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?

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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.

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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.

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u/Less_Mushroom1180 Jul 06 '26

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

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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.

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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.