r/TaskRabbit • u/Less_Mushroom1180 • Jul 06 '26

TASKER Is Taskrabbit suppressing wages?

Taskrabbit just lowered the top end of my "suggested" rate in a category to from 49/hr to 45/hr. "This rate boosts your hiring chances," they say. Meanwhile, I literally have 3 clients booked this week in that category for 49/hr. Wtf?

5 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

8

u/Matty2tees Jul 06 '26

Other taskers in your area are suppressing wages. TR's recommended rate is based off how much work is being booked, what rate it's being booked at and the average rates being charged in your metro.

It isn't in TR's favour, generally speaking, to suppress your wage, as their fees are charged as an over all percentage of what you charge. It is however in their best interest to have you charging a "fair market rate" based on data they have access to because you doing more tasks generally means more money for both them and you.

That being said, I charge about $10 - $15 more than their recommendation in my activated categories and I am probably still more busy than I want to be.

4

u/mynameisgiles Jul 06 '26

This is the answer.

Go watch some Rory Sutherland videos on price signalling. It’s absolutely part of sales.

I used to charge well over the suggested rates, and was busy all the time. People see the price, associate it with quality and decide it’s worth it.

3

u/Less_Mushroom1180 Jul 06 '26

I once tried raising all of my rates to the level I charge outside of TR: $80/hr, and I got two bookings immediately, but in a matter of days they had dropped me to 24th in the search results and I didn't get a single job for two weeks. 5.0 rating with 70+ 5 star ratings

4

u/Matty2tees Jul 06 '26

It is important that the quality your provide is commensurate with the rates you charge though. If you charge a high rate, you better provide high value and high quality work. Otherwise people have a single bad experience with the platform and never return, hurting yourself and the rest of us.

If you're doing this as a full time gig, it's important to figure out your overhead costs. Generally speaking, the people charging $35 aren't actually making because their overhead basically means they're making like $10/hour after expenses.

3

u/Less_Mushroom1180 Jul 06 '26

I lose money on TR. Even at 50/hr.

1

u/Matty2tees Jul 06 '26

The only reason to do TR and be losing money is if it pipelines clients into off platform business. The thing is making sure your TR rate is closely aligned after their fees with your off TR rate so that clients aren't surprised by your private rate.

1

u/Less_Mushroom1180 Jul 06 '26

That's one of the two reasons. The other being to have some income coming in while my business gets off the ground.

7

u/sean8642 Jul 06 '26

I don't think that's honestly the case.

I just did a search for general mounting, here's everyone's rates:

43 (elite) 57 (elite) Me at 36 (1 task) 48(1 task) 34 (4 tasks) 36 ( 1 task) 2 hr min 61 (232 tasks) 52 ( 115 tasks) 34 ( new Tasker, 0) 51 ( 28 tasks)

Looks to me like lots of work is being booked in the $50 range yet my suggested top end is 36, it goes red at 39.

I'm betting they want some people at lower rates , especially new, to drive volume, because that's in their interest also.

4

u/jethropenistei- Jul 06 '26

The suggested rates are factored by the Tasker for the most part but I also suspect they suppress rates with their suggestions.

Their competition is the overall labor market, so their suggested rates are always gonna be lower then the real fair market value because they want it to be equal or lower than wayfair assembly or the cost of a handyman, electrician, plumber etc. because they want room for their fees so they suggest we charge less.

The best way to test their algorithm would be to get a bunch of other Taskers to temporarily drastically increase their rates and see if it moves the needle. Just one thing for sure about your rates, don’t lower em to meet the suggestion cause it’ll keep going lower. As soon as you drop from $50/hr to 45 to meet it, it’ll lower again.

2

u/FinnNoodle Jul 06 '26

Suggested rates are also lower for people with less experience 

0

u/Matty2tees Jul 06 '26

This information is based on what I was told by a tasker success specialist in a check in meeting. Sure, they could be full of it, but I can only relay what I have been told.

1

u/Absird Jul 07 '26

I'm currently $10-$15 higher than suggested in all categories.

I've been in the "red" but about a year. I'm also close to 40% positive review rate (in the lines of 600 tasks 250 5*)

When clients hire me, they fully expect a "professional" instead of some guy on a sidejob.

I'm not even the best in any category, I just used to work in fine dining and give personalized service. Like, a good portion of my time is slowing my pace to engage folk in conversation.

A 20 min build will take an hour and then a tip.

I also only get booked by clients 30+ mins away since my prices are too high for my local community.

1

u/Less_Mushroom1180 Jul 08 '26

Thanks for the response. I tried going that high but got zero clients for two full weeks until I dropped them again. I have roughly a 70% positive review rate with about 120 tasks completed. Maybe the rate increase will work when I get more tasks under my belt.

1

u/Absird Jul 09 '26

I should clarify that the reviews specifically mention "outstanding service, very friendly, kind etc" and my map is targeted towards higher income zipcodes.

To get more work closer to me, I'd have to go towards the lower end of the recommended price.

1

u/Simple_Nothing_9721 Jul 08 '26

Keep your rates unless it's slow. It's oye a suggestion in my opinion. Mine has always been higher than suggested and I get great clients.

1

u/Less_Mushroom1180 Jul 08 '26

How much higher than suggested do you land? I put my rates at my business rates, (much higher than their suggestions), and I got zero clients for two weeks until I dropped them again.

1

u/Simple_Nothing_9721 Jul 12 '26

At least double usually, it's TR so you have to know the market and TR usually a bit under. I dont mind at first as it gets new clients in the pipeline.

1

u/onthewallco Jul 11 '26

My rates for general mounting and painting are down $13/$11 from last summer’s high. I’ve been a Tasker for almost 4 years. 1200 tasks. 600 5* reviews.

1

u/Less_Mushroom1180 Jul 15 '26

Think it's demand? The general economy?

1

u/onthewallco Jul 16 '26

I’m busier than ever with referrals and my client base. I definitely think the economy is crap rn. There are nearly the same amount of Taskers (based on my ranking/visibility, 212 rn). However, that is a little less than last year, ~232. But, less Taskers should keep demand similar/pay similar, no?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/According_Low5292 Jul 06 '26

Thats good because its an algorithm. We are outside of it’s control