Airtasker
Recently I've signed up for AirTasker. It's slow to start with, both because I'm still learning the system, but mostly as you start without a star rating or completion rating, so effectively no history or reputation, and you have to build that. Even with that, I had 3 tasks in my first week or so assigned to me. The 2 which have paid out meant my bank account had an extra $51 in it when it came time to do my fortnightly banking. Doesn't sound like much, and it really isn't, but it did mean that my unexpected $100 extra for the power bills was easier to find, and that my credit card is still paid off so I don't pay interest on it. Already this week I've got 2 tasks that will put another $51 in my bank account assuming they pay out. 1 already has, the other task I do tonight (which is also why I'm posting earlier in the day) and I can't see why they won't pay out. I mention that as my very first task that I did still hasn't, and I will be chasing it up probably on Friday. They've got good ratings, and have said they were releasing funds, but something has happened and it hasn't registered on the website still. When it comes through though it's another ~$20, which will be nice.
Now, these direct earnings do need me to deal with centrelink on a fortnightly basis again, as they're earnings (that aren't cash payments) so there is record of them. And if I earn 'too much' they'll also need tax payed on them I think, which I don't expect I'll be close to anytime soon, and for the most part I expect I'll be staying below the allowed earnings for a DSP recipient ($292/fortnight) before it becomes more complicated. (Above that, you lose 50c in every $ from the DSP, effectively halving your increased earnings (or worse if you have tax to pay from it...)
What tasks have I been doing?
So far, I've provided some help to a guy hunting down an old website of his and why it isn't online still, and have helped another guy with testing the app they've made in the real world environment, and how their clients deal with people that use the app. The non-financial earnings from that one are far better than the actual payment, as it involves going to cafes, restaurants, and bars and making an order. So they've been providing a $15 code to use as well as the payment.
Tonight I have an assembly task to put together someone's 120 bottle wine rack, which should be an easy enough task for me.
What tasks have I been applying for and not getting?
I've put in a lot of offers on Excel related tasks, and data entry. I've been putting in more offers on furniture construction (Ikea and similar. Lots of these tasks listed) and am considering going down to Ikea to get my approved constructor badge to help me get these tasks. Transport tasks for small items and people. I've not put in a lot of offers on these, but have put in some and not got any yet. Cooking tasks, though most of them I've passed on as the maths don't work out, or they've got other duties attached to the task, like cleaning or maintenance that I can't do/don't feel confident I could do.
What tasks have I not been doing?
The majority of things listed actually. Cleaning. Yardwork. Large item transport/Moving furniture. Website design. Logo design. Fast food/Alcohol delivery. Help/Do my assignment/classwork. And that's just a short general list of regularly seen tasks. There is so much cleaning and housework available though.
Negatives?
I have 2 negatives currently about the system and service.
Firstly, I see their fees as exorbitant, taking 15% of the payment, but knowing ahead of time this is something you account for in your offer for a task. It also leads to tasks where some/most of the payment is offered externally to the site, be it in cash reimbursement for purchases, or the task is for 1 hour of a 4-8 hour job, or an ongoing task that you're only being paid through the system for the first time. It's the reason that I didn't sign up when I initially heard about and investigated if it would be useful for me.
Secondly, is something that's bugging me from my first task still sitting there as 'payment requested'. The person that I did the job for said she'd release payment, but may have tried that before I'd pushed the request payment button, and the system may not have registered this order as funds haven't come through. I've tried contacting her, but if she doesn't have notifications turned on, and doesn't check regularly, she may not have seen the messages and may not know she hasn't paid yet. I assume it's an honest mistake, as she has good ratings and good reviews for both doing and posting jobs, but I also can't make a review of the job without it completing, which doesn't happen until payment is made...
Positives?
So far, just the ability for me to do things and get paid for them, without the need for a company to actually hire me. And to do things at my own pace of my own choosing (sort of). I don't usually know from day to day my actual physical condition and availability, so the ability to wake up, read a bunch of tasks local to me or that only require being online, applying for a few interesting ones and having something to do and get paid for that afternoon that fits the current physical ability is great. It doesn't quite work that way, but that's the ideal. Tonight's task for example I applied for yesterday morning, was accepted in the afternoon, and timing was set up early enough that I could plan my day to accommodate the need to be there for the evening. The one I did yesterday had been assigned the day before and had a week to complete at my leisure. The one that hasn't been completed yet was apply, couple of messages, assigned, do the task, all in about 2-3 hours.
I can see me using this for a supporting income for quite a time to come, though it also comes with the problem of not being a fixed income, there are many that post ongoing jobs and they may be something I look at in the future on the possible way to actual employment.
So, what do you do for a bit of extra spending money?
Is steem generating you money that you are actually drawing out and spending on things (or using to pay bills online without converting to actual cash)? Do you have some other online publication location that pays you for content? Let me know your ideas (I have looked at a bunch of places, but I like hearing people talk about what they're using, and if it's successful or not)
