the 231 I managed this month (I would like to know what other people who have been using the app longer get on average). Even if I did get that every 22 days, at the current price of 23,222.25 (assuming all future inflation gets netted off with my step earnings), it would take me 6 years to work up to.
6 years of getting over 25,000 steps per day every single day just isn’t feasible for some people, and the current system basically means these people are cut out from having any possibility of reaching the top of an auction. I’m already fed up after my 3 weeks of going backwards in the race - I can’t be the only one?
To improve I think we need marathon offers brought back - even if the rewards aren’t as valuable as they used to be, having them at least obtainable makes all the difference. And there needs to be more regular auctions so that people are cashing out coins more often - again this may mean reducing the value of the vouchers/products if sweatcoin can’t afford to spend more money on them.