Exploring Your Options
Sell your old stuff. There are a variety of ways to turn the things you don’t use into cash, including: Hosting a garage sale Sanding, staining/painting and cleaning old furniture to sell at antique stores or pawn shops for a profit. Selling old things through eBay or Craigslist. Selling old clothes at a second-hand shop. Selling books, CDs, and games to specialty stores and media outlets like FYE or Best Buy. Selling a motorcycle or other vehicle through dealers or online.
Sign up for paid surveys. While they rarely pay more than $5-10 apiece, you can complete a lot of them to earn a quick profit. Explore sites like: OpinionOutpost SurveySavvy SurveySpot Valued Opinions.
Make money off of your body (for science). There are a variety of ways to make some money off your flesh and blood, including: Sign up for clinical research trials. Selling plasma. Selling sperm. Selling eggs.
Do other people's chores for quick cash. The explosion of the internet has made it possible for you to sign up for a variety of low-commitment jobs to make some extra money. Unfortunately, these services may only be available in big cities. You can: Drive for Uber, Grubhub or Lyft. Shop for people with Instacart or Postmates Babysit and watch pets or houses with UrbanSitter, DogVaca, or TrustedHouseSitters.com Tutor with Wyzant, Istaedu, or Tutor.com.
Rent out a room of your house. Again, the sharing economy made possible by the internet is making even easier to make a quick buck online. Try out: AirBnB HomeAway FlipKey OneFineStay.
Become an online freelancer. You can write or edit, or simply complete menial tasks that machines struggle with. The pay is low, but the work is steady and you can log on whenever you want. You can do everything from writing and editing to mock trials. Try out: Writing: eLance, iWriter, WritersDomain Odd Jobs: Amazon's Mechanical Turk program. Mock Trials:eJury, OnlineVerdict.com Affiliate Marketing: You can sign up for affiliate marketing programs, it's a great way to earn a passive income as well. Great affiliate programs can be found on Amazon, BrandPush, and more. Virtual Assistant: VirtualAssistantJobs.com, Zirtual One of the easiest and best side hustles for someone in college is to be an English teacher or an English tutor. If you go to Google and type in being an English tutor to a foreign country, you can see many different options that pay very well. Go to websites like Fiverr to find jobs people need, like creating graphics for them or social media posts.
Sign up for credit cards or accounts with bonuses. You never want to open accounts just to open them, but this can be a great way to get a quick infusion of cash. Note that many cards require a minimum purchase limit before you get your bonus, however. If you card offers cash back, use it for everything, then pay it off online as soon as you get home to avoid interest payments.
Selling Your Things
Sell your things to local stores. There are many stores, local and chain, who buy products from the public at a reduced rate and then resell them in their stores. Sort through your home to find things you no longer need, want, or use and make a visit to these stores in your area. If you consider yourself quite the avid reader with a library to match, consider sorting through your archives to find old books you no longer want. Books in good condition can be bought for several dollars apiece at used-bookstores. Clothing is something everybody has, and often something we have too much of. If your wardrobe is overflowing with clothes, take a pass through and find the things that you can’t fit or aren’t in style anymore. You will get the best price for clothing that doesn’t have holes, stains, or wear-and-tear. If your library is full of music rather than books, consider selling some of your CDs. CDs with their cases intact and without scratches or blemish can be sold for a few dollars each. Find a local music or record store in your area and see if they buy used CDs. If gaming is your thing, try sorting through all your old video games. Many video game stores will take your used games if they are brought without any scratches or blemishes in the original case. Although you may only get a fraction of the price you originally bought the games for, making a few dollars on something you no longer use is better than nothing. Try taking miscellaneous things to a local pawnshop. This allows you to resell anything from a blender you never used to your old motorcycle jacket.
Sell your things directly. If you would rather be responsible for selling what you own instead of taking it to a store, consider having a garage sale or advertising your items online. Although these involve much more planning than simply making a drop-off at your favorite secondhand store, you can make much more money by doing the work yourself. Throw your own yard or garage sale. At most, you can expect a brand-new item to sell for 50% of its original price, but you will be making money back on something you’re not currently using. Be sure to plan ahead by placing ads in your local newspaper and putting up signs for your sale on nearby busy streets with directions. Place big-ticket items on sites like Craigslist or eBay to advertise to a wider audience. If you have something worth a lot more money than just some used clothes and garage tools, then open an ad for it online. Craigslist is a great option for selling something right away to locals without the hassle of shipping it across country.
Sell bodily materials. Now, as strange as that may sound, you can actually sell parts of your body for a lot of money. We’re not talking organs, but rather things like plasma, genetic material, and long hair. If you hair is long (over ten inches) and in good health, consider cutting it off and selling it to a company that makes wigs. Untreated hair that has never been colored or relaxed gets the best price, especially if it is a unique color or texture. The longer your hair is, the more money you can make off of it! Sell your plasma at a local blood bank. Plasma is a part of your blood that is given in infusions to patients with certain medical disorders. You can donate your plasma multiple times over a few weeks, and earn on average $50 per donation. Sell your sperm. Although not every guy is comfortable with giving up his genetic material to strangers, if you are short on cash and willing to help some unknown couple have a baby then sell your sperm. You can earn up to $100 per visit. Sell your eggs. This is much more timely than selling sperm, but for any ladies who want to make a lot of money and don’t mind selling their eggs, you can earn up to $10,000 for a single treatment. The process of selling eggs takes several weeks of injections and a minor outpatient procedure, and may be slightly uncomfortable. The upside is that you make a lot of money in a relatively short amount of time.
Sell metal. This could range from your old jewelry to a pile of scrap metal in the backyard. Metal gets a good price, and is rather easy to find if you are looking for the cheap stuff. Gold is being bought at an all-time high right now - $1,350 per solid 24 karat ounce. Although most the gold in jewelry isn’t such high quality, you could certainly make a few hundred dollars by selling some old rings or bracelets you never wear. Scrap metal is a great way to make money that most people don’t necessarily think of. If you have an old car, boat, RV, or building with unnecessary metal, then consider taking it apart and selling it to a local scrap metal shop. You could make several hundred, or thousand, dollars on metal parts you may have just left to rust. Whenever you throw a party, gather all the metal cans afterwards. These can be sold to scrap metal shops for around 70 cents per pound (about 32 cans). You’re not only being green by recycling trash, but making a few bucks in the process as well. Salvage old scrap metal from nearby abandoned warehouses and through dumpster diving. You may also be able to buy old metal in the form of cars or boats for cheaper than you would get paid to sell the metal.
Sell something you make. Are you an excellent baker? An artist? A gardener? A carpenter? Then take your handmade goods to market! This doesn’t necessarily mean that your only option is to sell at a local farmers market. For a true artisan, there are many ways to sell your wares. Try opening a shop with an online marketplace such as Etsy or eBay. These allow you to advertise your products, give brief descriptions, and promote your items around their sites. Etsy is becoming a massively successful place for unique handcrafted goods sold at high prices. Bring things you make to a local holiday bazaar, fair, or market. The people who attend these places go specifically to see the amazing products people make themselves, so the audience is already tailored for you. Some of these places may require you to pay a fee to rent a booth, but you may be able to get a selling space for free. Advertise your products to local offices and boutiques. Visit places where you might find a product similar to what you make, and ask to sell your goods there. Many local business owners are happy to support a fellow businessman by showcasing or selling their products.
Sell space on your website. Are you the proud owner of a blog or website? Then consider selling ad space in the open columns of your pages. You can sign up with different affiliate links which provide ad space for major third party vendors. Then, you get paid a percentage of the amount of sales that are made through your page. The best way to make a lot of money in this fashion is to keep traffic on your website or blog high by keeping posts frequent and interesting.
Rent some of your space. If you have a spare bedroom, basement, or parking spot on a busy street, consider renting it out. You are in charge of the renting process, so if at any point in time it doesn’t seem to be working out for you, then you are free to cancel the agreement. If you decide to rent part of your house, make sure you write up a lease and have all your paperwork and licensing in order. This will help you to avoid accidents with renters or the government. Try advertising an extra parking space to your neighbors who may need room for multiple cars. Look at monthly rates in the area for parking to gauge how much you should be charging in order to be fair.
Sell stock photos. Stock photos are simple, somewhat nondescript images that people can use for a fee in articles, brochures, presentations, etc. They don’t earn much apiece, but if you upload a nice little collection, the sales can really add up – especially since photos can be sold over and over. Best of all, it doesn’t get much easier than clicking off a few decent shots, uploading them, and waiting.
Getting an Odd Job
Try “sitting” for your neighbors. Although it’s easy to associate babysitting as a job for thirteen year old girls, it is actually a fast and easy way to make money. Sitting doesn’t stop at children though, and can expand to include houses, pets, and gardens as well. Advertise your sitting services at nearby bulletin boards and around your neighborhood to increase the likelihood of getting hired. Pet sitting or dog walking is a great way to earn money if you’re an animal-lover. When your friends, family, or neighbors head out on vacation, offer to take care of their pets for a low fee. This will help them out, and give you an easy opportunity to earn cash doing something you love. House sitting is possibly the best of the “sitting” types of jobs. You get paid to stay in someone’s home and make sure there are no break-ins or accidents during a family’s time away on vacation or business. Although you may only have to make daily check-ins, this is an exceedingly easy way to earn a lot of money.
Do odds and ends jobs. Everyone has small tasks that they need done, whether it be cleaning the gutters, detailing their car, or deep-cleaning the house, there are plenty of tasks and chores to do. Advertise your services to friends and family who would be willing to have you do their least favorite chores at a small rate.
Become a mystery shopper. A mystery shopper is a person who is paid to secretly visit stores and restaurants and report back about the visit in an online survey afterwards. You get paid about $10 on average per store, for a brief 10-15 minute run-in. The Mystery Shoppers Providers Association regulates the third parties that are hired, so visiting their site can give you access to some safe mystery shopper programs. If you are required to purchase something - food or clothing typically - you will be reimbursed for that item after completing the online survey.
Get a job as an umpire or referee. Do you love sports? Then read up on your favorite game’s rules and get paid to ref! For around $15 per hour-long game, you will get a little bit of extra cash for participating in your favorite sports. Make sure you are clear on the rules though, as you may have to deal with unhappy players if you make a bad call by accident.
Get a job as a temp worker. Businesses often need temporary employees, so offer your services up to a temp agency. Although this might not be the quickest way to earn cash, the jobs are easy because you won’t have time to be trained in elaborate tasks. Become a virtual assistant. If you have administrative experience and would like an opportunity to work from home, look into virtual assisting jobs at a site like virtualAssistants.com or TaskRabbit.com. It may take about a week to be processed, but the work is extremely convenient for stay-at-home parents or for filling in the gaps of a part-time schedule. Get a seasonal job. Many businesses and stores get extra busy at certain times of the year depending on the services they provide. Get a job that lasts a few weeks or months for a local store or office that has a busy season coming up.
Work for special events. Many businesses need people for short periods to advertise or work for special conventions. You may be paid to stand on the street holding a sign, or to give out free samples of certain products at the mall. Typically the wages are hourly and are on a very short-term basis of a few days or weeks.
Try a mechanical turk program. This is an online job where you are assigned a simple task which is difficult for a computer to manage. These are mundane, repetitive, but incredibly basic jobs that you work at will. Typically payment is in cents per job, so although the tasks are easy you have to put in a lot of time to make much money. Amazon offers a mechanical turk program that deposits straight into your Amazon account, but can be withdrawn as cash after you reach the $10 mark. You get to choose which job you want to do from a list of needs, but keep in mind that these jobs can be very boring. Have perseverance and you can make a bit of money in a week of work!
Get a newspaper route. Although this job is best for early birds, if you are willing to wake up in the wee hours of the morn, you can make up to $10,000 a year just delivering newspapers! The best part is, because of the hours you don’t have to worry about your paper route conflicting with your regular work or school schedule.
Making Money Other Ways
Try online surveys. Reputed online survey sites pay $5-$10 per survey. You could supplement your income by just taking one or two surveys per day.
Be part of a study. Universities, researchers, and pharmaceutical companies are in constant need of participants for studies. Depending on the study, you could be paid up to several hundred dollars! Most studies are looking for people who are in good health, although some have poor-health criteria they need participants to fill. Visit the websites of local universities or the department of health to find out what studies are being conducted near you. Participate in the NASA sleep study. This requires you to stay in one of their beds for three months straight with minimal physical activity. The payment for this study in particular is a whopping $10,000! Although the payment is due after months of forced bed rest. Participating in medical studies always puts you at risk for certain side-effects, although these are always very unlikely.
Give your opinions. Companies want to hear what the general public thinks of the services or products they provide. To find out these opinions, many give online surveys which anyone can take and subsequently be paid for. Try visiting opinionoutpost.com, which gives dozens of different surveys to take, each being worth a few dollars. Join a focus group. These may be online or in-person, and require you to give feedback on a particular product or idea. You may be paid a few dollars, or up to a hundred depending on the time and effort needed for your group activity.
Find sign-up incentives. If you were thinking about switching bank accounts, getting a new credit card, or recommending a company you like to a friend, for example, shop around for cash-back bonuses before making your decision.
Advertise for companies. Businesses and corporations want their products and services to reach as many people as possible. To do this, they employ the services of everyday citizens to spread their word for them. You may be asked to advertise for them online or in-person. Have your car wrapped in advertisements. Depending on the product or service, you may be required to have the wrap placed on your car for several months or years. This, however, adds up to hundreds of dollars over time. Removing the wrap when you’re finished does no damage to your car. Sell your status updates for your Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook accounts. You will be given your choice of certain advertisements that will show up as a status update posted by you on your favorite online social media. You get paid more for the number of ads you post and followers you have. Visit ad.ly.com for some introductory advertisements.
Volunteer time at a food co-op. Many cities have local food co-ops in which the workers are volunteer only. What’s the plus side of volunteering then? You will often be given free groceries and food in exchange for your work services. This is essentially money paying for groceries you would have to buy anyway!
Make money via your smartphone. Apps like Field Agent, CheckPoints, WeReward, MyLikes, and Gigwalk allow you to complete small tasks (anything from snapping a photo of yourself at a cafe to scanning a barcode) for a few dollars. These are great ways to make money while you’re out to lunch or going about your grocery shopping.
Search for unclaimed money or property. Go to unclaimed.org to be linked to the official pages of US states or Canadian provinces you have lived in, then follow the instructions to search for and, if necessary, claim funds owed to you. If you ever had a deposit or check that went unclaimed because you couldn’t be found, this is the place to go.
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