(This post may include affiliate links. You can read about our affiliate policy here.)
What: JustAnswer pays experts in everything from engineering to medicine for answering consumer questions
Expected pay: $2 to $20 per question
Husl$core: $$$$
Where: Nationwide
Commissions & fees: 50% to 80%
Requirements: expertise in a topic covered by the site
Want to respond to questions as an expert on JustAnswer?
- Click here to sign up as an expert
Or…
- Click here to consult with an expert
JustAnswer Review:
When we first reviewed JustAnswer, we gave the site a miserable Husl$core mainly because the freelance experts who answer questions here didn’t always get paid for their work. That was because the site’s terms said they only got paid after their client rated their performance. And clients didn’t always rate the freelancer.
JustAnswer has since updated its terms. Freelancers who work with the site say they’re now paid for every answer, regardless of whether the customer provided a rating. The payment you get varies based on your expertise and your status with the site.
High-paid expertise
If you’re a professional answering questions about technology or appraisals, you could earn a lot. According to JustAnswer, the highest-paid experts on its site provide answers about appraisals (average earnings $8,457 per month), tech help ($7,612) and homework ($6,200).
Those earning the least on a monthly basis provided answers on wellness ($1,167) and “general” ($614). However, the site does not say how much individuals earn on an hourly or per-question basis. But, you apparently do know how much each answer is worth before you accept. If the answer would require a great deal of research for very little money, you can pass.
After speaking to several JustAnswer experts, we revised our review and now give the site a better-than-average rating. If you are a person with great expertise about cars or tech or consumer electronics, it appears you could earn a fair amount of money in your free time by answering questions on the site. You can sign up as an expert here.
Complaints
However, you should know that the site continues to have draw significant complaints from customers. More than 2,482 complaints have been filed with the Better Business Bureau. The vast majority of these — like the majority of the complaints logged with SideHusl.com — are from customers, who say they were tricked into monthly subscriptions.
Although this does not impact freelancers who work through the site, we consider this a red flag. After all, if a company is willing to mislead customers, why not mislead workers too? We interviewed several experts, who raved about the company. But we remain cautious.
Recommendations:
Professionals have many flexible and well-paid job options with sites like FlexProfessionals, FreeeUp and SkipTheDrive. If you want to share knowledge online elsewhere, you might also consider the tutoring platforms, Wyzant and Varsity Tutors.
If your expertise is in math or coding, you can find other tutoring platforms worth considering in our blog post “12 best tutoring platforms.” For those who are particularly passionate about a topic and want to teach it to kids who are under the age of 18, we also highly recommend Outschool.
What users say (from the Better Business Bureau):
I signed up to participate as an expert in my field to earn income. The company requires customers to pay for memberships but does not pay the people they employ until a customer rates an answer. Most people will let the answer time out and the ticket gets closed without compensation. I have emailed the company multiple times to resolve this issue but they refuse to respond.
From Glassdoor:
“I can work as much or as little as I want, and if really working it, can make a comfy full time living or killer side gig.”
“Your own schedule, pay is decent and you can make extra by taking phone calls and upselling more time. The more you work, the more money you can make.”
“Remote job; Work from home with flexible hours. But workload is not constant and salary is low.”
“I am frequently told by customers how helpful the service is and how pleased they are with the service. I feel the company does a really great job of making professionals, that otherwise might be cost prohibitive, available to all.”
“The system does not allow a lot of time for experts to select calls.”
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I asked a question about a BMW back in 1988 and never got a good answer, I saw they wanted experts so I signed up, I was not sure I would actually get paid as the customers can say they don’t like the answer and you never get paid, even if the customer accepts, the only way you know is cause just answer tells you, they could keep as much as they want.
They encourage new experts to answer questions you feel that you can help with , even if it has been answered by an existing expert already yet remains unaccepted by the customer.
I was very good at having customers accept my answers, many of them were from other experts who failed to impress the customer, this really infuriates the existing sub par experts.
When a knowledgeable expert comes on and surpasses the existing experts and gets answers accepted where they failed, the new expert does not last long.
The angry experts make fake accounts and ask questions with a high value to lure the new expert, when the new expert falls for the bait the customer is obtuse and becomes furious for no reason and rates you badly which destroys your percentage rating , especially at first.
They also pad their own percentages by making a fake account and unlimited questions for $50 a month and ask themselves questions and rate themselves excellent every day, everyone knows it happens but nobody does anything about it.
It’s too bad too, I saved a few customers thousands of dollars by not having to replace a boiler they had condemned as obsolete,I made about $1,500 for a few months before the other experts got me removed by rating me badly for no reason, it was very obvious and I predicted my last encounter with administration prior to biting the baited question I knew was for me and I said so before I answered the question at the admins request! I suspect their exerts are not really people or are employees that use archived answers from accepted questions. Just by the nearly 900 complaints to the BBB for identical issue, being sold an ongoing subscription when accepting the fre trial period, it is beyond absurd how many times they allege the customers make the error not the website, imagine the windfall of cash every month for doing zero and no expert to share it with since no questions are asked since they didn’t know they had a subscription! For a website of thousands of experts seems they should be able to avoid subscribing everyone but that would obliterate their profits!
Hello Butch,
Thanks for getting in touch with us about this experience as an Expert, we’re sorry to hear that you came away with this feeling.
JustAnswer was not around in 1988, rather, the site was founded in 2003 and the core business model has adapted with the times. We do have both automatic and manual review processes deployed to prevent the Expert use cases that you described. Making sure that customers get the best, fastest, answer possible is beneficial for us, the Expert community, and most of all the customer.
If there are any concerns that you have about your Expert account, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Expert Support team at expertsupport@justanswer.com
Regards,
JustAnswer Customer Care
Just Answers is a scan. I have a screenshot showing a small refundable fee but credit card charged almost $100 and they say it is non refundable and cease contact when you try to get your money back
Just answer is a fine service and then they spoiled the service by tricking me into a recurring charge. Shame on them. Unfortunately I didn’t catch this trick for 4 months so I was cheated out of $136.
Theft. Worst of all, cheap theft. I guess they think people won’t notice relative small amounts. But a cheap thief is still a thief.
Run. They will disrespect your account.
I’ve been an expert since 2011. Sure the payout is based on customer satisfaction, but we do make a good living on this site. It’s a side hustle, or a main gig. It’s all about how much time we devote to the site, written communication skills, and how much you really know about your category. Not many people can do what we do, that’s why we’re here. We share our experience and knowledge with the world, saving people money on house calls.
It is absolutely a scam and this JustAnswer review is from my own personal experience .
You have to pay first to ask the question. Then if you don’t get a satisfactory answer, you can get a deposit back. (we’ll see about this claim)
They say most people get an answer within 10 mins and always in 1 day. I got my answer in 3 days.
I asked a laywer a specific question and he got back to me in a one sentence generic answer that has nothing to do with my specific situation. It’s like me asking: “What is the best treatment for my particular type of cancer?” and the “Doctor” answers “You are recommended to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables”. LIKE WTF! Is this a joke??!!
Lastly, they don’t tell you beforehand that any question you ask and answer you get will be for public viewing on the internet for everybody to see. THERE IS NO PRIVACY!
I did ask for a refund back immediately and I’m waiting for it to process. Please don’t use their service. Go find an actual lawyer or actual doctor etc.
I asked one question about the value of old dolls. I already knew their answer based on my own research. Never EVER ask Just Answer a legit question you need an “expert” on. They charge you $5 and will continue charging you $60 per month until you cut them off at the knees. They stole $120 from me, then freaking argue with me when I tell them to refund it! AVOID Just Answer like the thieving bastards they are! Do your own research and whatever you do, DO NOT pay them $5 from your PayPal account! That’s how their stealing begins! Pure trash; what a get-rich-quick scam!
Rip off, I used the site for one question, paid 60 dollars and then they charged another 60 the 2nd month, total recurring bill ripoff, said they could not refund the 60 dollars because it was against their policy. Do Not Use this site
These people just went into my account and took $35. I don’t know who they are
Hello Philip,
Thanks for letting us know about this. We’re sorry to hear about any confusion.
If you received a charge from JustAnswer it means that you posted a question to our site at some time in the recent past.
If you have any questions about your account, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support team form the Help Page at: https://www.justanswer.com/help/contact-us
You can also take action on your membership or billing info, from the My Account page at: https://my-secure.justanswer.com/managepearlunlimited
Please reach out to us if you need any further assistance.
Regards,
JustAnswer Customer Care
This is a rip off!!! I wish I read this before a talked to them.
I wish I had read reviews before signing up for this. The answer to my question was not real helpful but whatever… I thought okay for $5. What do I expect. Then I saw on my credit card statement another $66 charge. I promptly phoned demanding an explanation. My bad, I didn’t read the fine print that paying $5 subscribed me to a monthly plan of $66/month and I had 7 days to cancel my membership. But I was told an email was sent to me a few days before advising me of my subscription fee of $66. No such email!! In fact on 3 separate occasions as I battled with them they said they would email me verification- no emails. My advice to anyone who reads this, don’t get involved with this company.
Hello Terry,
Thank you for letting us know about this. We’re sorry for any frustration and would like to take a look at what happened on your account.
It sounds like the notification email/s may have been routed to spam. If you still have any questions about your account, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support team from the Help Page at: https://www.justanswer.com/help/contact-us
You can also check the status of your membership from the My Account page at: https://my-secure.justanswer.com/managepearlunlimited
Please reach out to us if you need any further assistance.
Regards,
JustAnswer Customer Care
I received a good answer for my question, clearly worth the $5, and it was quick and convenient. In paying however, I was duped into a subscription (just simply thought I was paying the $5, but if I had read more closely) and didn’t realize that had accepted it. With the on-line businesses and busy webpages, it was easy to miss the checkmark not realize that I was accepting what I didn’t want, when all I wanted was to pay the $5. As it turns out, I was definetly tricked into an additional $34 subscription that inadvertently agreed to; pretty sneaky (although I realize I should have caught it). It’s just the style of linking an automatic subscription to what should be a single transitions that irks me. Why the hell would I want a subscription, when it only makes sense to get an answer on something that comes up where you could use help. Anyhow, I asked them for a refund, and they said no. I didn’t qualify, and I should have read the tricky stuff when I was buying the $5 service. Too bad for me. Well I say screw you, and I look forward to communicating regularly on how these on-line services do this sort of thing to grab more cash. And then no customer service that’s worth much after I contact them (immediately) to explain that it was a mistake, and they say too bad.
Hello Dave,
Thank you for letting us know about this. We’re sorry for any frustration and would like to take a look at your account to make sure that everything was handled appropriately.
If you still have any concerns about your account, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support team form the Help Page at: https://www.justanswer.com/help/contact-us and request to speak to an Admin.
Please reach out to us if you need any further assistance.
Regards,
JustAnswer Customer Care
I signed up for Justanswer.com last weekend for a week long trial. I was not pleased with my expert advice so I cancelled my Membership the next day. I did it through chat and was told my membership was canceled. Today, my account was charged $32 for a regular monthly membership. I chatted with the company again as was told my membership is canceled again. I believe this is a regular company practice as a way to steal money from customers not happy with their service and canceling their membership during the trial. I will be putting this complaint everywhere I can.
It is
Hello Craig,
Thank you for letting us know about this. We’re sorry for any frustration and would like to take a look at what happened on your account.
When you cancel, you should receive a cancellation notification email. We would like to make sure that you get the cancellation that you requested and a refund for any charge that you incurred after cancellation.
If you have any questions about your account, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support team form the Help Page at: https://www.justanswer.com/help/contact-us
You can also check the status of your membership from the My Account page at: https://my-secure.justanswer.com/managepearlunlimited
Please reach out to us if you need any further assistance.
Regards,
JustAnswer Customer Care
This company definitely has some seeming3ly dubious practices. The $5 fees is posted conspicuously but everything else about a subscription is made almost non existent. I read terms but for the first time “missed this one” because it was not displayed or intended for clients to see it to avoid the pitfall. I paid $5 and got the confirmation answer I needed only for me to get charged $60 via my PayPal account a week after. I chatted with the customer service who could not even locate an account for me because I didnt sign up for one; apparently they used my PayPal email to sign me up for a subscription even though I never use that email for account signups so that made me so sure I was not the one who signed up for an account or a recurring membership because I never use that email for that sort of thing. Then when I confronted the operator about showing me evidence about where I accepted to signup for a recurring membership she sent me link to the fine prints. I told her this has nothing to do with fine prints but that she needed to show me where it clearly states that this was a subscription at the point of making the $5 and that I was creating an account hence the need for a refund. I was told I could not get a refund. Then I told her the transaction was unauthorized and that I will be disputing it with my bank and reviewing their services online. At this point she rudely cut off the chat midway in my conversation and that blocked me from further discussions. I printscreened the conversation immediately and contacted PayPal. Wonderfully I was able to get an immediate refund via PayPal for the $60 that was deducted from account. Honestly I didn’t suspect them at all because a rival company AVVO provides similar services for free; otherwise the $5 would have being a red flag for me but just saw it as a nominal fee.I do not recommend this company at all due to their seemingly shady billing practices and bad customer service.
I have worked for this company as an expert for 4 months and absolutely love it! I make good money for helping people and that makes me feel good. JustAnswer has always paid me the right amount on time every time. I’ve never had a problem with any customer. Actually, several customers have generously given me cash bonuses for my expertise. I highly recommend JustAnswer as a great place to work.
They scammed me out of $47. Customer service has no desire to help out and one lady even hung up on me and never let me respond. After I paid, I went to change my email so that the emails weren’t being sent to a certain phone. After that my account said I had to reactivate it but I couldn’t reactivate it. Customer service won’t give me money back or activate the account again. They just keep telling me that they can’t activate it and I’m not eligible for a refund. The second one even lied to me trying to say I wasn’t charged when I was. May I remind you, I only used it for 2 days out of the month payment. I spoke with 3 different people and the last one said she was forwarding me to an admin.
Word of advice, if you use it, don’t ever need the customer service, they suck at their jobs and need training and proper work ethics. And never ever try to change your credentials or they will automatically shut your account down,take your payment, and never let you back in.
I paid the initial fee and signed up for a monthly membership of $34 per month because I had an old motorhome and thought I would do some of the repairs myself with the assistance from this service. I had to delay the project for several months, and when I did contact them, I could not access an “expert” so called customer service. I was told that I had cancelled my account?? There was no way, as I had not ever contacted them. I feel the entire organization is a scam, and their customer service did not attempt to look into my account, and suggested I sign up for a new membership. I am out $238 dollars for absolutely nothing – so at least want to warn others to save their money. A waste and unethical.
I went to Samsung to ask a question about a problem with a password and got directed to JA. Got a message saying it would cost $56 which I thought ok as I was desperate to solve it and got an answer to just create a new Gmail account and reregister again ! Good thing I checked Paypal which I paid with as I found another $ 68 had been taken on top of the original; $56 ( I was on like 5mins max ) and found I was signed up for a monthly charge to have an account. I immediately deleted the montthly payment on payapl but not before I had lost $124 to this thieving scum company – tthank you Samsung for the link. This site is the biggest rip off I have ever come across. There was no mention of refunds or anything when I checked just endless emails saying sorry you left – yeh not before you ripped me off $68 for a monthy of shit I didn’t want.
Definitely a scam!!!!! justanswer.com… SCAM! SCAM! They charged me $47 for $1 refundable agreement charge to ask a question. I provided proof with screenshots stating that they lied. They admitted to the misunderstanding but still told me I’m not eligible for a refund. I even showed them the proof of their false advertisement with a screenshot, and I was still told I can not have my money back . I was not even on the website for 5 min and they are making up excuses to why they are charging hidden fees. SCAM! SCAM! SCAM! Even the lawyer told me in text she doesn’t know why I am being charged. Outrageous!
SCAM ALERT!!! These guys are billing me $49. to speak with a professional mechanic which I paid. What I was NEVER told was this would be a monthly charge. It is ridiculous to think I would agree to such stupidity. WHY would someone pay $49. a month to speak with a person for 5 minutes on a one-time issue. To dispute the fee, I was connected to a third-party billing service that can cancel your membership but can do nothing about the second charge. They told me I agreed to be billed monthly and I was NEVER informed of this. Calls are recorded so I challenge justanswer.com to prove to me on the recording when I was told this and my agreeing to it. They of course CAN NOT prove it because it never happened. Save yourself the grief of dealing with SCAMS like this. This is NOT A REPUTABLE SERVICE!!!
This is a ripoff. I never knew I was being charged for asking a question. I have informed my bank not to honor any money to you. Please remove my name from your list. This is a great trap that you have set up. Congratulations on being a snicky little rat.
Approach with extreme caution. I asked Microsoft a question and they switched me to JA stating I would have a $1 refundable service fee. I started texting with a JA guy who didn’t bother reading the transferred question, but eventually got around to absorbing my issue and providing a suggested answer. It worked until the next time I rebooted my computer, but at least the tech tried.
The next day I noticed about 15 emails in my spam folder from JA and found out that I was on a recurring $46/month service plan. I went to their website and cancelled and they had one of their dupes ask me why I was cancelling. Cancelling!?! I never signed up in the first place.
I called their 800 number (1-800-337-9589 for those that need it) to find out what the h$ll kinda scam they were running and got a 5 minute lecture about reading terms of service. Yep, guilty. I was in the middle of a computer crisis and I got transferred from Microsoft to this fraud site with promises of a refundable $1 service charge and I took MS at their word. After much complaining and accusation on my part and reciprocal lecturing on the JA reps part, they issued a refund of the $46 monthly fee.
I will be reporting my experience back to MS and if I ever come across JA as an option for getting help on any problem, believe me, the credit card stays in the wallet.
Justanswer took my money but 4 customer service reps could not get me to where I could open an account. They informed me that I would be getting charged $5 for trying to open an account. Then when I try to complain they censor any comment I attempt to post. This seems to be a SCAM and I will never try to use justanswer again. I assume they have happy customers but I was never able to open an account to try there service. 24 hours later I got a message saying we are working on your question that I never asked. They got enough info. to take my money. I hope you have better luck.
I found ther promotion marketed as $5 for per question, and that was reasonable for my only basic question I was asking just to make sure. Probably took 1 minute to answered by an attorney.
Thank I looked at my bank account. I was charged $5 and $60.
I went back to my JA account my orders page says I was charged $5 for initiation fee and $60 for a monthly membership. I was not looking for a membership.
I called customer service and they said I confirmed to be charged for monthly membership before registering which I never did. They hide it in their terms and conditions.
Let’s say it is okay my mistake not to read it. But they were promoted on the website as “fully refundable”. If there is anything else in the terms and conditions against this, this is litterally lying and fraud in marketing.
I noticed I got charged 46.00 and I don’t know how they got my info from my bank but they didn’t even help me. I was trying to sign up for sirius and wasn’t sure if I signed up correctly and I got a text from someone saying I need to go to the sirius xm. Com site. I already was on that site so how do they figure I owe them 46.00 dollars. I will go into my bank and have them look into it. Scam is all I think of.
I used justanswer 1 time I did not read the fine print because at the time I had a bleeding ferret on my hands so for one question it cost $120.00 because you automatically get registered so I paid $42.00 for 3 months and I had to call the 1-800 number to cancel because when I wanted to cancel on the page it provides I was not registered !
Payment request for services rendered is deceptive. I opt out of services after being charged 1.00. however, description of services suggest no other fees will be charged once opt out same day. Services were charged on my credit card. When I contacted customer services they can authorize refund and manger cant rendered a solution for customer refund. You actual have to contact customer service to opt out monthly services overall. website does not specify obligation, ask for a 1.00 fee, but your really paying 35.00 fee up front. 1.00 is to lure consumer in for a cheap price to get credit card information to take another 34.00 within seconds.
Boy am I glad I read these comments first before even considering a membership with Just Answer. I find it VERY SHADY WHEN YOU GO TO THE WEBSITE AND THERE IS NO MENTION OF HOW MUCH THE DAMN SERVICE COSTS! That is a red flag to me. I then asked the chat box that came up “How much does this cost a month” and was referred to customer service or call. So happy I didnt inquire any further.