How it works

Matchmaticians is a California-based company (Entity Number: 202103221157, Jurisdiction: California) providing easy access to inspiring mathematical help and striving to create a world where every student has easy and immediate access to high-quality education in mathematics. Matchmaticians is the way asking math questions should be!

Overview

Matchmaticians allows users to ask or answer math questions. The questioner chooses a deadline and offers a bounty for receiving a complete answer before the deadline. The user who accepts to answer the question is solely responsible for answering the question before the deadline. Funds will be put on hold in both the questioner's and the answerer's Matchmaticians accounts and will be released once the answer is reviewed and accepted by the questioner. After the solution is received, the questioner has seven days to review, accept or dispute it. If the answer gets disputed, it will be reviewed by a Matchmaticians judge. If the judge decides that the solution is not 100% complete, then the questioner will be partially or fully refunded and even compensated, depending on the judge's evaluation of the quality of the answer. See the review process section below for more details.

Asking a question

State your question clearly, and choose a good title that describes the content of your question. If another user has the same question in the future, they may buy the answer to your question, and 20% of the purchase bounty will be deposited to your Matchmaticians account.

If a user chooses to answer your question, they will submit a complete answer before the deadline; otherwise (depending on the quality of the solution, determined by a Matchmaticians judge), you will get partially or fully refunded. You will be fully refunded if no user accepts to answer your question before the deadline. After receiving an answer, you have seven days to accept or dispute it. If you do not take action within seven days, the answer will be accepted automatically, and the answerer will be paid.

If you believe that the answer is not complete or thoroughly explained, you can dispute it by clicking on the "Dispute" button (see Figure 1). If you dispute the answer, then it will be forwarded to a Matchmaticians judge and will be reviewed within three days. The dispute fee is 10 percent of the question bounty and will be fully refunded unless the judge determines that the solution is 100% correct, i.e., the dispute was unnecessary.

Figure 1

Your refund will depend on the judge's evaluation of the answer. The table below shows how much you will be refunded, depending on the judge's assessment of the solution.

Table 1- Refund to the questioner

Answering a question

Before accepting to answer a question, make sure that you can provide a complete answer with all the necessary details before the deadline. Other users in the future can purchase accepted answers, and 20 percent of the purchase bounty will be deposited to your Matchmaticians account.

Once you accept to answer a question, other users will not be able to answer the same question, and you are solely responsible for providing a complete answer before the deadline. You should include enough details so someone with minimal background on the subject can understand it. To bar unqualified users from answering questions and guarantee the quality of the solutions, 80% of the question bounty will be put on hold in your Matchmaticians account. If your answer is accepted, this amount will be released, and you will be fully paid. You should type your answer if the questioner explicitly asks for a typed answer. If not, type or write your solution on paper and post a high-quality picture. Your handwriting should be readable and clean if you post a picture of your answer.

We give the questioner seven days to review and accept or dispute the answer. If the questioner does not take action within seven days, the answer will be automatically accepted, and you will be paid the full amount. If the answer is disputed, it will then be forwarded to a Matchmaticians judge and will be evaluated within three days. Depending on the judge's evaluation of your answer, you may lose part or all of your deposit (see Table 2 below).

Table 2- Credit to the answerer

Note that the paid amount in Table 2 includes the initial deposit. In particular, if the answer is accepted or evaluated 100% correct, 160% of the question bounty will be credited to your account, which is

160%=80% (initial deposit)+80% (question bounty).

If your answer is evaluated as less than 40% correct, you will lose a part of your initial deposit. If you miss the deadline or your answer is assessed 0% correct, you will lose all of your deposit.

The Watch Tags Feature

This feature is intended for users interested in answering questions on Matchmaticians. You will receive an automatic email notification when a question is asked under your watched tags.

Mathematicians algorithm prioritizes users who have lower dispute rates. Therefore, if you accept to answer a question, it is important to ensure that your answer is complete and accurate, as disputed answers that are evaluated as less than 100% correct by the judge can negatively impact your priority in receiving email notifications. 

Matchmaticians reserves the right to limit or suspend any user from answering questions for any reason or no reason at all at its sole discretion.

The Review Process

Matchmaticians has very high standards for the quality of the submitted answers. Disputed answers will be forwarded to a Matchmaticians judge and will be evaluated within three days. We expect the answerer to submit a perfect solution with all the required details and explanations before the deadline. Each answer should be written as a brief tutorial on the asked question and should include enough details so someone with minimal background on the topic can understand it. Before accepting to answer a question, make sure you can submit a perfect answer before the deadline.

Matchmaticians judges will be very strict in evaluating the quality of the disputed answers. Our judges will follow the following general guideline in their evaluation

Table 3- Judicial Review

After the judge submits their evaluation, the questioner and the answerer will be credited according to Tables 1 and 2, respectively.

A typical scenario is when the final answer is incorrect due to a major computational/conceptual mistake. Then the judge will evaluate the answer as at least 60% incorrect (at most 40% correct), that is

60%=40% (incorrect final answer)+20% (A major computational/conceptual mistake).

The review process at Matchmaticians is the guardian of our high standards for the quality of submitted answers. Our judges are highly qualified and will do their best to conduct a fair evaluation. After the judicial review is submitted, it is final and can not be disputed by either of the parties (the questioner or the answerer). By using Matchmaticians services, you agree to accept Matchmaticians judges' evaluations and waive your rights to dispute their decision. Please carefully review our Terms of Use.

The Add Credit and Cash Out Features

To use Matchmaticians Services, you will need to deposit funds from your Paypal account, credit card, or debit card to your Matchmaticians account. Matchmaticians uses PayPal Services for such financial transactions. In addition, you can use the Cash Out feature in your Matchmaticians account to transfer funds from your Matchmaticians account to your Paypal account. Transaction fees will be included in your payments/transactions to cover the corresponding third-party fees.

When you request a Cash Out, you will receive an email from PayPal within three business days asking you to claim the funds and transfer them to your PayPal account. Paypal will require you to confirm your email address or claim the funds within a limited time (about 30 days). Please respond to those emails promptly. Your lack of response may result in the expiration of such transactions and the loss of the transferred funds.

Private vs. Public Questions