What: JustAnswer purports to pay experts in everything from engineering to medicine for answering consumer questions, but is best at generating complaints
Expected pay: speculative
Husl$core: $
Where: Nationwide
Commissions & fees: 50% to 80%
Requirements: expertise in a topic covered by the site
Review:
JustAnswer sounds like a clever way for professionals to earn extra cash by sharing their expertise with consumers who need answers. Appearances can be deceiving. We found a variety of red flags in the site’s terms, and even more when we started looking for experts who had worked for the service.
The bulk of the 233 complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau were filed by customers — not experts. These complaints say that JustAnswer’s “free trial” automatically enrolls everyone in a costly monthly subscription plan.
But a few of the complaints also highlight our concerns for freelancers. Specifically, experts earn paltry pay, if they get paid at all.
Getting paid
Most questions appear to be answered for $5. Bloggers who have tested the service say that the typical expert gets just 20% of that, but may be able to work their way up to getting half. (Don’t spend that $2.50 windfall all in one place.) But experts only get paid after their customers accept and rate the answer. If a customer doesn’t rate your answer, you don’t get paid at all.
Moreover the site expects experts to plug in all sorts of personal information, including your Social Security number and resume, to “verify your expertise” before you answer any questions. That creates a security risk for very little potential return.
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.
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:
Customers don’t have to rate answers. Maybe 1/2 the customers do, and 1/2 of them don’t. JustAnswer will keep all the money unless the customer rates the answer. Works out great for them.
Experts are paid ONLY if a customer gives them a good rating. Many people come to the site looking for free information or to get validation of their inflated value assessment. When their value assessment is not met, they will not accept the answer or will give a low rating so the expert does not get paid for providing well researched and valid information. Questions are now being diverted to the newer experts who are paid at a lower rate.
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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!
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
This is a rip off!!! I wish I read this before a talked to them.