Side jobs are always in demand if you are interested to earn extra money in the hustling space. One of the ways to do so is to become a tasker for TaskRabbit. What exactly do you have to do and most importantly, is the job worth it for the long term? We’ll soon find out from this review.
TaskRabbit At a Glance
Founded in April 2010, TaskRabbit is basically a ‘middleman’ platform that connects people who want to get a job done with taskers (that’s you) who can deliver such services when prompted.
It’s an application that is widely used by urban dwellers who belongs to the elderly group, people who are short of time or simply individuals who just need some extra helping hands. Tasks that commonly required to be accomplished are delivering, minor home repairing, grocery shopping, pet sitting, yard work and the list goes on.
At current, the service covers certain metro areas in the US and UK with more than 60,000 taskers ready for hire. Interestingly, the background of these job seekers comprised of 70% with bachelor’s degrees, 20% with master’s degrees, and some 5% with PhD.
The Requirements
To get the job, here are a few things to take note of;
- The minimum entry age is 21 years old for US and 18 years old in the UK.
- For US citizen, you need to provide your Social Security Number.
- You need to own a vehicle to move around – even a bicycle counts.
- Must have a bank account connected with a financial institution as well as a valid credit card.
- While you aren’t required to be a professional, you need to have the skills and capabilities to complete a given task in the minimum of 1 hour. The more flexible you are, the more jobs you can undertake.
The Sign Up Process
If you meet those requirements, the next step is to register as a tasker through the online application. Here is where you’ll answer personal information such as your home address, vehicle ownership and the type of phone you use.
You then get to choose the type of skills (there are about 22 types to choose from and you can select more than one) and the pay rate that you want. In case you don’t know what to charge, TaskRabbit has a wage scale for each skill that will suggest the ideal pay level based on the market research within a particular area.
You also need to enter a pitch message to increase your chances of being hired. After granting permission for a background check, you’d pay a non-refundable $20 registration processing fee. This fee, however isn’t a guarantee placement of the job as you’ll still need to attend an on-boarding session in your city area.
That process will determine if you are accepted or not and if successful, you’ll be able to download the tasker’s app and start accepting job requests.
How Are Tasks Assigned
TaskRabbit uses a unique algorithm to match clients and taskers. Their suggestions for each gig is based on your hourly rates and service location. If the clients like what they see, they will initiate a contact with you to check for availability and skills. When that offers pop up, you have 30 minutes to go through the job details before deciding to accept or to decline the task.
How Much Can You Make
Most tasks will require a minimum of 1 hour to complete the job, after which the client will pay your rate through their credit card. For new clients, TaskRabbit takes a 30% cut from your portion so if you charge $100/hour, your net income is actually $70/hour. For repeating clients, they only take a 15% cut which means you get to earn more.
Taskers generally make about $8 to $43 per hour on the average and it usually takes about 3 to 5 working days for the pay to show in the bank account.
Taskers Pros
When you are hired as a tasker, you get to enjoy a few privileges that come with being an independent contractor.
- Besides getting to set your own pay rate, you also have the flexibility in terms of working hours. That means, you can choose to undertake more tasks when you need more cash or take a day off when it’s raining.
- Even when a job offer isn’t something that you are comfortable doing, you can choose to decline it without having to feel obligated.
- For people who come from a handyman background, your versatile skills can be put into good use to help people in times of need. As a result, you’ll get to know a lot of people from the neighborhood and also go to places where you’ve never been before. So it’s a little bit more adventurous than sitting in a cubicle space.
- If you compare to the average part-timers at retail stores or fast food chains, taskers certainly earn more decent pay with potentially more opportunities during certain months of the year (i.e. summer holidays)
- Since TaskRabbit is a cash free payment app, there’s no need to handle any cash exchange when dealing with clients. In a way, that’s less messy and looks more professional.
- In terms of insurance, you are backed with $1 million coverage every time you perform a task. Since a lot of the work involves moving around and heavy lifting, this can provide some peace of mind.
- Each time after delivering a good service, you are likely to earn positive feedback from clients. This will boost your reputation as a tasker, allowing you to receive more job offers and negotiate for higher pay in the future.
Taskers Cons
However, becoming an independent worker will also put you in some unfavorable situations.
- For starters, TaskRabbit is only available in 43 metro areas across the United States and in certain cities in the United Kingdom. If you are staying in smaller towns or suburbs, it’s going to be quite challenging to travel and work on these areas.
- On the contrary, finding job offers in big cities can also be difficult due to the over saturation of taskers, so you need to be very competitive even for the smallest of skills. That means, building impressive portfolios and investing in better equipment to assist in your job task is crucial to survive in the marketplace.
- Where the use of motorized vehicles are involved, it also means that you are fully responsible for the cost of traveling such as gasoline, tolls and parking. Unless agreed with the clients, these costs are usually not reimbursed in the service payment.
- As you would have figured out, most of the tasks are physical, be it traveling, lifting or being present at a certain location. It requires some level of versatility and if you don’t have that kind of stamina, it could be very difficult to catch up with the job. In case you are thinking about working remotely, there are no virtual tasks available for now.
- Just like most service-based business, dealing with clients can be unpredictable at times. There will be situations where you are expected to offer more beyond your skill scope or certain hours. If flexibility isn’t your trait, this wouldn’t be something that you enjoy doing.
- Lastly, a 30% cut can create quite a dent on your earning profit. If you minus the cost spent on the road in between jobs, the net income that you take home may not be as much as you’d hope.
So, Is TaskRabbit Worth Your Time?
The way I see it, task gigs are suitable for those who have some experience in handy works and looking to earn some extra cash with those skills. Some people may claim that they make up to $2K per week, but those numbers are actually very small. In fact, the percentage of people who makes a living full-time is only about 10% – the rest of them who become a tasker for TaskRabbit are merely in it while waiting for better employment opportunities.
If the nature of the job isn’t your kind of thing, then the other alternative to make money is to go online. Many forms of businesses take place on the internet everyday and you can leverage from various products and services to create an additional income stream. With a model like affiliate marketing, you can get started immediately with just a blog.
When done right, your blog can potentially become a long term online business for many years to come. If this sounds interesting, please check out this awesome training platform to learn how you can get started for free. No credit card required and totally legit – I promise.
Do you have any questions or comments about making extra money with gigs or in the online space? Let’s hear about them in the space below.
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Hi Cathy – that’s interesting! A sort of physical Fiverr! 🙂
I’m in the UK and I see it’s only available in 3 cities so far. Maybe it’ll expand.
There’s a lot of setting up and registering to do so, personally, I’m not sure I’d do it as a side gig although if someone has a week or a few days free each month I can see it might be worthwhile. I think 30% is taking the mickey. I was in the entertainment business where a manager used to be called Mr 10% – a reasonable fee for work done – but the agents then got together and started charging 15-20%. Greedy $*&%^$*/ 30% is criminal. 15% is high. Still, the $/hour figures you show are considerably more than UK workers can make, if the $/£ rate transfers across the pond (I’m guessing it probably won’t).
Really liked the flat pack assembly gig 🙂 I’ve put up dozens of these things and reckon I could do that just fine 🙂 Food for thought.
I plan to go to America soon. Is it possible that we can do this without being an American citizen? Because it seems difficult to get an SSN. It is difficult to find such part-time work in our country. When I apply for part-time work, I typically worked from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
TaskRabbit looks like a good opportunity for me. I hope to get a chance to apply for this.
Hi Ali, the employment law dictates that they can only hire citizens, nationals and lawful permanent residents. You could try, but it will be difficult without an SSN though.
Thank you for this great post on TaskRabbit, I haven’t heard of them before, but it seems like it is an interesting option to add to my online portfolio. Maybe not the best way to make money, but it does seem that you can earn a decent amount on the side. It is a shame they have the $20 sign up fee – puts me off a bit, but still, I may check it out.
Hi Cathy,
I hadn’t heard of TaskRabbit until I read your post. First of all, do you know if this service is available in Seattle, Washington, USA?
Also, when you set your rate is there a negotiation process that usually follows? For example, if I say I charge $35 per hour and the person needing the task answers by saying they will only pay $25, can we go back and forth until we arrive at a figure we can both agree on?
This sounds ideal for a retired person or student who really only needs part-time work. It also sounds like it’s a more lucrative route to go then, say, applying for a job through traditional channels.
Thank you for making us aware of this service!
Hi Christopher. To answer your question, yes, the service is available in Seattle. However, I think that the tasker’s pricing is fixed. You may adjust it for the next gig, but not during communication with the customers. Hope this helps.
This is very informative. I am actually interested in this type of part-time work around my neighborhood. Just curious to know – is TaskRabbit offered only in the US and UK?
Yes Che, TaskRabbit is only available in the US and certain areas in the UK.