Fancy Hands Review – Is It Legit Or A Scam For Virtual Assistants?
Out of all the online jobs out there, becoming a virtual assistant, or VA, is one of the most common recommendations you see.
This honestly makes sense when you consider how virtual assistants can help businesses decrease operating costs and increase productivity. So, unsurprisingly, more people are hiring more virtual assistants than ever before.
And out of all the websites to find virtual assistant jobs, Fancy Hands is one of the most popular platforms out there.
But is Fancy Hands legit? And how much does this microtask website actually pay if you land a gig?
My Fancy Hands review is covering how this website works so you can make the right decision. And I'm even including Fancy Hands pay data from various salary review websites and testimonials from current and former Fancy Hands workers so you can decide if it's right for you.
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What Is Fancy Hands?
Fancy Hands is a virtual assistant marketplace where business owners can hire virtual assistants from the United States to assist with various online tasks.
The company began in 2010. Since then, Fancy Hands has grown into one of the most popular places to find US-based VAs. And it's a popular way to earn money online if you're in this line of work.
As a Fancy Hands virtual assistant, you complete tasks for clients and get paid per task.
Tasks vary in complexity and time requirements. Fancy Hands advertises that you get paid around $3 to $7 per task, but it all depends on the work you're doing and the clients you have.
That said, some common Fancy Hands gigs include:
- Data entry
- Making phone calls
- Handling reservations
- Schedule appointments
- Performing research
- Transcription and typing
- Ordering food deliveries
- Coordinating conference calls
- Booking travel
- Simple freelance writing tasks
- Comparison shopping for the best price
- Proofreading and editing
Is Fancy Hands Legit?
Yes, Fancy Hands is legit, and the website pays US virtual assistants to help businesses with various online tasks. However, common complaints about Fancy Hands include low hourly pay and tasks taking much longer than the platform estimates.
This is one of the downsides of this side hustle. For example, Fancy Hands might pay you $3 to schedule an appointment for a client. But what if it takes twice as long to complete the task than expected? In this case, you're getting paid the same amount for a lot of work.
Ultimately, Fancy Hands is a flexible way to make quick cash on the side. But for most people, this is just a side gig and not a full-time income opportunity. And your hourly pay might be quite low until you become more efficient.
How Does Fancy Hands Work?
As a Fancy Hands virtual assistant, you get paid to complete short gigs, known as tasks, for various clients. You get paid per task, and the platform works in three simple steps:
- Sign up and qualify to become a VA
- Complete tasks
- Get paid
Let's examine how each step works in a bit more detail.
1. Sign Up & Qualify
You can sign up for Fancy Hands if you live in the United States and are 18 or older. Unfortunately, being based in the United States is a firm requirement, so this isn't the right online side hustle for everyone.
Once you create an account, you have to apply to become a Fancy Hands VA and pass a test that includes grammar questions and some problem-solving questions.
According to Fancy Hands, applicants should have the following skills and tools if they want to become VAs:
- Good communication skills
- Strong writing skills
- Access to a computer and reliable internet
- Desire to try new things and being a self-starter
- Being able to take on responsibilities
It can take a few days to a week or two for your Fancy Hands application to process, so make sure to have some patience.
2. Complete Fancy Hands Tasks
If Fancy Hands approves your application, you can begin completing tasks to make money.
Task claiming works on a first-come, first-serve basis. You can find a list of available tasks on your main dashboard, and tasks outline how much they pay and what steps are involved. The client also adds information to help you complete the task.
This video from ThriftingThickChick shows you an inside look at the Fancy Hands dashboard, how to claim tasks, and what the entire process looks like.
After you complete a task, you submit it for final review. From there, Fancy Hands takes a look at your work. The client also approves the work and can also provide feedback.
In some instances, clients can reject the work if you completely messed up and didn't follow instructions. However, this shouldn't happen often since tasks are generally quite simple.
Also note that you can place tasks on hold and move on to other tasks when it makes sense.
For example, if you accept a task to make a restaurant booking for a client but it's 5:00 am and the restaurant isn't open yet, you can't call to make the reservation. So, you can simply claim the task, put it on hold with a note explaining that you'll complete it when the restaurant opens, and then complete the task when it's possible.
3. Get Paid
The final step with Fancy Hands is to actually get paid for your work.
While many GPT websites pay via PayPal cash, Fancy Hands is different. The platform processes payment with Dwolla every other Tuesday.
This means virtual assistants with Fancy Hands need to connect their bank account to Dwolla to receive payments.
Also note that Fancy Hands isn't a same-day pay side hustle or online job that pays you weekly. You're looking at at least two weeks to actually get paid, so keep this in mind.
How Much Does Fancy Hands Pay?
Fancy Hands pays virtual assistants $3 to $7 per task. Most tasks pay $3 to $4 for each task and take about 10 to 20 minutes to complete. Overall, this means you can earn about $9 to $12 per hour with Fancy Hands if you work efficiently.
However, most tasks take much more than 20 minutes without any additional pay. This makes it more likely you could earn $3 to $6 per hour, or even less from Fancy Hands.
This is the main complaint people have about Fancy Hands. You can easily get stuck on hold when making phone calls or end up with tasks that take 40 minutes to an hour or longer.
So, while the platform looks like it pays a high hourly rate, beginners should probably expect $5 to $7 per hour at most.
Also note that you're an independent contractor with Fancy Hands, not an employee. This means there aren't benefits, and taxes aren't withheld from earnings.
Is Fancy Hands A Scam?
No, Fancy Hands isn't a scam, and the company lets United States virtual assistants make money by completing short tasks. However, many freelancers only make a few dollars per hour with Fancy Hands. So, this isn't a full-time job or main income source by any means.
Many negative Fancy Hands reviews also complain about the amount of unpaid work and waiting around you end up doing.
Overall, Fancy Hands is an easy online job. But it's not very lucrative, and you can likely make more if you sell your skills online as a freelance VA and deal with clients directly.
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Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Get paid real cash every two weeks
- A flexible side gig where you choose your own hours
- Completely remote work
- No previous VA skills are required
Cons:
- Low pay for the work required
- Only available in the United States
- PayPal payments aren't available.
- Many tasks take longer than the time period allocated which results in extremely low pay
- Tasks are irregular making it hard to earn a steady income
Other Fancy Hands Reviews
After researching Fancy Hands for this review, I think it's an effective way to make money online if you're a beginner, although it doesn't pay very much per hour.
But one way to tell if a side hustle is worth it or not is to read reviews from other people who have tried it. And, there are numerous Fancy Hands reviews on salary review websites like Indeed where past and current VAs on the platform share their experiences.
Here's what two other Fancy Hands VAs are saying:
- “The micromanagement is unbearable! You must first go through a mentor or management to ask the client a question. So it is a lot of back and forth before your question makes it to the client if it even does. That's a lot of wasted UNPAID time! You'll maybe make $10-$30 a day! It is not constant. When I had to speak with management, they were useless and rude. Not enough pay for the amount of energy you put in. Your best bet is Upwork! I'm unable to disable my account myself, or else I would!”
- “This company went viral on a couple side hustle websites and blogs but here is a real review. Plan on making about $20 a week. Sometimes it is more but this would be the average. It is not enough to live off of. I did take forever for my onboarding to be completed but it was worth the wait.”
As you can see, these virtual assistants complain about low hourly pay and a lot of unpaid work. Once again, you can't expect to make more than a few dollars per hour with this site, unless you catch a bit of a break.
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The Best Fancy Hands Alternatives
After researching Fancy Hands and looking at testimonials from other virtual assistants, I don't think this platform should be someone's main side hustle.
You can use it if you want a flexible side gig. However, many other alternatives can help you land higher-paying clients if you put in some effort:
- FlexJobs: A leading remote job site that has many high-quality VA jobs.
- Upwork: One of my favorite platforms for finding freelance work.
- Fiverr: Another marketplace that's popular for VA services.
- PeoplePerHour: One more alternative to Fancy Hands that you can consider.
Tom also made a video sharing some of his favorite remote job sites that he's used to land gigs in the past.
You can also check out similar online task marketplaces, like Appen and Clickworker, if you like this type of flexible microwork.
But the bottom line is that branching out into freelancing and starting your own VA business is far more lucrative than using platforms like Fancy Hands.
Extra Reading – The Best Work From Phone Jobs.
Final Thoughts
In addition to freelance writing and blogging, I have been working as a virtual assistant for a number of years. This remote lifestyle allows me to adjust my hours for my family’s needs and I love that I can work when and where I need to.
When I started my research for this Fancy Hands review, I was originally intrigued, however, not for very long. While this Fancy Hands does indeed contract freelancers to assist with microtasks, the pay is just not there for many of the jobs required.
If you’re looking for virtual work that you can do online, Fancy Hands is definitely an option. That being said because pay is low and the amount of work is limited, you may have better luck using websites like Fiverr, FlexJobs, or Upwork. There are also lots of other side hustles that pay far more than Fancy Hands.
Yes, Fancy Hands is legit. But don't expect to make $1,000 a week or anything even close to that with this gig.
Thanks for reading!
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Fancy Hands Review
Name: Fancy Hands
Description: Fancy Hands is a US virtual assistant marketplace that lets VAs complete tasks for clients to earn $3 to $7 per task they complete.
Currency: Desktop, Android, iOS
Application Category: Microtask Sites
Author: Kim Ritter
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Earning Potential
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Hourly Pay
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Ease-Of-Use
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Getting Paid