Perfect job for Aspies? (with one drawback)

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I just learned about a startup called ChaCha that hires independent contractors who work anywhere they have broadband internet. The premise is that people call a toll free number or send a text message from their mobile phone and get the contractor to give them an answer to their question. The contractor either knows the answer, or checks the web for the answer. The hours are completely up to the contractor. No face to face interactions!

The drawback... No benefits and only $0.20 per answer. They estimate $4 to $10 an hour. This would be (for most people) a way to earn extra money. The link to the site follows-

ChaCha

There are also some call service center jobs that are done in a similar way. They use VOIP and make it possible for a telephone customer service rep to work out of their home. They get paid by the call.

I don't have any links unfortunately. Its popular with people who have kids and have to stay home because of that.

Here's a link, but not exactly what I was searching for:

call-center-voip-and-at-home-agents

hm, that's nice

Tiff's brother just gave us this one yesterday. http://www.liveops.com ... good idea... though I would much prefer to be doing support over a live-chat widget personally. It's a lot easier for me to pretend to be NT if the other person doesn't have to hear my voice. I'm less likely to say something stupid.

I've used ChaCha; it's very cool. But I'm surprised by how little they pay; that isn't cool at all. Isn't $4 an hour way below minimum wage? Would you do this as your only job?

Well it's an unusual circumstance because the pay rate isn't actually based on an hourly wage... it's based on the number of questions answered I assume... and may also involve some kind of quality metrics -- it's hard to say without knowing the internals of their system... But I gather that there are laws that allow people to be paid per-task as an agent which don't fall under the normal rubric of wage laws because they're not paying a wage, they're hiring an agent, which is considered more akin to the purchase of a service.

As an agent (or business owner if you prefer) you're allowed to set prices however you like -- although in this case, they've already established what they're willing to pay for that service. So you could for example choose to perform that service for a higher price, but you would have to find a client base other than theirs (and in this case a technical infrastructure to provide the service).

Am I rambling again? :)

Anyway... yes $4/hr is well below the current minimum wage here in the US. The upper end of their pay-scale ($10/hr) is above it. That's just the average of what their agents are getting based on how quickly they answer those questions. I wouldn't expect it to be a sole income. I'm thinking about using it myself though to supplement my now non-existent income.

Its probably a commission base pay. You get paid that plus something for the calls you handle.

Their FAQ describes $3-9 an hour as the average earned from the 10-20c commission per question rather than a combined hourly rate.

Careers > Become a Guide (top) > FAQ (bottom) > How and How Much Do I Get Paid

There is no base pay. You would be an independent contractor only. I was not recommending this particular job, but mentioned it in case it would be of interest to anyone here. It might get someone thinking about a similar job.