In the last few years, Ikea has partnered with TaskRabbit to offer a bespoke furniture assembly service.
To use the service you simply request a quote from TaskRabbit at checkout and they will provide you with a price, together with details on when they can attend to you to assemble your product.
If you’ve selected the assembly service, then you might be wondering what the custom practice is for tipping.
To help you out with that, we’ve done the research and have looked into what the etiquette is, how much you should tip (if anything), what TaskRabbit workers earn, and the cost of the assembly service.
We’ve also looked at instances when you should tip more and withhold a tip completely.
Do You Tip the Ikea Assembler? Short Answer
Tipping an Ikea assembler from Taskrabbit is optional but we recommend that you should. There is an option within the Taskrabbit app or you can simply pay cash in person. Furniture assemblers generally earn a below-average salary so we think a tip is justified of between $10 – $20 depending on the job.
What Do Ikea Assemblers Earn?
One of the first things on most people’s minds when it comes to tip etiquette is whether the recipient needs a tip to supplement their income.
As Ikea is outsourcing to Taskrabbit for its customers, what a “Tasker” earns depends on a few factors such as their experience, their rating on Taskrabbit, and the job in question.
According to Taskrabbit’s website, assembly costs are normally charged at $29 – $53.
Compare.com states that on average Taskers earn only $110 a month. This is probably because it’s quite hard to secure regular gigs on the Taskrabbit platform and it does take time to build up your reputation.
There are also other considerations like where you live.
Compare.com states that some Taskers earn up to $6000 to $7000 a month but these are likely to be few and far between.
According to Comparably, furniture assemblers earn $29,074 per annum on average in the US.
This is quite a bit below the average US yearly income which stands at $53,490 as of 2022 according to Jobted.com.
We know that assemblers generally earn a below-average salary as we discovered when we looked at whether and how much to tip Wayfair Assemblers who use a similar outsourced service called Handy.
On this basis, we consider it is in good conscience to offer a tip to Ikea assemblers, especially if their workmanship is up to scratch.
How Much Does Ikea Assembly Cost?
Another key consideration when deciding whether to tip and how much to offer is how much the service will cost you.
Too high and you may decide to withhold a tip. But if it’s reasonable then you might decide to reach into your wallet to offer one or offer more.
We’ve looked into the average cost of an Ikea assembly and according to HomeAdvisor it stands at $110. According to Thumbtack, it’s $90.
The cost of the service will depend on the number of pieces of furniture you require assembling and also the size/complexity of the job.
Taskrabbit quotes you after you’ve added the service at checkout.
If we work on the basis of the above figures of $110 and $90 and apply the standard 10-20% tip that is customary in the US, then you should be budgeting to pay a tip of somewhere in the region of $10 – $20.
You could also opt to pay a fixed tip (rather than a percentage) but we think $10 – $20 is already a reasonable sum. We wouldn’t advise tipping less than $5.
How Should I Pay a Tip to an Ikea Assembler?
We generally recommend paying tips in cash where possible as then you know that the intended recipient will receive the tip.
However, Taskrabbit also offers the opportunity to pay the tip via the app so you may consider this more convenient.
Taskrabbit claims that their Taskers receive 100% of the tips they’re compensated so you shouldn’t be concerned with the prospect of some unscrupulous manager withholding your tip for the company and not the Tasker.
Does Ikea/Task Rabbit Allow Taskers to Take Tips?
Some companies do debar their staff from taking tips but Ikea and Taskrabbit do not.
They actively encourage that you reward tips to their Taskers and even provide a facility in the app to do so.
When to Tip More and Not Tip
There will be occasions when you will feel that the service you’ve received warrants a tip or warrants an increase on what you’d typically pay.
We would say to tip more if:
- The furniture has been assembled to a good standard with no missing screws or damage;
- The work area has been maintained well and no mess has been created;
- The job has been done quickly and efficiently without delay;
- The Tasker was on time and was professional and courteous ;
- Around the holiday time;
- If the Tasker has come out in bad weather or during unsociable hours.
On the other hand, you might want to hold back your tip or reduce it if:
- The Tasker has damaged your furniture or done a poor job (i.e. failed to construct in accordance with instructions, missed screws, put pieces in the wrong place, etc…);
- Your house or workplace made available to the Tasker has been left in a mess or has been damaged;
- If the Tasker was unprofessional, rude, or inefficient.
Conclusion
While there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to tipping Ikea assemblers, we think it is justified given their lower-than-average wage and that Taskers are self-employed and aren’t guaranteed a steady flow of incoming work. Indeed this is the conclusion we reached when we looked at the question more generally (see our article Do You Tip Furniture Assemblers).
The average cost of an Ikea assembly is around $90 – $110 according to our research which is fairly typical as assembly costs go.
On that basis, we’d recommend tipping $10 – $20 depending on the complexity of the job.
Everyone hates constructing flat-packed furniture and that’s presumably why people opted for assembly in the first place. On that basis alone, we think a tip is generally warranted.
Clearly, there will be times when a tip should be withheld but also times when the service is that good that it should be increased.
We’ll leave that to your good judgment.
