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My Life as a TaskRabbit

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11–20 of 49 posts

Re: My Life as a TaskRabbit

#11

> I call Chris Mok, a top-ranked local TaskRabbit who earns up to $1,500 a week. Mok was laid off from his job as an art buyer at Macy’s (M) in 2009 and now spends most days, including weekends, on handyman assignments such as assembling Ikea furniture. TaskRabbit: Distributed underemployment.

60,000 per year is not "underemployment".

Re: My Life as a TaskRabbit

#12

> I call Chris Mok, a top-ranked local TaskRabbit who earns up to $1,500 a week. Mok was laid off from his job as an art buyer at Macy’s (M) in 2009 and now spends most days, including weekends, on handyman assignments such as assembling Ikea furniture. TaskRabbit: Distributed underemployment.

60,000 per year is not "underemployment".

You know all those jobs claiming you can earn up to $big_number a week?

That's their all-time record. The odds of real numbers resembling it are low.

Re: My Life as a TaskRabbit

#13
post #9

I became a task rabbit almost three weeks ago. I have bid on at least thirty jobs. I have spent a total of 5 hours checking the site for jobs. I have not been assigned one task. I have applied for several graphic design gigs. Most people want a logo designed for thirty to fifty dollars. Some people want ebooks created from word documents for under a hundred dollars. The hard labor tasks is where the money is. Those j…

Most people want a logo designed for thirty to fifty dollars. Some people want ebooks created from word documents under a for hundred dollars.

I would expect those prices too if I went through TaskRabbit. I wouldn't expect the designer to be a top professional. I'd be looking for a deal.

My advice (and I've been working freelance for about 7 years) is to brand yourself as a top shelf designer and never offer your services on outsourcing websites. Go hyper niche instead in a category where you have some contacts and can get work fast.

If your designs are amazing, word gets around. Pretty much all new business I get is from word of mouth.

Re: My Life as a TaskRabbit

#14
post #10

The one thing I have always wondered -- how would these companies scale ? These models work well in areas with a high population density (eg: SF, NYC, major city downtowns etc.). How well will they work when they spread out to the suburbs ?

What's wrong with most of their users being in the major cities? Look at Craigslist.

Re: My Life as a TaskRabbit

#15
post #10

The one thing I have always wondered -- how would these companies scale ? These models work well in areas with a high population density (eg: SF, NYC, major city downtowns etc.). How well will they work when they spread out to the suburbs ?

What's wrong with most of their users being in the major cities? Look at Craigslist.

When you sign up as a hiring person, they only have a few major cities you can sign up in. I don't reside in any of those cities, so despite having work for people, I have no use for the service, at least not yet.

Re: My Life as a TaskRabbit

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with most of their users being in the major cities? Look at Craigslist.

When you sign up as a hiring person, they only have a few major cities you can sign up in. I don't reside in any of those cities, so despite having work for people, I have no use for the service, at least not yet.

[deleted]

Re: My Life as a TaskRabbit

#17

> I call Chris Mok, a top-ranked local TaskRabbit who earns up to $1,500 a week. Mok was laid off from his job as an art buyer at Macy’s (M) in 2009 and now spends most days, including weekends, on handyman assignments such as assembling Ikea furniture. TaskRabbit: Distributed underemployment.

Sorry to say but there is no such thing as underemployment. Clearly there are less need for art buyers (or he wasn't good enough to do the job) than there were in 2009, so he has to do something else.

Re: My Life as a TaskRabbit

#18
post #10

The one thing I have always wondered -- how would these companies scale ? These models work well in areas with a high population density (eg: SF, NYC, major city downtowns etc.). How well will they work when they spread out to the suburbs ?

What's wrong with most of their users being in the major cities? Look at Craigslist.

courier services (aka postmates) is definitely difficult to scale in the 'burbs. And that's because of the distances, traffic etc. involved. Certain tasks on Taskrabbit could work in the suburbs, but not all. How many times do you see these kind of jobs on Craigslist ? Ikea delivery, assembling etc are fine -- but when instant gratification (Postmates, Zaarly etc.) is concerned, scaling to the suburbs will be extremely difficult.

Re: My Life as a TaskRabbit

#19

> I call Chris Mok, a top-ranked local TaskRabbit who earns up to $1,500 a week. Mok was laid off from his job as an art buyer at Macy’s (M) in 2009 and now spends most days, including weekends, on handyman assignments such as assembling Ikea furniture. TaskRabbit: Distributed underemployment.

"Underemployment" is a characteristic of the economy that TaskRabbit operates in, not one that they create.

Re: My Life as a TaskRabbit

#20
post #10

The one thing I have always wondered -- how would these companies scale ? These models work well in areas with a high population density (eg: SF, NYC, major city downtowns etc.). How well will they work when they spread out to the suburbs ?

Do they even need to spread to the suburbs?
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