Make Extra Money With TaskRabbit
Today I want to share with you another opportunity to make money via the so-called gig economy.
TaskRabbit began in the US and is expanding internationally. In Britain it launched in London and is now also available in Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester, with other cities said to be in the pipeline. The full list of cities where TaskRabbit currently operates can be viewed here.
TaskRabbit puts people who need various sorts of chore performed in touch with those who have the time and skills to do them (for a fee, of course). The company calls the people who work via its platform “taskers”.
A huge range of skills are required, including gardening, flat-pack furniture assembly, household repairs, parcel delivery, cleaning, moving and packing, pet sitting, laundry and ironing, event staffing, and many more. Clients can even hire taskers to queue up for them at product launches, buy theatre tickets, and so on.
Once a tasker has been hired they go and do the job, with payment handled automatically through TaskRabbit. The company takes 30% of the fee charged, with the remainder going to the tasker.
How Do You Become a Tasker?
As mentioned above, currently you have to live in or near London, Birmingham, Bristol or Manchester.
Beyond that, you need to be 18 or over in the UK and able to offer some of the types of skill listed on the TaskRabbit website. In practice the great majority of people should be able to do at least one of these.
You need to have a UK bank account and credit card, and must also have a smartphone. Tasks are allocated and managed via the TaskRabbit app, which is available for both Android and Apple iOS.
If you meet these requirements – and can provide some sort of personal identification – you can apply via the TaskRabbit website. Once your application is approved, you can expect an invitation to a two-hour orientation session where the TaskRabbit system is explained in detail and any questions can be answered.
After that, it is simply a matter of downloading the app, looking for tasks you can do in your area, and applying for them.
TaskRabbit Pros and Cons
Clearly nobody is going to get rich working as a tasker. You will be paid an hourly rate, which for many jobs is likely to be little more than the national minimum wage. You will be competing against other taskers for jobs, which can have the effect of pushing rates down.
In addition, your status will be that of a self-employed contractor. That means you won’t be eligible for holiday pay or sick pay, or any of the other benefits employees routinely enjoy (although this may change in future). Neither is there any guarantee you will have paying work from one week to the next.
For all those reasons, TaskRabbit is unlikely to be a good choice if you need a full-time income. On the other hand, it does have the big benefit of flexibility. You can work at times convenient to you, perhaps to supplement other earnings or save towards a holiday or other major purchase.
Another attraction of TaskRabbit is the variety of the work. Every task is different, and brings with it the opportunity to meet new people and do new things. This can be a welcome contrast for those whose normal jobs may be monotonous and/or solitary.
TaskRabbit can be a great resource for self-employed people, to provide income when other work is scarce. It can also be a good option for those with health problems and/or caring responsibilities who are unable to do a full-time job. Retired and semi-retired people – which of course includes many Pounds and Sense readers – can also supplement their income this way.
And finally, TaskRabbit can open doors for tradesmen/women looking for new clients. You might, for example, tackle a small repair job and mention to the client that you are also available for bigger projects if the need arises in future. Be sure you have a good supply of business cards to hand out!
As already mentioned, TaskRabbit is only available in certain cities. There are, though, many other opportunities in the gig economy if this type of opportunity interests you. Some of these such as Viewber I have talked about in previous posts on Pounds and Sense. Another is Deliveroo, which offers the chance to earn a sideline income delivering meals for restaurants and takeaways. You can learn more about Deliveroo here if you wish.
Summing up, TaskRabbit offers anyone the opportunity to earn extra income doing small jobs of all kinds. If that sounds like something that might interest you, visit the TaskRabbit website for further information and to sign up.
As ever, if you have any comments or questions about TaskRabbit, please do post them below.
July 19, 2018 @ 1:12 am
I’ve never heard of this and found it to be a very interesting post, thanks! Do you get any idea of what tasks might be available near you before having to do the 2 hour orientation? I’m not sure I’d want to go through that if there was no work to show for it at the end!
July 23, 2018 @ 9:32 am
Fair question. You can get some idea of what tasks are available in your city via this article: https://support.taskrabbit.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002587403-Which-TaskRabbit-services-are-available-in-my-city- The IKEA assembly program seems to be available pretty much everywhere! To get a full list you would need to log in to the app, and I’m not sure you can do this until you have completed the application process. Maybe someone else can enlighten us on this point?