Airtasker

What is AirTasker?

AirTasker is a broad job marketplace where people who need something can list what they need and what they’re willing to pay to get it done and people who need work can offer to do it.

How it works

Both freelance workers and potential employers sign up at this site to post or seek work.

Everyone is pretty much on their own after that. If you need work done, for instance, you say what you need and what you’re willing to pay for it.

If you think you could do a job listed on the site, you contact the person needing work and say why you’re qualified. No one needs to be background-checked or certified. It’s basically unvetted employers working with unvetted workers.

The process for freelancers

If you do take a task through this site, you’re expected to complete it and mark it as done. Once your client accepts the task, you’ll get paid through Stripe, which could take 3 to 5 days. You’ll also have a site fee deducted from your pay. This fee ranges from 10% to 20%, depending on “how active you are on AirTasker.”

What does that mean? If you have earned less than $400 in the past 30 days, you pay 20%. Earn between $400 and $1,500 and your fee drops to 15%. Those who earn more than $1,500 but less than $3,500 pay 12.5%. Those who earn more, pay just a 10% site fee.

For clients

When clients accept a freelancer’s offer to take a task, the amount they’ve pledged for that job is automatically charged to their payment method. This largely eliminates the chance that the freelancer would not be paid by this site — a net positive.

But, if a job is cancelled at the last minute, the site tends to provide credits rather than refunds. Site officials say you can get a refund to your original payment method, however.

AirTasker review:

With AirTasker, consumers can post the need for anything from typing services to making Halloween costumes. The consumer also says how much they’re willing to pay for this service. Freelancers decide whether to apply for the position after viewing the description and pay.

When the customer chooses a freelancer to complete the work, the agreed-upon price is automatically taken from their payment method. That eliminates any chance that the freelancer will do the work and not get paid.

Details lacking

The problem? Many of the jobs lack detail, which makes it nearly impossible for freelancers to respond appropriately. Tim Fung, CEO of the Australian-based job platform, says the idea is to get a discussion going, which should give both freelancer and client a better picture of the job’s scope and the ability to negotiate the rate.

However, at least at the moment, this seems like an inefficient process that could leave both freelancer and clients dissatisfied.

Examples

For instance, the site recently listed a $1,000 task to type a document into Microsoft Word from screen-shots. However, it did not say how long the document was, whether it needed formatting or grammar corrections. Several potential takers asked these pertinent questions and got no response.

Likewise a $400 task involved taking apart the ends of a sofa and putting them back together. One potential taker asked for whether the sofa was being moved. There was no response. A photo of the sofa indicated that it was upholstered — not a wooden item that could be broken down and reassembled with ease. At last glance, this task was untaken for possibly obvious reasons.

According to the site’s frequently asked questions, freelancers can ask for more pay for different tasks. However, this also requires a clear description of what’s required.

Growing pains

Nothing in this site’s terms are problematic, but users complain about a variety of issues, including crooks posting high-value tasks to lure users to a scam site. When we recently tested the site looking for available jobs, we found a wealth of high-value “remote” opportunities that seemed to fall into this camp.

A poster named David O, for instance, posted multiple data entry jobs. When we called him at the number provided on a screen shot on his listing, he said the job he’d posted was no longer available. But he was offering big money to list properties on sites like Zillow.

Whose properties? He said they were his own, but he was too busy to list them himself. It appeared that the scam was about getting the freelancers’ “payment information.”

Badges

Fung notes that both posters and freelancers on the site eventually earn “badges” that can help both listers and applicants weed out the bag eggs. These badges include those that verify your identity, your payment method and say whether you’ve been background checked.

But, at this early stage of AirTasker’s development in the U.S., problematic listings appear plentiful.

Recommendations for clients:

This site may be worth checking out both as a customer and a freelancer. But be careful about the information you give out to strangers.

If you need a job done, be as detailed as possible about what you want done and when. A clear description — for instance, “I need someone to edit a 14-page chapter in a book — is much more likely to get a response than someone who asks to retype “a screenshot.”

We’d also suggest that you consider looking for freelance workers on TaskRabbit or Fiverr, where it’s currently easier to search for qualified freelancers who can do specific types of work. TaskRabbit specializes in jobs you’d do in person, such as cleaning, building, errands, etc.; Fiverr specializes in jobs that can be done remotely.

Recommendations for freelancers

If you’re a freelancer, only bid on jobs that you understand and feel you can complete well within the time allotted. However, again, you’re likely to have more success finding physical work by advertising your availability on Taskrabbit.

If you want to provide online services, such as typing, editing, and voice over work, we’d recommend you list on Fiverr.

If you want to sign up, you can find Airtasker here.

What their users say (from TrustPilot)

“I’m a tasker. The concept is good, but there are many issues with the site: 1) scams and fake tasks – a crew of crooks posting fake high value tasks with a view to drawing lots of responses and then directing unsuspecting workers to their telegram site, after which the scammers try to extract money via a wealth of spurious reasons. This has been going on for months and Airtasker hasn’t done much. 2) workers finding ways of sharing phone numbers and basically not playing by the rules.

With that having been said, the concept is great, payments are quick, support are efficient and helpful and logistically I’ve never had an issue.”

“No opportunity to speak with the contractor or get an on site quote. This website is worthless to both providers and consumers. It is misleading and borderline fraudulent. Sue me you have my email. A very big NO.”

Complete failure

“The first job I arranged through it was a complete failure. Terrible tradesperson. No-one is vetted and bad reviews just don’t get added. I’ll be honest, I did not review the terrible one either. No review says it all. Avoid anyone that doesn’t have at least 95% of their jobs reviewed (and all positive). Used the service twice but never again.”

“The handyman didn’t show up. He messaged me 2 hours later asking if he could have come to fix my wardrobe, but he wanted cash to avoid Airtasker fees. I said nope and cancelled the task. Airtasker has returned the money into my account as credit. I want my money back and I don’t want anything to do with you!”