What: Jiffy is a website where you can register as a provider of handyman services, ranging from plumbing and electrical work to cleaning and yard mainentance
Expected pay: $40 – $85 per hour
Husl$core: $$$$
Commissions & Fees: 15% of contractor pay; fines for cancelations
Where: Boston, Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa
Requirements: Appropriate experience, licenses and insurance; any necessary tools of the trade; smart phone
Review:
Like Takl and Task Rabbit, JiffyOnDemand connects consumers needing repair or maintenance work with the contractors who are willing and able to do it. The site offers a payment schedule for 17 different tasks, including lawn care, electrical and plumbing work, furniture assembly, appliance repair, moving and delivery, snow removal, window, duct, carpet and upholstery cleaning, as well as locksmith and general handyman services.
Consumers use a smart phone to order the service they need and tell contractors when it should be done. Contractors are then able to accept jobs that fit into their area of expertise and schedule. The cost of each service is noted on Jiffy’s website. Lawncare, for instance, is charged at $50 per hour; appliance repair at $75 per hour; electrical work at $150 for 1.5 hours.
The contractor gets 85% of this rate, paying a 15% commission to the platform, according to the company. Payment for completed work is generally made on the Friday following the week the job was completed.
While skilled contractors can obviously earn more on their own, marketing your services can take a lot of time. Paying 15% — and accepting a slight payment delay, assuming you’d get immediate payment otherwise — seems like a reasonable trade-off. Certainly, the pay and terms for contractors at Jiffy are considerably better than they are at other marketing platforms for contractors, such as Thumbtack, HomeAdvisor, Takl and Handy.
That said, there are a few things in Jiffy’s terms and conditions that give us pause. First, the site’s commission is not contractually set. In fact, the site reserves the right to change its commission, at its sole discretion, at any time.
Then, too, if you show up late or cancel a job, you could be subject to an undisclosed penalty. And, the site has a satisfaction guarantee that’s shouldered 100% by its contractors. I’ll spare you the legalese, but if a customer complains and is able to trigger Jiffy’s “User Protection Plan,” the contractor must either redo the service or be held responsible for the cost of having it redone. Assuming that clients are honest — and that the site filters out those who aren’t — this shouldn’t be a major worry. But it is worth knowing that you are essentially guaranteeing every job you do through this site.
Other than that, the only shortcoming of JiffyOnDemand is that it’s only available in a few cities. If you don’t happen to work in Boston, Chicago, Toronto or Ottawa, we suggest looking at the contractor network at Managed by Q or, signing up with GreenPal. You could also solicit neighbor referals through a local social networking site, such as Nextdoor.
What their users say:
We found many customers, but no contractors, discussing the service. Customers appeared largely pleased. If you’ve worked as a contractor for this site, please add your comments below to let us know how it worked for you.