The holidays are approaching! :D If you’re looking for legitimate ways to earn a little extra money from your own home, here are 10 “HIP” ways you can earn money from home…
1. SELL YOUR JUNK MAIL
Do you receive a lot of junk mail in your inbox or mailbox that just goes into the trash? If so, you may want to check out the Small Business Knowledge Center (also known as SBKC and rated A+ with the BBB!) as they will PAY YOU for your junk mail! Plus, if you are a business owner or are self-employed, you will earn bonus points for the materials you send!
As a SBKC Consumer Panelist, you’ll be asked to regularly send them your emails and junk mail related to Insurance, Investments, Banking, Mortgage, Credit Cards, Leisure, and more. Just forward all of your qualifying emails or place your direct junk mail in the postage-paid envelopes they provide and return to them about once a week.
How quickly will you earn money? According to SBKC, “Frequent participants can earn as much as $20 in points every 6 to 10 weeks! Business owners and those who are self-employed can earn rewards even faster.” Head on over here to sign up and for more details.
2. FIX SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS
Whenever you browse using a search engine (such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.), it uses a “complicated” algorithm” to determine the results you see…and you may not always get the results that you’re hoping for. That’s why real humans are needed to look at the results and judge them for quality, relevancy, and usefulness. And, the best part is you can get paid anywhere between $12-$15 per hour just for becoming a search engine evaluator for companies such as Lionbridge, Appen, or Leapforce (keep in mind that you will work as an independent contractor, not an employee).
3. SUBMIT GROCERY RECEIPTS
Did you know that you can earn cash by purchasing products that you are planning to buy anyways (products that you may also be able to score FREE or cheap with coupons!) with various grocery apps?! Below are my favorite money-saving apps that will allow you to earn cash back just for buying products at the grocery store…
* Ibotta – You can unlock offers by completing various tasks, such as learning a fact or watching a short video. Then, search for offers in-store by scanning the barcode of items that are in your shopping cart. After making a purchase, you can submit a rebate by tapping on “redeem” for eligible items purchased. Then scan the product bar code and submit a picture of your receipt.
* Snap by Groupon – Browse through the different offers available and buy items from the Offer List at ANY store – note that some of the offers can be redeemed as many times as you’d like! Each offer’s redemption limit is clearly noted on its details page. Then, just upload a photo of your entire receipt using the app or website within 2 days of purchase. When your account reaches $20, you can request payment under the ‘My Account’ page and select ‘Cash Out’.
* Checkout 51 – Browse through the different offers available and buy items from the Offer List at ANY store. Upload a photo of your entire receipt using the app or website (it is recommended that you upload your receipt immediately after purchase since there are only limited quantities of offers available). When your account reaches $20, you can cash out and they’ll mail you a check. Note that offers go live on Thursdays at 12AM in each time zone and they expire the following Wednesday at 11:59PM in each time zone. You must submit the receipts while the offers are live.
* Shopmium – Click on the Offers tab and browse through all the current offers. If you find a product you’d like to try, click on the product and then click on the pink “Discover This Product” button to find out specific information about which products are eligible and where you can find the product near you. Once you have purchased the eligible items at the store, go back to the offers tab, find the offer and then click the “Request My Rebate” button. You will then be prompted to scan the barcode of the purchased item AND to take a picture of the store receipt.
* Shrink – Get cash back when you purchase select items at the grocery store AND earn rewards for buying certain items as well. Shrink recommends items based on your preferences (and you earn cash for trying these products!); and if you buy these items multiple times, you can even unlock loyalty rewards! Browse through Shrink’s offers and click the Reserve button to claim the offers you like before they’re gone. After you have purchased the item(s), just snap a picture of your receipt. Once you have reached a total of $20 cash back, you can redeem your cash back via Paypal.
* SavingStar – View offers on your mobile app or online – there are often 100% cash back “surprise” freebies during the month. Then, use your registered card at checkout as you normally do. For receipt-scan stores, take a picture of your receipt and submit through the SavingStar app or website. Note that discounts are not received at checkout but will be posted in your account within 2-22 days depending on the store. In addition to cashing out your earnings using your bank account or PayPal, you can use your earnings to score Starbucks eGift Cards, AMC Theatres eGift Cards and iTunes Gift Codes.
4. TAKE ONLINE SURVEYS
Enjoy sharing your opinion? Although online surveys are not a huge source of revenue, they are easy to do while watching TV, waiting at the airport, and can add up over time. Most companies will pay via check, PayPal, or you can submit for a reward by mail after you’ve accumulated enough points to cash out. My top 5 survey companies are –
* e-Poll (rated A+ with BBB)
* Harris Poll Online (rated A- with BBB)
* Inbox Dollars (rated A+ with BBB)
* Toluna (rated A+ with BBB)
* PineCone Research (rated #2 on Survey Police)
5. BROWSE WITH BING
If you spend a lot of time browsing the web, you may consider switching from Google or Yahoo to Bing. Like a frequent flyer program that rewards you for flying, Bing Rewards gives you credits for searching the web (while using Bing) as well as taking advantage of special offers. You can then redeem your credits for gift cards at popular retailers and restaurants (such as Starbucks, Amazon, ToysRUs) and/or donate them to a local school through Bing in the Classroom.
6. WORK FOR AMAZON
Did you know that you can become a Mechanical Turk for Amazon and earn money from home just for reading articles, completing tasks, and more? After signing up, just search or browse through the Human Intelligence Tasks (HITs) and click on the one that interests you. Accept the HIT and follow the instructions. When you’re done, submit your work and after the requester approves your work, money is deposited into your Amazon Payments account.
7. BECOME A COMPANY REP
Interested in starting your own business? Become a company rep for brands such as Amway, Avon, Barefoot Books, Cutco, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Scentsy, Thirty-One Gifts, or Young Living Essential Oils just to name a few. Each company offers different pay schedules, referral systems, and has different training requirements, so be sure to check out the ones you’re interested in.
8. SELL YOUR GENTLY USED CLOTHING
If you or a family member has a closet filled with outdated clothing, consider packing up a box and selling it online via thredUP.com. Start by ordering a free Clean Out Kit, pack it full of styles you’ve loved, and return it to them for free. They will inspect the clothing and determine an amount to pay you. The amount you’re paid depends on the original price, brand and category of each item. You can use their Earnings Estimator to see how much others have earned for similar items.
Another site that allows you to sell your gently-used clothing is Tradesy. Just list any fashion item in good condition, snap a few photos, propose a price, and use the free box and label to ship without leaving your house.
9. BECOME A CUSTOMER SERVICE REP
A growing work-from-home opportunity is to answer inbound customer calls for large companies like 1-800 Flowers, J Crew, or Walgreens. How is this possible? These companies (and many others) outsource their customer-service calls to companies that hire U.S.-based virtual agents, such as Alpine Access, ACD Direct, LiveOps, Sutherland Global Services, Arise, Asurion, TeleTech, and many others.
Before considering this type of opportunity, keep in mind that you must have high-speed Internet access, a computer, a landline, and a quiet place to work. You can expect to make an average of $8 and $15 an hour depending on your experience and will work a minimum of 15 to 20 hours per week.
10. SELL YOUR SMARTPHONE PHOTOS
Have a knack for photography? If you have a smartphone and often take photos, there’s a new app called Foap that allows you to sell your smartphone photos for CASH. To get started, download the free Foap app (available on Google Play or iTunes App Store), upload your photos, and make them available for purchase on the Foap Market. For each photo you sell you make $5 and you can sell the same photo an unlimited number of times. Now, this isn’t a huge source of income BUT think about it…if your photo sells 10 times, you make $5 each time and will end up with $50 in your pocket. Sweet!