What's all this making money @ home stuff?

[bunnys]

Hi:

I've been on this site for a year but just started coming frequently and posting a couple months ago. I've learned so many frugal ideas in just this little amount of time. This site surely has a wealth of information in the form of the community members.

So in the past 24 hours I saw a thread on Amazon Mechanical Turk, Mypoints and also learned I can buy coupons on Ebay extremely cheaply. Had never heard of the first two and I'm wondering how anyone sells coupons on Ebay and makes money. Do they have coupon-clipping sweatshops in 3rd world countries or something?

Anyway, if I ask you all's opinions on these ideas I think the subject of this thread will be way too broad. However, maybe you all could suggest ideas you've found that help you make or save money that are available in the virtual world. I'd just like to know the ideas you all have found that you like and a couple sentences about why you like them.

I've just read a bit about Mypoints and I'm trying to cut back on my spending--don't know if that's the one for me unless a lot of points can be made by participants simply by doing all the other stuff (i.e., surveys, clicking on emails, games, etc.) without making purchases.

I belong to Ebates and while it's great to get 5% off or whatever, I'm wondering if, ultimately, I'm spending more money by buying more than I would if I weren't a member. Isn't that the goal of the merchants after all?

All comments, thoughts welcome.

Thanks.

[McD]

I make the majority of my points on my points via emails, surveys, etc. If you are a member of bzzagent, your activity on bzz will give you points also. N

[Telephus44]

I do a lot of "money making" stuff online - but it's really not a huge money maker. I spend probably 20 minutes a day on it, and maybe get $300 or $400 per year.

MyPoints you get points for clicking on emails, answering surveys, etc. I average (1) $50 gift card per year. I almost never purchase anything through them.

I also use Swagbucks which gives you points for searching. I average (10) $5 Amazon gift cards per year.

I am also a Bzzagent member. They will give you products to try and spread information about through word of mouth.

I am a member of several paying survey sites. I get on average a $25 check every 2 months. I also average (1) product test every 3-4 months. These are more fun than anything else - try out these paper towels and let us know your opinion, try this shampoo and tell us if it makes your hair shinier, etc. The big ones for me are MySurvey, Viewpoint Forum, GlobalOpinionPanel, and ACOP.

I occasionally sell things on eBay. I find the easiest things to sell are coupon codes - but I make only a couple dollars on each. For example, I "won" a code for a free book from Shutterfly valued at $20. I was able to sell the code for $7. I could just email the code to the buyer so I wasn't out shipping, but after fees I netted around $6. I also occasionally sell beauty products that I win online.

I also occasionally sell books. You can do this through a lot of book buyback sites if you have textbooks, or list them on Half.com. The fees are higher, but you don't have to take pictures or write up a listing - just enter the ISBN and rate the condition.

I also enter online contests and sweepstakes. I can do pretty well with these, but winning a $36 bottle of shampoo or a $50 iPod once in a while isn't going to make you rich.


I think that's about it for me - if you have any questions or whatever feel free to PM me. Just remember that it's not a get rich quick thing, or will replace a second income.

[ncarr]

I use MyPoints and earn most points through emails and surveys. I have gone through them for a few online purchases I was going to do anyway and earned a good chunk of points.

TECHNICALLY it's illegal to "sell" coupons--- people who do usually say they are charging a "clipping" fee to get around that.

[AmyBoz]

I only click on the email links to earn points from MyPoints, but have done well. If I do need to make an online purchase, I go there first to see if the site I'm going to is a MyPoints site so I can earn some extra points, but I don't limit myself to their partner sites.

I also sell things on eBay like baby clothes and purses and old electronics. I've used book selling websites to sell books, and SecondSpin.com to sell dvd's and cd's.

There is money to be made online...not a second paycheck or anything, but some pocket cash, for sure!

[bunnys]

Telephus: Figured out what you're making per hour based on the money made/time investment and it's really low? Do you primarily do it bc it's fun?

Illegal to sell coupons? Come on! It's all over Ebay.

Ok, something about buying and selling online must scare the bejesus out of me bc I have never bought or sold anything on Ebay, Craigslist or any of those other online marketplaces. There's been a bunch I've wanted to buy and sell, too. As an example, I have a bunch of clothing I don't wear and want to sell. A friend at work told me about this consignment shop nearby but when I looked at it, they take a 50% cut! Also cut the price by 25% every 30 days! Plus you have to launder and press everything and bring it in on hangers and there's no way my skirt hangers are going out of this house! Plus you make an APPOINTMENT for them to go through your stuff and can only bring 20 things at a time! I think that's absurd. I might as well give the stuff away. At least I'd get a tax deduction.

I was thinking I'd sell it on Ebay but I'm scared... I don't want to be ripped off by a Nigerian scammer!

I'm guessing if I just sell one thing it would get easier, right?

[AmyBoz]

Sure...start small and see how it goes for you. I was slow to start with eBay, but now I sell things here and there and it's easy. People have reviews and ratings, so you can see who you is bidding on your stuff. You can set to not sell internationally, also. They have a format that makes it very easy to sell. Here's my most recent thing that I'm selling, just so you can see how easy it is...it took me less than 5 minutes to post this: Lot of Baby Boy Clothes 6-12 months (over 100 items!) | eBay

[Momto5RN]

mypoints - you can get a 20$ GC at least a year just by clicking thru emails - not alot but hey free and can be used as a gift i get more because i use it to buy contacts i do alot of online shopping for my family when i can .
not spending extra money just using the money for certain items online because its less or a time saver .

swagbucks - i can earn a 5$ amazon GC at least once a month by doing searches thru their search engine - taking polls etc

ebay - ebay is neither as easy or as difficult as it sounds ( depending which way you feel it may be ) but you need to educate yourself best by reading their new seller message boards to get tips . i was a power seller for several years when i worked at home and just saw too many people jump in blindly make errors -and then blame ebay . Just as with any type of job you need to know what you are dealing with- the knowledge is out there and the best place is not in some book but free on their discussion boards .


i use to do some other things other sites for surveys etc but now that i am back at work i dont have the time to put into it ,

[Telephus44]

Telephus: Figured out what you're making per hour based on the money made/time investment and it's really low? Do you primarily do it bc it's fun?

I used to keep track of the time investment - that's why I don't do as many surveys as I used to. The hourly wage isn't worth it.

I haven't kept track for the last few years, but I did just total up that I won $1100 (retail value) worth of prizes this year from sweepstakes/instant wins. Those are more of an entertainment thing for me. Plus I am fond of the beauty prizes - it's an easy way to get a cheap product fix. Right now I have a fabulous sugar based body scrub in the shower - smells great - would cost $32. I would NEVER pay that much. I haven't bought shampoo or hair styling products in years.

I have found the same experience with you with second hand stores - I don't make enough to make it worth my time, it's easier to donate and tax the tax write-off. When DS was little I spent a year trying various things to sell his clothing/equipment, but ended up either passing it on to friends or donating it, especially after we started to itemize our taxes.

[bunnys]

Good point about the exotic prizes.

And $1100. is a log more than I was thinking you made.

I agree on the consignment idea--it's a rip off. At least the one I looked at...