Veryable: A marketplace for manufacturing and warehouse work

Looking for manufacturing and warehouse work? A site called Veryable may be able to help.

What is Veryable?

Veryable is a staffing company that specializes in helping manufacturing, retail and industrial companies find on-demand workers to run forklifts, build, assemble and ship products.

The company operates in about half of the country, with the bulk of its operations in the South, Midwest and East Coast. The site currently has no operations on the West Coast.

How does it work?

Freelancers who want to sign up with the site download the Veryable app on a smartphone. They’ll need to plug in personal information, including a Social Security number, and agree to a background check. They’ll also be asked to sign up with Vault, a banking app that Veryable uses to pay its workers.

Workers who are accepted will fill out a detailed profile that says what they’re qualified to do. For instance, you may be able to run a forklift or weld, assemble products or stack. You also cite your level of experience.

If there are job opportunities in your area, they’ll show up with the date, time and pay that the company is offering.

You can “bid” on those jobs, which normally just means you’re available to take the offer. However, you can offer to work for less or ask for more. If your bid is accepted, you’ll be notified and expected to show up where and when you said you would.

Veryable review

Veryable specializes in sending warehouse workers, forklift drivers, pipe-fitters, delivery drivers and other laborers to a wide array of retail, manufacturing and construction companies that need temporary help.

The site’s pitch to client companies is that they can save money by using Veryable’s vetted workers to handle surges in demand. This allows retail warehouses to enlist hundreds of temporary workers to handle the hectic holiday season, without having to hire new workers, who might have to be let go after the season ends. It also allows companies that have nabbed a new contract get quickly up to speed, while they staff up to handle the contract demands.

For workers, the site gives you access to dozens of different employers and the potential to work with all of them.

However, like other on-demand work marketplaces, you do not need to commit to working set hours every day. You also do not get any assurance that you’d be able to work set hours. Your hours are determined by the jobs that are available when you’re available and whether they pay enough to make them worth your while.

The process

When you’re accepted to the platform, you’ll start receiving notices when an employer in the 100-mile circle around your home needs workers. (The 100-mile circle around your home is how Veryable defines your market. Unlike other marketplaces that allow you to determine how far you’re willing to travel, Veryable has just one setting.)

Each work notice says what the company needs done, when, how many hours it will take, and what the company wants to pay for that gig. You can “bid” on that project by saying you’re available to do it at the price they suggest. Or you can offer to take less money — or ask for more — than what is reflected on the offer.

The hiring company will determine which bids to accept based on the worker’s profile, worker reviews and the bids it receives.

Pay

Pay rates vary by position and location. But usually range $13 to $25 per hour, according to Indeed.  Payments are processed daily through Vault, a banking app that Veryable uses to pay its workers. Workers must sign up with Vault to get accepted on the Veryable platform because Veryable does not pay in any other way.

The upside of the Vault system is the speed of payments. However, the downside is that the system charges fees for transferring money to other bank accounts via ACH ($1) or apps, like Apple Cash or Venmo ($3).

You can get fee-free cash via the 55,000-kiosk Allpoint ATM network. However, if you need to get cash outside of those ATMs, you’ll pay a $3 fee for each transaction.

Availability of shifts

Veryable emphasizes to its customers — its client oil and gas companies, warehouses, logistics firms and retailers — that it has lots of workers to fill every shift. That’s a benefit for the companies that use Veryable because it allows companies to find workers fast and have plenty of workers to choose from. But it’s a detriment to the workers.

On average, the site says that 8.1 workers bid on every job. That means seven bidders out of eight don’t get the work. Or, to put it another way, you’ll try and fail to get a job seven times for each successful bid.

People who have worked with the platform for a while are generally positive about it, lauding both the type of work and the fast pay. But in some areas, there’s simply not enough work to go around. The most common complaint we see about Veryable is that it is extremely difficult for new workers to break through and secure those pivotal early gigs — even if they bid relentlessly and cut their rates in an attempt to “win” the work.

Recommendations

At SideHusl.com, we are not huge fans of sites that require you to bid against other workers. That’s mainly because this process tends to drive down wages. That said, Veryable appears to have limits on how low you can bid to keep wages in a reasonable range.

And, while it does appear tough to get your first gigs in some markets, other markets appear vibrant enough to offer regular work. The bottom line: Veryable looks to be worth a try if you’re interested in warehouse and light industrial work. (You can sign up here.)

Also consider signing up with Wonolo, BlueCrew, GigSmart and Instawork, which offer similar positions in a wider range of cities.

Kristof is the editor of SideHusl.com, an independent website that reviews moneymaking opportunities in the gig economy.