A few months ago, I managed to get in with Fancy Hands. This has been a popular work from home job, so I wanted to point out a few things now that I have some personal experience.
It's a Good Side Earner
I really, really enjoy the work. It's fun to help others and do these little tasks.
I think one of my favorite things about it is that you never know what you're going to be doing. It could be anything from researching hotel costs in some foreign country to calling a place of business to find out if they have something.
Fancy Hands is Flexible
You can work anytime you want to, even in the middle of the night if that suits you.
However, the amount of work available at any given time will vary. As with any work at home job, always have a “back up” egg in your basket rather than relying solely on one thing to pay your bills.
It Can Be Non-Phone
You can work without ever using the phone if you want to because you can pick and choose the tasks you want to do. However, I think it's pretty safe to say that you won't make as much if you completely avoid the phone tasks because there are lots of those.
The Pay is Sometimes Good, Sometimes Not-So-Good
Each task pays differently. While there are some that don't seem to pay enough for what you're asked to do, there are others that pay more than enough for the work. So I feel like that makes it all balance out to a fair rate.
Update 12/16/18 – Fancy Hands now has a 1.9 rating on Glassdoor. This is primarily because many people think the tasks are too hard for the pay. I myself have not done the job in quite a while, but you may want to read through the reviews here before deciding to apply.
Is Fancy Hands Hiring Right Now?
I am honestly not sure if Fancy Hands is actively recruiting. I know that a few people have gotten hired recently and that their application page is currently live on the site.
You can definitely apply via the page linked above, but don't get too discouraged if you don't hear back right away because that doesn't mean you never will.
I believe they are pretty careful not to overhire. I would suggest applying and for sure do the sample tasks to the best of your ability — even though it says that is optional.
Good luck!
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Anna Thurman is a work at home blogger and mom of two. She has been researching and reviewing remote jobs for over 13 years. Her findings are published weekly here at Real Ways to Earn.
My observation of Fancy Hands (FH) after two days (and two tasks) is this:
FH obviously does not filter or screen the tasks that they accept from customers. It is a free for all on the customer side of it. A great many of the tasks that are available are not tasks at all—they are research intensive quests. In many cases the request is non-specific in that once finished with the task, it is open for debate by the customer as to whether or not they are satisfied. For example, an actual task listed was: “Find me the best physical therapist in my neighborhood.” Your opinion of who the best one is, may not be their opinion. Many of the tasks are very general. Not enough information is given by the customer to complete the task satisfactorily (especially if you are a detail oriented person.)
FH prime goal is to satisfy the customer no matter what. If you accept a task that pays $2.75, and it takes you 4 hours on hold, or 20 phone calls, or if you are unable to successfully complete the task, a manager will tell you that you accepted the task, and you must finish it. Never mind that the outcome of the task isn’t realistic or even possible.
My actual experience is this: Fancy Hands is an organization that is clearly focused solely on the customer. They abandon any and all rational thought as to whether or not the tasks that they accept can be accomplished in a timely manner or even at all. This translates into workers being forced into labor intensive tasks that once accepted, must be finished at any cost. Managers will tell you point blank that you must finish the task no matter what—even if there is no realistic way to accomplish the outcome. If you want to give your labor and skills away for pennies (not dollars), this is the place for you. If you enjoy doing impossible tasks for a company (and their spoiled customers who act like you are their slave) by all means, sign up! I have decided that I will not give my labor (or skills) away to people who demand it and act entitled to it.
If you want a concrete example of an actual task and would like to know how much time it would take to complete it, here is one for you to research.
Task: List all school districts *North* of Chicago.
Seems simple enough on the surface. However, after reading further there are more requirements.
Once the list is compiled, additionally you must: link to the website for each district, indicate the name of the superintendent for each district and their contact number.
This is a *realistic* example of what fancy hands and their customers are asking you to do. The request is ambiguous. Did they want every district in Illinois that is north of Chicago? Or did they want only the districts north of Chicago in the county that Chicago is in? If you guess wrong, then you are setting yourself up for revisiting the task and spending even more time on it than you already did.
What is sold to you is that your average task should take about 20 minutes. But many task could take hours. I spent 4 hours on a task because I didn’t want to fail—I take pride in my capabilities. After submitting the finished task (which was approved by a mentor) the task was kicked back to me by the customer as being incomplete.
I not so politely told them what I thought of their organization and told them to terminate my account.
I got the job..woohoo..I am looking over the material now. I am so excited since I lost my lines with my phone gig & needed another wah gig. have found most of my jbs on this site. Thank-you Anna for your hard work putting this site together.
Hello, does anyone know if they are hiring at the moment? i went to their main site. and it said they weren’t, but it’s been saying that for MONTHS and looking thru this thread I see some people that were hired during the time I’ve been looking out on their site. Am I missing something?
Try this link to apply – https://www.fancyhands.com/job/apply
As of January 1 they will no longer pay via paypal. Many of the assistance are upset. Of course there is one of the few loyal assistance who are siding with management, but there is the issue of people not being able to use Dwola, which will now be the payment of choice.
I have to say that I’m highly disappointed in the direction that Fancy Hands has taken, and I think they are desperately offering clients any type of task to stay open. As an Assistant for a year, the tasks have become increasingly complex and difficult and yet the pay per task has decreased.
Any question of what is happening on the Fancy Hands forum results in “loyal assistants” leaping to the defense of the company and berating the poster.
The attitude has become “Love Us or Leave Us” and I think assistants are leaving in large numbers. I’ve done my last work for Fancy Hands as I don’t want to be exploited. I think my last task resulted in my being paid $1.25 per hour by the time it was complete and sent to the client. No thanks.
I noticed on the forum that the “nasty manager” mentioned though out this thread, is berating people on the forum now.
I am really surprised that **** is allowing this person to basically kill their talent pool.
Everyone that I know that did any work for FH has jumped ship due to ***** (we all know his name) not being able to actually give them the information they needed to help with clients and tech issues. (the phone is way glitchy and so is the Delay feature) He apparently has no actual working knowledge of anything related to the site.
I get the feeling they may be intentionally letting people jump ship now. They seem to not have work to go around anymore.
When I signed in this morning, there were 7 tasks… 3 of them could not actually be completed. (wanting non-refundable airline tickets) When I went back later, there were 16, and all but a couple were LARGE projects for less than $4 and the others were not possible. (lower my electric rate… find me transportation under $50 for my trip to New York.. seriously? )
This is really sad to hear and I have been hearing quite a few stories like this about this company. I know when word first came out about them it was all very positive but now they have gone downhill by everyone that has shared experiences. It’s hard enough to find work from home but then to be taken advantage of in this way is just not fair. I never worked for this company however after hearing what I have I don’t care to either.
This is just my opinion, based solely on my own experience.
It is best to be cautious when working for Fancy Hands.
They DO have issues with paying.
It takes ups to a week for them to clear payments through Paypal, then they CHARGE YOU the fees. (all other companies I’ve encountered pay the fee themselves)
They blame Paypal for this claiming it’s the number of payments they send out.
Fancy Hands has less then 300 “employees”.. I worked for Demand Media who had literally thousands of employees and did not have those issues with Paypal.
It is much more likely that they are running on shoestring and waiting for interest deposits before paying.
So, if you need your money quick, they are NOT who you want to work for.
Also.. they do not have guidelines for the tasks… so you get requests for tasks that take literally days to complete for $2.75.
You can be “fired” for unclaiming these tasks.. once you claim it, they expect you to do it, even if it isn’t possible. (getting estimates for repair work without a visit from the contractors.. or transferring non-transferable tickets)
They also let the “clients” reopen the tasks over and over asking for more and more for no extra money. I was stuck with one for 3 days because the client kept adding more and more different stuff to the task. (He went from wanting quotes for one service to wanting a quotes for another when he discovered the first service was too expensive. Then he wanted to find the services in a different town.)
Then there are the “Mentors”.
These are people that are suppose to monitor the submissions of the workers. SOME of them take it WAY too serious and seem to be on power trips. They will send tasks back to you asking you to add information that the client did not ask for. (One task asked about parking close to a college. The mentor wanted me to add additional places to visit while at the college)
This just adds to the lop-sided deal between the amount of work and the amount of pay.
If you have a lot of time to spend on making a few dollars, and don’t need your money anytime soon, Fancy Hands will be fine for you.
Again, this is my opinion only, based on my personal experience with this company.
I just got hired with them as well.
I decided not to move forward with this company due to the negativity I have heard about them and some from a few close friends. I have a few other eggs in my basket so I will concentrate more on those until something else comes along. Good luck to anyone working for them.
I just got hired, will keep you posted on my experience. Cheers
Good luck Josephine! 🙂
I just applied to them. I would love to get on with them. I have heard so many great things about them. Anna thank you for posting about them.
I agree with both KH and Katrina. It is flat out abuse with how the manager handles situations with assistants. I’m sure his whole perspective on being a manager would be a 180 degree turn if he ever started out as an assistant. But he seems to have a very unprofessional condescending attitude when it comes to his responses with assistants. If he wants to keep good people around he should consider replacing that manager. I’m sure he’s going to be reading as I know their PR gal keeps track of websites like these that mention FH. I’m only there because I really need the money and waiting for another VA opportunity to pop up here real soon. The pay needs to be better for the work you do and clients I bet have no clue that assistants are paid ridiculous low amounts of money.
Hey Guys!
Just a heads up on an update to Fancy Hands! I started working here over the weekend and today they opened up “Triage” to everyone! Previously it was only for their hourly workers while they had it in beta to work out the kinks, but now its available for all current workers of FH. It it very easy you just add tags for different tasks a particular request warrants. Such as if the person wants a restaurant reservation put in, there is a tag for that! Some require multiple tags and I am not sure about how much if any money can be made doing this I just thought I would let you all know!
Just checked the forum its unpaid, but you do get 3.5 points per triaged task so if your new like myself I may be a great way to gain standing and possibly go further someday.
Please could you tell me if this is available in the UK?
Regards
Aileen Sharples
Aileen – I will check and let you know. I am pretty sure it is just U.S. currently though.
Aileen, just checked and I’m almost 100 percent it’s just U.S. When you apply, you are asked for your city/state and additionally you must tell them if you are legally eligible to work inside the U.S.
Fancy Hands just added a policy wherein if you don’t respond to an email from a client or thirdparty within 8 hours, you lose the task. This would be the case especially if an overseas client or thirdparty responds when you’re asleep. They state this is mandatory. Futher they expect you checking emails every 8-12 hours. More reason that this is NOT an independent contractor job, but more like an employee of their company. I’m reporting them to the NYS Labor Department for further review.
That doesn’t seem fair … everyone has to sleep sometime. I also agree that doesn’t sound like something an independent contractor should have to do.
I have a question that perhaps someone on here knows the answer to: Fancy Hands treats you as an “independent contractor” . However, I got to thinking about this, and according to the IRS, you are not an “independent contractor” if you have to answer to someone, or do things according to their specifications. In part: “Behavioral: Does the company control or have the right to control what the worker does and how the worker does his or her job?
Financial: Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the payer? (these include things like how worker is paid, whether expenses are reimbursed, who provides tools/supplies, etc.)”
I have to agree with KH. Although I still work there, because I need to for now, it’s getting to the point of flat-out abuse by mentors/managers. (And, FYI it’s mostly the manager, a male). For example, I did a search for some information for a client and sent it along. Got paid and all, client never responded. Client must have not been happy with the info I sent him and contacted support. Next thing you know, 10 days LATER, I get an email from the manager saying the info wasn’t what the client wanted, that it was no use to him. I was told to ASAP get on it and find another source. Never mind that at the time I was sitting in a hospital room visiting my father. When I got home, I spent an HOUR looking for more info, because the only legitimate information out there was the information I had given the client. But, I did the best I could and sent it along. Or, sometimes clients will add to the task that has nothing to do with the original task you claimed. If you try to complain to the manager, 99% of the time he’ll say “don’t claim a task if you can’t work on it for this long”. Even if the task you’re still doing has nothing to do with the original task you claimed. Every once in a blue moon he’ll say to tell client submit new task. Yesterday I spent all morning flying through tasks and getting done at a good rate, the afternoon I spent getting more for the client to add onto the task. Wasn’t able to earn anything else. I say this: if you REALLY REALLY need the money, it pays on time and is legitimate. But have thick skin, because you’re going to get this alot: ASAP — those are the managers favorite letters.
Thanks for taking the time to share your insight, KH. I did some work for Fancy Hands last year and my experience was positive overall, so I’m being completely honest with my readers. However, I do respect that not everyone has the same experiences. Clearly yours was not positive and I appreciate your sharing that. I do want everyone to get all sides if possible, not just mine.
I’ve always been in a situation where I need something I can do that doesn’t require me to work a set number of hours per day and that I can hop on and off, etc. This is the primary reason I’ve recommended it in the past — my experience was positive and it’s very flexible work, and so many people are in need of that. Yes, some of the tasks are not worth the pay, but some are extremely easy (for example the ones where you simply schedule something for someone on a calendar or make a quick call to a business asking for information). I didn’t like the ones that were long and drawn out so I just avoided those and tried to catch the ones that did seem worth the pay. I enjoyed it because I never knew what I might be doing. I personally never had any trouble with unreasonable mentors, but you are not the only person who has had trouble with mentors. Clearly it may be one of the flaws with the company, kind of like how Demand Media has some seriously unreasonable copy editors that so many writers complain about. Being at their mercy isn’t something you can avoid 🙁
I haven’t been active on FH for a few months now. My mother who also has an account there has mostly stopped doing much for them because she said it seems lately the tasks are getting harder and don’t pay as much for what you’re asked to do. I need to log on again and do some more work to see if things have really started to go downhill as you say.
Thanks again for taking the time to comment. I truly do appreciate your sharing your experience.
I was recently hired and I’m disappointed in the amount of work expected for such a small amount of pay. I’m a very thorough person, and when asked to research 100 websites, I’m going to take more than 15-20 minutes. It’s not worth the time for many of the tasks ($2.75 for the above task!).
I’m willing to do phone work, but I haven’t seen (as of February 2012) many small jobs. It seems the tasks are getting larger and more complex the more FH is featured in the media. I am rethinking this job as it seems the amount you can make per hour averages about $6-$8, far less than minimum wage in my state.
Hi! So I decided to apply to Fancy Hands the first time you had posted something about it and I did the sample test. However, I kept getting the response that maybe fancy hands wasn’t right for me at this time and to try again later. So, I did. I tried this last weekend and did a completely different sample test and it still gave me the same response. I felt like the answers I had given were very detailed and great for anyone wanting to know the information but I guess they didn’t think so. Do you have any other ideas to get hired with this company?? Thanks!! ps. I LOVE YOUR WEBSITE! keep up the good work!
I’m sorry Ashley 🙁 It can be tricky.
One thing is to make sure you do both samples. I think they don’t ask that you do both, but you have a better chance of getting in if you do both samples. And of course don’t copy/paste the answers and try to word just like you’re helping someone directly. That’s about the best advice I can give. Good luck to you!
I’ve been working for Fancy Hands a couple weeks. There is a certain manager who is downright nasty to people. He talks to you like you’re stupid or something. I don’t appreciate it. Will probably take my talent elsewhere
I think I know who he is. He ticked me off one day as well.
Oh, he is nasty. You just have to take it in stride….but he’s reduced me to tears a couple of times. He’ll say things are unacceptable and he threatened to take away some of my points because he accused me of not following his directions on an answer he told me to change. I actually did change the answers, and pointed that out to him, and he never apologized. I’ve mentored tasks and see he’s mean to other people as well. I don’t think it’s fair, I understand there will be times people make mistakes, but to treat us all as if we are stupid kids is a bit absurd. But, I just sick it up so I can keep on movin in the right direction, because most of the time he leaves me alone.
Well, I just sent in my application this morning, and heard back before lunchtime that I was in. I’m looking forward to giving this a try. I’m wondering what the average pay per month might look like, but from what everyone’s saying, it sounds like the pay is fair for the work. Which is what matters most, honestly. Who wants to do a ton of work and then get underpaid! Anyway, thanks for the tip! I’m excited to see where this goes.
Congrats on getting in, Allie! I hope you like Fancy Hands! I definitely do.
They’re not hiring as of 11/4/12, but I’ll keep in touch with them. I love your website, so glad I found it!
Thank you for the kind words, Holly, I am glad you like the site.
Did you try this link to apply? It looks like this one is still working: http://www.fancyhands.com/job/survey/2012/03/31/
Hi
Thanks for this info. Wanted to say I got hired on Wednesday the 31st (just an hour after I did their “test” task). It’s a great gig. So far I’ve researched Thanksgiving Buffets in San Francisco to researching the best kind of dental floss. Sometimes the tasks are hard to complete (I had to unclaim a task because the person wanted me to get specific prices on recovering data from a crashed hard drive, but the places I called couldn’t give me exact prices w/o seeing the actual computer. A mentor told me to answer the question, and I could not do that). That is my one complaint is that I’m not sure fancy hands screens the tasks and some of the stuff required can be impossible to do. But you just skip over those tasks if that’s the case. Great fun, though, and a good income to be earned here. 🙂
Congrats on getting hired! I agree, some of the tasks don’t seem worth the pay but then others are more than worth the pay so it all kind of balances out.
I just finished applying and submitting my sample task, I figured it doesn’t hurt to try. Wish me luck and thanks for the post!
Good luck and remember if you don’t get in you can try back later (just use a different Gmail account).
After reading your post about Fancy Hands I applied and got a response stating that they liked my answers to the test questions right away and got invited for my first task. I have worked a couple of the projects and feel the pay is fair for what I’ve done so far. One thing when applying (I found out the hard way) is that you need to be really specific with their test questions. Instead answering: “I found this Google link”, make sure you give the link that answers the question and write out the answer in short form. I’m really liking it so far.
Thanks Anna for the post. Great reference!
Congratulations on getting in, Penny! I am glad you like it so far!
Hi people, please I would like you to know how much can you average monthly working for this company without doing any phone tasks? Thanks
Igor, it is hard to say because it’s task-based work. You might have some days where you are able to earn $50 or more in a day and other days where you just can’t find any tasks you can do and barely earn $5. But regardless it’s a good work at home job to have access to.
I filled out an application and did a sample task last night after reading this post. A couple hours ago I checked my application status on their website and it said I am not a right fit at this time. Congrats to those who were accepted though!
I’m sorry Kalli. For what it’s worth, I do think you can apply again at a later date (might have to use another Gmail address though).
Hey Anna,
It’s nice to see that you wrote a review of Fancy Hands. I applied for this company sometime around early December 2011. I haven’t heard back from them since, but I’m not too discouraged over it. Yesterday, I got an email from Word Gigs and am in the process of completing their training program. I filled out an application for this website sometime last May. So, maybe I’ll hear from Fancy Hands sometime in the near future.
Good luck Jenine! I hope you hear from them.
Wow, this sounds like a great opportunity. I’m currently working part-time as a WAH VA for a different company, but am in search for another position that I can pick up in my down time. Love the flexibility of this, so going to apply myself since it seems like there’s open positions still.
Haven’t commented on your blog yet, but have been viewing it for some time now. Just wanted to say that I love your site and all the great info that you supply your viewers. Keep up the good work and thanks for all of the great info 🙂
Good luck, and thank you for the kind words!
Hi, I’m a work at Home Son (I take care of my terminally ill mom full time). I read your article last night and applied via the site link you included. I am happy to say that I just got an e-mail from them this morning telling me that I passed the ‘sample task’ and that I am hired, so they are indeed actively hiring. I couldn’t believe the quick response, but I am glad to see it. Thank you for the tip, I love your site.
Congrats, Tommy!
Only took them an hour to get back to me this morning with the same news Tommy received. Hiring furiously, it would appear.
I’m not certain if everyone gets the same sample task test, but one quickly finds the exact same questions posted to Yahoo Answers and the like. Probably goes without saying, but do not use any bit of the language you find in the answers on those sites — for all I know Fancy Hands may have planted the questions and answers (they’re clever, if they did). It’s not especially difficult information to find; just spend a bit of time writing it up, submit something reasonably polished, and you should be good.
Quite a useful blog you have here, BTW. Only recently found it. Much appreciated.
Congrats on getting in, Christopher and thank you for the kind words about my blog. I am glad you find it useful. I am really happy to see that Fancy Hands is in fact still hiring. One of the best work at home jobs I’ve ever had, hands down.
I really really hate to have to post this, and please understand that the VAST MAJORITY of you are not offenders here, but I have recently had a rash of people leaving spiteful, hateful comments on this post. The comments have been directed towards co-workers, bosses, etc. and there have been things said where specific people are called out that are downright insulting.
While I encourage you to share your experiences, positive or negative, I will not publish comments that insult other people directly. Some things that have been said were really hitting below the belt. My blog is not a platform for that. If you have an issue with a specific person you work with or for, you should probably take it up with that person rather than venting about them here.
Again, feel free to discuss your dissatisfaction with the company, but I won’t be publishing any comments that insult a specific person. There is a mature way to express dissatisfaction without getting mean and hitting below the belt. If this continues, I will have no choice but to close comments on this post.
Thanks for understanding! And please know that vast majority of you are not doing this. You’ll know who you are if you left a comment and don’t see it approved after a few days or it gets deleted/edited.
Hello!
I was recently hired, so they are still accepting applications to my knowledge! One week in and I’m enjoying it.
Great article!
Courtney
Congrats on getting in Courtney!