I've been in this industry for many years and as such I tend to get the same questions every day. The questions range from needing help finding legitimate work at home jobs, what to do if one has been scammed or trying to assess if a company, person or website is a scam. These questions are fairly easy to answer because I've already created resources to address them all. For jobs it's just a matter of visiting my work at home companies page, our new work at home job search engine, my other website WorkAtHomeCareers.com or an membership based site such as HomeJobStop.com. In regards to work at home scams, it's just a matter of watching my scam video, reading the articles and comments listed in my scam section and visiting some other great scam fighting websites. (Hint, Hint! lol)
Stumped….
However there has always been one question that even I have trouble answering:
How can I make money as fast as possible without paying any fees?
Ever since the downturn of the economy I've received this question far greater times than I did in the past. The stories that lead to this question are heart breaking. It's usually a result of hardships such as sickness, accidents or layoffs. I can't tell you how much many of these personal experiences have touched me. It was extremely frustrating that I didn't have an answer to give. So I finally decided to stop feeling bad and to do something about it.
I went ahead and put my research skills to use and I've complied a list of opportunities that should help people who need money quickly and fairly easily without any upfront cost. I've read other list claiming to have solutions. But upon further inspection, most of the opportunities suggested wouldn't get money in folks hands until a month or two after the fact which may be too late for some. So keep this in mind as you read my list. Because I'm sure folks are going to wonder or comment why didn't I include x y and z.
Another thing I should mention is that some of these opportunities may make you feel uncomfortable. That's perfectly fine. As always you're a grown ass adult and can pick and choose the opportunities that fit your comfort level. My job is to provide all options regardless of how I may feel about them on a personal level. And your job is to pick what you like and ignore what you don't. So please keep that in mind as well before you go and judge a brother. You know who you are. lol
Okay now that's all cleared up, let's get into the list.
1. Quick Task Sites
These type of sites are based on the concept that there are still many online tasks or jobs that cannot be done by machines, robots, do hickies, Thing-A-Majigs, etc. Whether it's researching detailed information, transcribing audio or video recordings, picking out objects in photographs or videos, typing, data entry or writing content, some jobs are still just better done by humans. Thank God for that otherwise I would be out of a job and so would many of you. Because of this reality there are sites that connect workers like yourself with companies that need these human based tasks done. Any of you who have worked for Amazon's MTurk know this all too well. Although Amazon Turk is the biggest and best, there are a few more out there which I've listed below in addition to Mturk. Judging by many of the comments and emails I have received about Mturk over the last year or so, folks are doing very well with it. It seems to be a favorite consistent among many of you. So I'm sure you'll welcome some additional options like it.
– Crowdcloud (I receive money from these guys every day! So it can be consistent money if they have enough work to go around.)
2. Freelance Sites
They're very much like quick task sites but pay more and have a lot more different jobs in various industries. However the advantages of getting paid as soon as a task is completed is still present. So no matter what your skill set may be there is probably a job at a freelance site.
Here is a list of some:
– Guru.com (There will be an interstitial ad that you can skip to visit the intended site.)
– RentACoder.com (There will be an interstitial ad that you can skip to visit the intended site.)
You can find additional freelance sites listed by clicking here.
3. Sell Used Books
If you have a lot of old books just taking up space in your closet, attic, basement, etc. You can turn your passion for reading into some hard cash. Some of you may be familiar with this since we discussed in our Make Money With Used Books article. So if you want to know how this works, just read that article because most of the sites operate this way. I've also provided some great tips there to make more money. However I've expanded my list to include more sites willing to pay you for used books below.
– BookScouter.com (I like this site since it searches multiple sites at once which can help you compare which sites will give you the best deals.)
– SellBackYourBook.com (There will be an interstitial ad that you can skip to visit the intended site.)
4. Writing Articles
No I'm not talking about sites like associated content, helium, which are great ways to make money. But here's the problem. Usually the pay is based on how many people you can get to view your articles. This involves knowing a little about SEO or internet marketing. However if you know that stuff than you wouldn't need a middle man like those article sites to make money and you would start your own blog.
Craigslist
Today, I'm talking about making money writing articles regardless if you can get people to view them or not. There is a whole section in every city of Craigslist that is looking for people to write articles for a flat fee. You would just visit craigslist, then select your city. From there head to the Gigs section and just click on the writing section. (Check out the New York writing section as an example.) You don't even have to limit yourself to your city, visit as many of the ones as you like.
The great thing about the writing opportunities on craigslist is that many of these opportunities aren't looking for professionally trained writers (Although some do.). Most want regular folks like you and I to write short articles for their blogs, sites, ebooks, etc. If you can write an email, you can write an article. However if you're not confident of your writing, do some arbitrage. Get one of your older kids, neices, nephews, cousins, neighbors, etc to write the article for you and give them a percentage of the profits. What that percentage is totally up to you.
Internet Forums
Aside from craigslist most internet marketing forums are looking for articles to be written so that's another fertile resource. If you're a member of Wealthy Affiliate you already know there are tons of these opportunities listed in their job section. But you can find other internet marketing forums using Google.
Blogs
Blogs are also another great source. Approach one of your favorite bloggers and ask if they could use help with some additional articles or research for their articles. Or you can write a guest post for them where they link back to your site or an affiliate link you request.
So there is a great opportunity here. This is by far one opportunity where there are tons of availability. But you have to be brave enough to get out your comfort zone to give it a try. Trust me, the more you do it, the easier it gets and the better your writing gets.
5. Sell Stuff on Craigslist
Speaking of craigslist, there's yet another great opportunity listed there. By far the easiest and fastest way to make money quickly is to sell stuff on craigslist. You would be amazed what people will buy from you. Chances are you have a ton of "junk" in your home that you don't use or want. Your junk is someone else's treasure. Or maybe you have a skill like web design, bookkeeping, accounting, writing, painting, landscaping, etc. Well you can offer that too.
Craigslist is a super online classified site where you can sell anything or buy anything for that matter. Unlike ebay you don't have to worry about bids or fees. You list your item for free in the city where you live and depending on what you list, you should be getting some calls or emails from interested buyers. Depending on what you put up for sale, you may have money by the end of the day. So if you're in a pickle, selling stuff on craigslist is the way to go. Click here for some more tips on how to be successful at it.
If you want to take it a step further, put ads up on craigslist offering to clean out folks garage, basements or attacks. Your ad can offer to do this for free or for a small amount of money. If you're smart, you can then sell some of the items these folks discard right back on craigslist and make even more money.
6. Selling Blood Plasma
As much as this gives me the heebie jeebies, I have to mention this option because if you're looking to make some quick cash and you're healthy it's definitely the way to go. You can get paid to donate your plasma. What the hell is plasma you may be asking? Well it's the clear yellowish fluid portion of the blood that transports water and nutrients to all the cells in the body and is used for transfusions to people who have suffered shock, burns or trauma. Enduring the needle can earn you up to $35 for each donation. However if you have been vaccinated for hepatitis B, you can earn up to $60 per week. But don't get any funny ideas of making a living off your bodily fluids. (ill! I just read that and it didn't sound right. lol) There is a twice a week maximum regardless of how willing you are to part with more of yourself. (Hee Hee)
If you want more of the gory details, click here to learn about the process. (Can you tell I don't like needles?)
To find establishments where you can donate your plasma visit the following links:
7. Sell Your Hair
Ladies you all know how weaves and hair extensions are very expensive especially when it's real human hair. Well if you happen to be one of those people with long flowing lockes, your hair may be worth some money, $5 to $10 an ounce. Visit the following site to see how much your hair may be worth:
For tips on how to make money with your hair please click here.
8. Sell Sperm
Ummm…Ladies you may want to leave the room for a few minutes… Fellas, what can I say? You and I both know what most of your time online is spent doing and you might as well get paid for it. lol Apparently your lifetime "habit" is worth $60-$75 per donation. But all jokes aside, please keep in mind that this is a very serious decision, there are a lot of things to consider and the process isn't as simple as you may have imagined. You can read more about it by clicking here.
To find out where you can get paid for your… *ahem* alone time, visit the following site:
Okay, I'll leave it at that for the sake of my predominant female audience.
9. Sell Eggs
Okay ladies you can come back for this one. Apparently your eggs are worth a lot more than our man swimmers. You can earn up to $10,000 for your eggs and some cases even more. However like everything in life, my ladies have to go through a lot more to get paid. Donating eggs is a complex procedure that requires women to endure numerous shots, a barrage of psychological test, and going under general anesthesia for an operation to remove the eggs. Obviously there are some serious risks to consider. Either way you're definitely going to have to earn what you make! I wish it were as easy for you as it is for the boys but we already know life isn't fair when it comes to the sexes.
In any event if you are interested, you can learn more about the process by clicking here.
To find out where you can donate your eggs, visit the following pages:
– IHR.com
10. Get Paid To Recycle
Have you noticed that everything you see now is about going green? Sure a lot of folks are concerened with saving our planet. But there is a lot of folks making money off this new found concern for the environment and you can be one of them. And let's not kid ourselves here, It doesn't mean you love the earth any less if you want to make money saving it. In any event, you can get paid for recycling cardboard boxes, scrap metal and electronics.
Boxes
Electronics (Cell phone, Music players, Flat Panel Monitor, Digital Cameras, Game Systems, Laptops, GPS, Camcorders, games, dvds)
– Gazelle.com
Scrap Metal
You can read more about the process of getting paid to recycle scrap metal by clicking here.
So there you have it. If you need money right away or could just use some extra money in addition to what you're doing, You may seriously want to consider the options listed above.
Additional Ways To Make Money Quickly!
By the way there is a great ebook called Emergency Cash Generators with a lot more ideas of how you can make money right away. I'll be honest I was very skeptical of this ebook because of my past experiences with my make money fast schemes weren't good. I only bought the ebook because of a recommendation from Paul at WorkAtHomeTruth.com who I trust greatly. Needless to say it was definitely worth every penny ($39.99) and more. It was eye opening for me and I know it will be for you. Like some of my recommendations above, some of the options listed in Emergency Cash Generators aren't for everyone. But there are so many ideas listed, everyone is bound to find a few winners. If you implement even one or two of the ideas listed there, I'm confident you'll cover the cost of the ebook and more.
In any event, let me know what you folks think of my list above. I would love to hear from folks that have tried any of these things or if this has given you some ideas to consider.
Are there any other opportunities you can think of that meet the requirements of being free, can be started right away and can have cash in someone's hands within a week? If so please share in the comments below.
Getting a quote is as simple as picking a product category, manufacturer, model, and condition. Once you have filled out the questionnaire to satisfaction, you will be given an offer. http://www.gadgetsalvation.com/
Sounds good Rossana.Thanks for sharing that!
Ok, massive amounts of info in this article. Love it. Only one problem that I can see. Are any or all of these available for someone who lives in “Smalltown” Wyoming like myself? My town is now up to about 7400-7500 people. Woohoo! we finally beat our elevation! All kidding aside, would any of these work here? Thanks.
LOL, Some of them aren’t like the quick task sites, freelance sites, craigslist, selling used books and writing. The other stuff may depend on your area. You won’t really know unless you just start exploring this stuff. We’ve done the hard part by finding and listing them. All you have to do is go through them and determine which works for you. That’s the easy part. 😉
You’re welcome Jessica! Glad you’re actually taking the time to read the material and taking action! I appreciate that you’ll be sharing the site with your friends! Hopefully they’ll follow your lead by reading the material and taking action too!
Thank you so much for this article. There is so much information on here and so many great links to explore. I’ve already been visiting some of the sites recommended in other articles. I’m keeping this link and the “personal recommendations” article open and going through them a little bit at a time. I’m definitely gonna share these with my friends!!
Hey Crymenia!
Thanks for coming out your shell and chiming in. I appreciate it and encourage you to do it more! 😉
Ironically I do know Gazelle very well and wrote about here:
https://www.workathomenoscams.com/2008/12/15/get-paid-to-recycle-old-gadgets-electronics/
I’ve used them before. They have gotten really big now and have commercials and everything now. I agree it’s a great way to make money as well. I don’t use it as much anymore because I pass down my electronics to my family and friends now who love me for it. lol But it’s definitely a great option as you described.
Sorry to hear you lost some money through Amazon. Obviously that’s not the norm. But nonetheless it sucks.
Thanks for sharing. I really appreciate it!
Hope to continue to hear from you! 🙂
Hello Eddy,
This is my first time commenting on your site though I have been following it for about a week now; sorry I’m a lurker. I wanted to mention Gazelle for a getting paid to recycle site. I have used it multiple times and have had success with it; for people like yourself that are constantly updating their electronics I think it is a good idea to make use of sites like Gazelle and Buymytronics.com. For people like me that don’t need the newest and brightest toys and will settle for something refurbished Gazelle is a great site also. I wanted to caution people on selling books online (or anything really). I’m a college student and have tried this and gotten burned bad, to the tune of $250. Amazingly it was through Amazon; which goes to show you even though the site is legit and the buyer/seller is too (the buyer had a 98% rating and was a preferred seller) books can still get lost in the mail. Thanks for all of your great advice; I have to say you are a hero to me.
Crymenia
Wow, I thought I was the only one that couldn’t find a decent resale price on college textbooks. The prices I was offered were so ridiculous, I never followed through. How they can justify paying $10 for a $100 book is beyond me; especially when the schools will pay 50%. I don’t know if you can take books back to your local college if you’re not attending there, by our college accepts some, if they’re relevant to the classes they offer. It’s worth a try 🙂 Good luck with your degree!
Hi Eddy,
Can you tell me some sites for writing or rewriting articles that pay in other ways than PayPal.
Sorry I don’t know of any. Most sites pay by paypal.
We provided you links in the article so you can find sites in your area which you can personally contact to find this out.
On the selling blood plasma sites, how do you know which places pay for the blood?
Hey Eddy I think you might have made a mistake. Short Tast.com is a big scam! Short Task is a scam site run by Harrison Barnes! He was that guy who got banned from amazon mechanical turk for violating the rules to much by scaming people! He is a well known scammer. Eddy 98% of the time your right about sites but everyone makes mistakes…
Thanks for contacting me about this. After conducting some deeper research and seeing a review from my buddy Steve from IveTriedThat.com, I’ve gone ahead and removed this company. Can’t get them right all the time. 🙁
http://thehairtrader.com closed down, replaced with http://buyandsellhair.com – worth updating
Thanks for the update. It’s been updated per your suggestion.
If you don’t mind low-ball emails, you can use CL though the few times I have used it, I’ve gotten market value for my stuff.
The fees on Ebay are tiny, maybe .50 at the most. Do you really need 15 photos of an item??? For them it adds up quickly because so many people make transactions on there.
PS ad yes… i as discouraged by the eBay seller fees 🙁 they ripped me of a LOT so the craigslist is agreat new option! also the searching for writing out of state in the bigger areas are better too! will hop on it asap and let you know
It’s 12.55am and I am a first time visitor who actually thought of donating her eggs.. however, hearing someone else say it and the sperm donation or selling was laugh out wake the hubby up funny. AWESOME ideas and since I will be home for a while and I’ve got 10 years of journalism/pr/media behind me it’s an eye opener.Thank you for being so unselfish in sharing your exprience and insight. I am very appreciative! welcome to my favorites list!
Please apologize to your husband for me. lol
Glad you found this article useful. I’m confident as you read more of the site you’ll find a lot more options you weren’t aware of and will probably experience a lot more laughs. lol
I love reading your articles and laughing when you tell someone to go back and read the article over and over
Jeana,
I appreciate that you actually READ my articles. People like you make my job easier because it allows me to help you help yourself. Unfortunately not everyone seems to want to do that.
But at least you can get a nice laugh. lol
LOL. I’m sorry Eddy, but I just HAD to see this. I saw this on FB and that comment just made my day lol.
Cory,
I’m sorry I even had to respond. lol But I’m glad you found some amusement from it. lol
I hope I don’t have to pay to have a work at home job. I need to earn so I’ll have money so why are we asked to pay to be able to work?
I hope you actually learn to read an article before just posting a comment that illustrates you haven’t read the site.
Nope, I haven’t yet, but that’s because it has kind of been on the back burner so to say, I have been working more on the Amazon Turks they seem to be a lot easier and take less time to do.
Hey Eddy,
Great job! It’s been awhile since I made a comment but you always do a great job in bringing us the very best, of the best. Keep them coming!
Charlene,
You hiding? lol Great to hear from you and thanks for the support as usual.
Stop being a stranger! =)
I lurk a lot but have never commented 🙂
I just signed up with short task, I am having my payments sent through paypal. So that is one of the options.
Hey Dawnie,
Thanks for coming out and commenting. I really appreciate it. It’s good to know that short task pays by paypal.
Thanks again for the information. Have you received your first payment from Short Task yet?
Eddy-_GREAT SITE!! I have tried amazon turk…yes you can make $$ BUT PATIENCE and some keys: 1) keep using rating HIGH or you will be “locked out of projects” 2) If you fail too many projects you will also get locked out.
Quick ques – “Short task” do you know how they pay – direct dep or pay pal, I went to there website and was not the most user friendly. Thanks !
Hey Ron,
Thanks for the kind words and sharing those tips about Amazon Turk. Feel free to post your useful tips on that article so others reading it will benefit from it as well.
In terms of Short Task, I can’t say I know the answer. I looked at the faqs and couldn’t find it either. Try contacting them directly here:
http://www.shorttask.com/contact.php
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
You’re the best! I wanted to give you a little info about selling plasma. Yes, it can be a great source of extra money. I made an appt and filled out the forms–read all their literature–but was booted out at the end because my blood vessels are too dainty. Evidently the needle used in this procedure is quite large–and you need large well defined vessels for this to work. There were LOTS of people selling their plasma the day I went. Be sure to be well hydrated and food in your stomach. A girl walking in front of me passed out because she hadn’t eaten breakfast beforehand. Otherwise it seems to be a pretty safe way to make some extra dough —and you are helping some unfortunate hurt or ill people as well.
Sheridan,
Thanks for sharing the additional information and your experience. I’m sure it will help some other folks out!
That link to Used Cardboard boxes in the paid to recycle section isn’t working for me. Is the site down? Thanks for all the others by the way.
Hi Lib,
Seems to be working fine for me. Try just manually entering the website address in your browser if anything. You’re welcome by the way. =)
Thanks Eddy! I just signed up for Short Task!
Denise,
Good morning! Glad you liked the post. I gave you some tips on how to get more books in my original make money with used books article linked above. So give that a read if you haven’t already. I hope this helps. Let me know how you make out with this if you try it.
Susie,
You’re welcome! Let me know how short task works for you.
Good morning Eddy,
What a great post. Folks are always looking to make some quick cash. I keep looking at the used book idea.. I might just try that one. I’m just now sure I want all those books hanging around the house. And, it seems they prefer books no more than 3 years old. Got any ideas on how to acquire these?
Anyway, this post I’ll keep handy.
Keep up the good work and have a good day.
Denise