Why the Monthly VA Retainer is a Scam (And Why We Killed It 14 Years Ago)
The virtual assistant industry has a dirty little secret, and it’s costing founders thousands of dollars every year.
It’s called the monthly use-it-or-lose-it retainer.
Almost every VA agency works on this model: You pay for 80 hours a month. If you only use 60 hours, the agency pockets the extra 20 hours of profit, and your counter resets to zero on the 1st of the next month.
They don’t build their business models on the hours you use. They build their margins on the hours you lose.
Why Retainers Hurt Your Business
When I started TaskBullet 14 years ago, I realized business doesn't happen in perfect 20-hour increments.
- Some weeks you launch a product and need 40 hours of heavy data entry.
- Some weeks you are traveling or out sick, and you only need 5 hours of inbox management.
When you are forced into a monthly retainer:
- You pay for downtime. You are essentially funding the agency's profit margin during your slow weeks.
- You invent busywork. How many times have you reached the end of the month, realized you had 15 hours left, and scrambled to give your VA useless tasks just so you didn't "lose" the money?
The Alternative: The Bucket System
We realized this was essentially a scam back in 2012. We decided to do something that scared the hell out of other agencies: We let you keep the hours you buy.
Instead of a monthly trap, you buy a "Bucket" of hours. Those hours are good for 90 days. If you go on vacation for two weeks, your hours just sit there, waiting for you. If you have a massive launch, you can burn through them quickly.
You get the same dedicated assistant. You get the same US-based management. You just stop paying for air.
If your current VA agency resets your hours at the end of the month, you aren't paying for a service—you are paying a tax. Stop doing it.