It is a well-established finding in the social sciences that workers with higher educational qualifications have higher average incomes. The ‘gig economy’ – a new labour market in which workers are hired via internet platforms to complete a one-time service (a ‘gig’) – challenges this paradigm. Rather than by higher educational degrees, the hourly earnings of online gig workers are influenced by the gig workers’ assessment scores and their work experience outside and on the platform. The author explores how fair pay can be achieved in this highly competitive labour market.