So lately I’ve been thinking of new ways to make money and these are 4 I’ve been actively doing. I’ll list the pros and cons of each.
4. Online surveys
Pros: – all you need is the internet and patience. It is free. If it isn’t then you are on a bad site. You get to know about new products before they even hit the market.
Cons: – You are best suited if you are living the suburban dream. A housewife with an above average income and 2 children; preferably a boy an a girl. I’m a student so I constantly get blocked out. You will also be blocked out for working within media, marketing and journalism.
It also takes a long time before you can actually claim anything as most sites have a system where you have reach enough points/credits before you can redeem.
It is great for if you have the time and just want a little extra cash for doing a few surveys a day. I mean a tiny amount of cash by the way. Likely a lot less than £20.00 per month for an average user.
If you really want to make a decent amount of money it’d be a good idea to sign up to a large number of sites. At the moment I’m just sticking to one: – http://www.globaltestmarket.com. I haven’t earned enough to redeem so I can’t comment on their payment system but I always have a new survey to do everyday.
3. Go freelance.
Pros: – To join a reputable site it is free and easy. There are ways you can make money within a few hours, if you are talented. These sites are best suited for web design, SEO,graphic design and writing specialists. You don’t have to make a long term commitment and you have the freedom to chose what brief to go for.
Cons: – The competition is fierce so this is only for someone who is talented or willing to work dirt cheap i.e a student. The pay is no good if you are already a professional with a good steady income. Winning the job is hard if you are a student with little experience. If you are somewhere in between you are in the best position and will gain the most from a freelance site.
Another con is that because these sites are competitive the prices are driven down. These sites are kind of like ebay. Perfect for a buyer, testing for a seller. The site I currently use is payperhour which has a certain amount you can’t go below to prevent people working for next to nothing. I have actually managed to win a job but I have been unsuccessful more than anything.
Overall brilliant if you are specialized in something web-based or if you are talented. Not so great if you are not skilled and lack experience.
2. Become a mystery shopper. This one is both online and offline. You do a short shop visit offline and then report on it online.
Pros: – It’s pretty fun. You get reimbursed for anything you spend for the assignment and have a set fee on top of that. The average job doesn’t take much time; a short shop visit and a questionnaire. Through it you can get free meals, bets and even eventually stays in a hotel!
It’s flexible. You get to choose the date and time to go within a set range of dates and if at last minute you can’t do it just ring and they’ll set you new ones if you’re pleasant.
Cons: – Some of the assignments involve having a subhuman memory. You need to remember times, faces, haircuts, names, heights and eyesight. I can’t even remember everything you are supposed to remember.
If you forget to take note of something or record something you can be refused to be payed.
Overall good if you like freebies and want to enjoy yourself while making a bit of money.
Not so great if you have an atrocious memory like mine.
You will need to have something you can use to take decent pictures of receipts with or a photocopier.
I would recommend Market Force so far I have found it reliable and easy to use.
1. Have a car boot sale online. Sit and think about what you really need and use. Sell or give to charity anything that you can’t think of.
Pros: – Sales pick up pretty quickly and even obscure items eventually will get sold. You can make a lot of money in a short amount of time. You get to declutter while making that money.
There’s just something so satisfying about selling things or watching people battle over your possessions.
Quite often you get a lot more for items than you would if you traded them in or sold them offline. Especially items that shops no longer stock anymore or that are rare.
Cons: – Trips to the post office everyday other day can be annoying and expensive. If you are putting a common item on a site like ebay, you’ll be lucky if you get more than a quid.
You also quite often have to pay a listing price. For ebay you pay a small price to list and get one free picture. If you want to have more pictures you need to pay. For amazon you pay for listing only if your item sells, which I think is much fairer.
There is also extremely high competition which drives prices very low. Quite often there is an offer of less than a quid for books and films which is extremely annoying. This is no good if you aren’t a super business and want to make profit.
Overall I’m using amazon as a seller more than ebay but this is only because the items I am selling are mainly books, dvds and games. If I were to sell clothes, shoes and accessories etc. I would use ebay.
In my first day I have already nearly made a £40 profit on amazon!
Geek in the closet 