TaskRabbit Review – A Job Marketplace Mobile App

In this TaskRabbit Review, we will be discussing this mobile app and how you can earn an income from home if you follow along in this review.

It’s hard to find a job that can support your living expenses that’s why it is necessary to find another source of income. Fortunately, many online job marketplaces offer people many job opportunities. And one of them is TaskRabbit. This company says that you will have the freedom and support to be your own boss. We will check if that is true with this review. Read on to learn more.

• Product Name: TaskRabbit Inc
• Founder: Ania Smith, Chief Executive Officer
• Product Type: Job Marketplace App
• Price:
  Upon your registration, you will be charged a one-time and non-refundable $25 Registration Fee on your credit card.
• Best For Independent Contractors

TaskRabbit is a job marketplace mobile app that allows freelance workers to connect with customers that needs help with everyday tasks. The freelance workers are called Taskers. The Taskers can set their hourly rate and their schedule when they are available. When a customer selects them for the job, they will receive the invitation and can accept or decline it. The task can vary from cleaning, moving, delivering, or doing minor home repairs.

• Ratings: 70/100

What Is TaskRabbit?

TaskRabbit is an online marketplace where clients can find, hire, rate, and review “taskers” to perform a variety of tasks. There are hundreds of task categories from handyman services, moving helpers, personal assistants, minor home repairs, painters, yard cleanup, delivery services, laundry services, assembling your IKEA Furniture, and many more. They operate in many cities across the US and in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal.

TaskRabbit was founded by Leah Busque, an entrepreneur back in 2008. It was originally named RunMyErrand and is an eBay-inspired bidding model platform. Their office was established in Boston, Massachusetts with 100 runners. And by 2010, the company moved across the country and opened operations in San Francisco Bay Area. During the same year, it was renamed TaskRabbit by Busque.

By 2011, TaskRabbit has grown into 2,000 taskers. The TaskRabbit app was also launched which was primarily available to iPhone users and then later became available to Android users too. The following year, the company expanded to New York, Chicago, Illinois, Los Angeles, California, and Orange county.

TaskRabbit changed how it is operating as a platform by remodeling it in 2014. This time when clients enter some details about the task they needed to get done, the app presents them with the three top Taskers who are available with their hourly rates.

By 2017, TaskRabbit was acquired by IKEA. Even with this acquisition, TaskRabbit was allowed to continue operating independently. Then in March 2018, IKEA launched a furniture assembly service from TaskRabbit.

In 2019, TaskRabbit generated $5.7 Million in revenue and received funding of $37.8 Million. Today, the company is currently managed by Chief Executive Officer, Ania Smith, and Sarah Fried Rose as the President and Chief Product Officer.

How Does TaskRabbit work?

Applying to become a Tasker is not that complicated. But just like any other job application, you will need to meet some requirements. These are the following:

• You have to be at least 18 years old
• Can work in the active cities
• Allow an ID check
• Possess a checking account with a financial institution for your payments
• Have a smartphone for the app where you will be getting the tasks
• A valid U.S. Social Security number for ID and background check
• For California applicants, you will need to submit a business license to confirm that you are a sole proprietor

Registration is done using the TaskRabbit app only. So, you need to download this app on your smartphone and sign up there. You will be providing your basic information which is required to do for identity verification. You will also need to provide your bank account information to set up your payment method. TaskRabbit only pays a direct deposit through an active checking account.

Your information will be verified by any of the third-party identity verification services partnered with TaskRabbit. If they were not able to verify your identity, you will receive an email from TaskRabbit to confirm any of the details you’ve provided them.

Depending on your city, validating your information and processing your registration may take up to 4 business days. You will receive a notification thru the app once your registration is successfully processed. Or you will be advised if you need to submit additional information to TaskRabbit to complete your registration process.

After successful registration and completing your Tasker profile, you will now draw your work area map and set your available schedule. The “work area” can be found on your profile and using the hand icon, you can draw the map using your finger, then click save. After this, your profile will show up in Client search results, and you can now receive tasks from the clients needing your services.

If you’re not receiving any invitations, you may need to consider adjusting your rates, and work area, and adding more task categories, or availability. Check your profile information as well to make sure that the services you’re offering are clear and well-explained.

You can apply even if you do not have the skills. There are task categories in which you don’t necessarily need skills or previous experiences such as running errands or delivery. While other task categories would require that you have the skills or training completed such as IKEA furniture assembly, minor home repairs, etc.

Can You Make Money with TaskRabbit?

Yes, you can. Depending on your location and the tasks that you perform, you can earn anywhere between $18 to $44 per hour. Some taskers can earn as much as $2000 per month. Some Taskers have turned this into full-time jobs. And you can work as much as you want to.

TaskRabbit Pros and Cons

Just like any other online marketplace, there are pros and cons that you should know before joining them. We listed the information below to help you decide if you should become a Tasker.

Pros:

• The platform has over 50+ task categories
• It is available in over 60+ cities, in 30 states, and 6 countries overseas
• You can set your price and set your preferred schedule
• Easy application process
• If approved by the client, Taskers can engage assistants or helpers to perform the task.
• You can report any potential fraud, unauthorized charges, and other misuses of the platform
• The Happiness Pledge can assist with property damage, theft, or bodily injury during a performance task. A client or a tasker can get up to $10,000 per occurrence. Terms and conditions apply

Cons:

• The only payment method available is a direct deposit to an active checking account. Other bank accounts such as savings accounts, prepaid debit cards, or reloadable bank cards are not valid even if they can accept direct deposits
• The platform already has 140,000 Taskers competing with each other to get tasks
• You need to pay for advertising if you want your profile to show up on top of the client searches
• There’s a 15% service fee collected for each payment
• All tasks have a minimum of 1 hour even for easy tasks
• TaskRabbit doesn’t insure or provide insurance for any losses
• Joining TaskRabbit is entirely at your own risk. They do not offer any warranty or guarantee for any services that are advertised or offered through the platform or any hyperlinked website
• Be careful in interacting with other Taskers. TaskRabbit holds no liability for any untoward incidents
• A Tasker can be charged a cancellation fee equivalent to the Tasker’s hourly rate upon canceling a task or failing to show up at the scheduled time

Any Negatives? Beware of Lawsuits

TaskRabbit has a couple of lawsuits filed in 2018 in Los Angeles, California. The lawsuits proclaim various wage-related and expense-reimbursement claims against TaskRabbit. It was also alleged that TaskRabbit violated various laws and regulations specifically about classifying taskers as independent contractors instead of employees.

Although TaskRabbit has denied all of these allegations, they agreed to pay at least $1,750,000. A notice of proposed class action settlement has been released just recently on Sept. 16, 2020. The Taskers who did work or performed tasks between July 17, 2014, and December 31, 2019, will receive this notice and are eligible to get this settlement payment from TaskRabbit. The court in charge has yet to decide whether to approve the settlement or not.

It is also good to know that there are about 123 complaints filed against TaskRabbit for the past 3 years on the Better Business Bureau website. Out of these complaints, there are 35 have been closed in the last 12 months.

Is TaskRabbit Legitimate?

I can say that TaskRabbit is a legitimate company. Even though the number of complaints and an ongoing class-action lawsuit is quite alarming, some people make an extra income using this platform. Moreover, IKEA currently owns TaskRabbit. Being a multinational group of Swedish companies, they most likely have done their duty in ensuring that the company they are acquiring will not cause damage to the IKEA brand.

Final Thoughts

TaskRabbit is a great marketplace where you can find odd jobs and earn some money. It may not replace your day job just yet, but it’s a good way to make extra income. Some Taskers like the idea of setting their own rates and their own schedule.

You have the freedom when you want to take on tasks without disrupting your plans for the day. But if you feel hesitant about TaskRabbit, you can also find other online marketplaces such as Thumbtack, Jobble, Handy, Staffy, and many more. They are also worth checking out.

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