Would you pay somebody to assemble your IKEA furniture for you?

Hell yes!
I’m the perfect client, single woman, can’t read diagrams to save my life and have a couple screwdrivers, a tape measure and a hammer to my name. lol
I don’t know if you would be booked solid but I’d think you’d get business.

Hail yeah read the instructions: A chinese english second language person wrote em. Always amusing.

I’m guessing that guys my age (21) would be out of question for you, we like to get our hands dirty and know how to build these things… In my opinion your target market would be more females, and it would be probably more directed at elderly women… Maybe starting at 30–40-50? Not too sure though…

As far as payment is concerned I really don’t know how much a person would be willing to pay on top of the actual furniture.. And you may consider charging for the travel, depending on how you would travel (car, bike, train, etc)

Heck yes. I have spent hours putting a bookshelf together and had to redrill holes. Ok, so maybe they didn’t really need redrilled, I had it upside down, but still…
@bydshec17 elderly women starting at 30–40-50? Pfft.

Great point @bvdschec17!

Yea I’m 22 so I’m all for figuring that kinda stuff out. I’ll keep in mind my target customer when I’m advertising. As far as travel goes, I have an unlimited metro card for the subway so it’s no extra charge for me to shoot around the city and get to people’s homes. I’d bring my own tool box just incase.

I was thinking that if I started getting decent business I’d market in other areas/towns and get my friends in on it too.

The Assemblers!

Would you guys pay by the hour (or half hour)?

How much would you pay tops?

I don’t have to pay anyone…I just ask my son to do it…!!! ; )

@chyna Well I was going to say about 50–60-70 but I could imagine a 30 year old woman asking for help as well. I didn’t mean to deem 30 year old woman as old

@chyna @JSpeer I found it funny that none of you got my username right, you preferred to type it out instead of choosing it from the list lol

I might if I knew of such a service.

I am good at assembling furniture, so I wouldn’t. But I have previously heard of people who do these services for a fee.

A new service, called TaskRabbit.com that coordinates people who need help with people who have the time and skills to do the errand or chore for a fee. It’s only just started in a handful of areas in the USA, but I think it’s a very clever idea!

You’re in NYC? Of course there’s a market for that.

Just run an ad in Craigslist.

And to get some idea of what to charge, if I’m not mistaken, IKEA offers that at additional charge in store. But then one has to figure out how to get it home.

Also call other places that sell DIY furniture (Walmart, Sears, KMart) and ask them about assembly charges on their furniture items.

If you price yourself just SLIGHTLY UNDER I’m betting you’ll have as much business as you can handle. There are tons of people living in NYC and many of them affluent enough so that a service fee like this is a drop in the bucket for them.

And certainly don’t limit yourself to just IKEA stuff either. Run a test ad in Craigslist and see what kind if response you get.

But just a little piece of friendly advice from someone who has hired people from CL for help with moving and other odd chores.

If someone only left their email address (or worse yet, the CL response address) I didn’t even bother because so many service people left their phone number and I could get an immediate idea of cost, availability, etc.

One time some thieves tried to break in and almost broke the door totally in. The entire door frame was severely damaged.

Obviously I wasn’t in any mood to trade emails with a bunch of yahoos. The first competent handyman who was available immediately got the job.

You won’t get a realistic idea unless you include your phone number in the ad.

I’m predicting a lot of business coming your way :)

I would not, but my boss at my last job hired someone to put together the IKEA furniture for the office. So there’s an idea for a market.

Saturated market here. look on CL.

Yes, I have paid people to assemble furniture and also to install items I have purchased at a Home Improvement store.

I am sure there is a market, and it is not just IKEA. They may be the biggest, but there are a lot of places that sell furniture that has to be assembled. As to what you can charge, I am guessing somewhere between $20 and $50.

Another good way to make money is from Tutor.com. They are an online tutoring company. Starting pay is around $10 per hour. You work from home on your computer and schedule your own time in one hour blocks.

@bvdshec17 You could always broaden your marketing abilities by offering to assemble the furniture while wearing a thong and doing a little strip tease for the “elderly” women. lololol
You can wear a tear away uniform. Big biz. like being a nude housekeeper. haha

I have relatives who don’t get around too well, who would probably use a service like this. When they need something done around the house, they usually ask for a referral from someone they know, or someone whose work they’ve been happy with in the past.

It seems like there would be a lot of crossover between your customers and, say, people who get maid service, grocery delivery, or hire gardeners, etc. You might also want to get in touch with some local small businesses offering services like these, explain what you do, and ask if you can exchange referrals.

This one is for @Coloma : http://www.damnfunnypictures.com/parody/4852/ikea-instructions/

Would you assume liability? What happens if you make a mistake or damage the item?? Would you have a contract?

I’m too much of a “plan for the worst” kind of person for this type of arrangement. I would probably assume that you were casing my house to rob. If I wasn’t going to assemble the item myself, I would only go with someone I knew.

Good point @Cupcake, i understand that.

Honestly I dont wanna make a career out of it, just something to make some extra cash. I’d probably leave it up to the “customer” to decided if they’re comfortable or not. I dont wanna get into contracts and legal stuff. If i broke something, I’d pay for it. But I would just post up some fliers, and I’ll assume whoever calls me is comfortable enough.

old school honor system lol

flyers*