Are Freelance UX Researchers a thing?

Hello all!

I’ve been building and designing my own web products for about ten years now, so I guess that makes me a Product Person?

Anyways, I’ve been getting deeper into the realm of proper UX Research lately and I’m seeing just how valuable good research can be to a Product team.

However, these research roles seem to be best filled by folks hired directly into the team. Makes sense, right? So, unless you have the budget to hire a researcher for +$90k you’re s*it ought of luck 🤷🏽‍♂️

So, considering how a Researchers deliverables are fairly standard, I’m assuming there is a thriving community of freelancers...but I’m having trouble finding them.

Has anyone hired such a freelancer? Good or bad idea? Are their rates as high as developers?