{"id":45637,"date":"2023-10-20T15:45:16","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/sydney-startup-airtasker-slammed-by-consumer-advocate-over-claim-users-can-earn-up-to-20000-a-month-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:45:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:45:16","slug":"sydney-startup-airtasker-slammed-by-consumer-advocate-over-claim-users-can-earn-up-to-20000-a-month-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/sydney-startup-airtasker-slammed-by-consumer-advocate-over-claim-users-can-earn-up-to-20000-a-month-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney startup Airtasker slammed by consumer advocate over claim users can earn \u201cup to $20,000 a month\u201d – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Airtasker<\/div>\n

Sydney startup Airtasker has been slammed by consumer advocate Choice over its claim that workers on its platform are earning \u201cup to $20,000 a month\u201d through the company.<\/p>\n

Choice has called on the ACCC to investigate Airtasker if it does not “substantiate” the claim.<\/p>\n

Airtasker is a two-sided marketplace for local odd jobs and was launched in 2012 and since added nearly 25,000 new users each month.<\/p>\n

In an email sent to members, Airtasker claimed that numerous Australians are earning “good money” on the platform and some are earning “up to $20,000” per month, as Fairfax <\/em>reports.<\/p>\n

Choice spokesperson Tom Godfrey told Fairfax <\/em>that claims like this could be in breach of consumer law if they aren’t backed up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think that Airtasker should substantiate its impressive claim that multiple Australians using the platform are earning up to $20,000 a month,\u201d Godfrey told Fairfax.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the company refuses, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission can order it to substantiate its claim. It\u2019s worth remembering that it is a breach of the Australian Consumer Law to make false and misleading claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can successfully use a company like Airtasker to supplement your income, that\u2019s great. However, not everyone who sues this site is going to make the big bucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Airtasker founder and CEO Tim Fung says a \u201csmall number\u201d of people are earning more than $20,000 per month on the platform and that this the gross figure before Airtasker\u2019s 15% service fee and other charges are deducted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere definitely are case studies of people earning more than $20,000 per month \u2013 that\u2019s a factual piece of information,\u201d Fung tells StartupSmart<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019ll be more conservative with how we make claims like that in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to share individual peoples\u2019 private information but we do have multiple case studies of that. If the ACCC or any consumer advocate wants us to provide information on a different basis we\u2019re pretty open to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fung says Airtasker strives to operate with complete transparency and he was \u201chumbled\u201d by the comments made by Choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur business is driven by transparency as a core value,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we do is about showing workers and posters all the information \u2013 the more info they have the more transactions can happen. That\u2019s what drives our revenue model.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re definitely not interested in being cagey or anything like that and we want to maintain transparency as a core value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year Airtasker announced it had reached half a million users<\/a> and also closed a $22 million Series B round.<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Airtasker, the average cost of a task completed through the platform is $113, and the maximum is capped at $2000.<\/p>\n

He says that all stats provided by Airtasker in promotional material and emails to members are in gross terms before other charges are deducted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think that\u2019s less confusing and more transparent,\u201d Fung says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if people are saying that\u2019s really confusing and that they want to see it with Airtasker\u2019s fees taken out then we could attempt to do that too.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this is the amount that person does earn legally \u2013 they do get the full amount and then the 15% is deducted.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the majority of workers on Airtasker are completing a handful of small tasks, Fung says that there are a number of people making a significant income on the platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a mix, there\u2019s a whole spectrum,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people earning $5, 10, 15 grand a month but they make up a small number of people. Then it slides all the way down to people doing one task a month for $15. It\u2019s a long tail.<\/p>\n

In contrast to startups like Uber and Deliveroo, he says that Airtasker gives its users full control of how much money is transacted, making the entire process more transparent and accountable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very much like an open marketplace platform,\u201d Fung says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe worker and the customer decide how much is going to be traded, what the person is doing and how much to pay for the service.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome other platforms are driven by the companies themselves and when that happens it\u2019s harder to be fully transparent and may take some actions driven by commercial intent rather than the users of the platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just say, \u2018here\u2019s a platform, talk about it and do whatever you want and we\u2019ll take the same fee\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

StartupSmart <\/em>has contacted Choice for comment.<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter, LinkedIn and SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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