You say you want more out of life? That’s true for many of us. It can be especially true if you have one of those jobs where the best you can expect is a 1% or 2% raise annually – assuming you had a really great year. If you can’t expect to earn much more in your current job and would like to have a few thousand extra dollars to either better your living conditions or pay down debt, there are amazingly simple ways to earn money at home with flexible gigs.
Have a “store” on eBay
If you thought about earning extra money by selling stuff on eBay you probably thought in terms of going through your basement or garage looking for stuff that you could sell. While you could make some extra money doing this, it’s a finite issue in that you will eventually run out of junk to sell. As an alternative to this you could become a middleman where you actually never have to ship anything. You promote the product on eBay, it sells and someone else ships it. The online directory SaleHoo has more than 8000 prescreened suppliers where you can “buy” their stuff wholesale. These aren’t a bunch of nobodies either. It includes companies such as Playskool and Gap. You serve as a storefront and list their products at something above their wholesale “costs” and then pocket the differences.
Drive for Lyft or Uber or rent your car
All you need to make money this way is an automobile. You download an app, get an alert when someone wants a ride, pick them up, take them to their destination and then earn a commission and probably a tip. People who drive for Lyft can earn as much as $35 an hour and can, of course, determine their own hours. If you don’t feel like driving people around Relay Rides and GetAround will hook you up with people that might want to rent your car.
Do mystery shopping
If you’re not familiar with this gig it’s where you go to restaurants, stores and other retail businesses and then report on what they experienced to assist companies in learning more about how their customers are treated. As a mystery shopper you could set your own schedule and take whatever number of assignments a week you choose. Some of these shoppers take just a couple of gigs a week and makes maybe $100. Others treat this as if it were their full-time jobs and earn nearly $500 per week.
Become an affiliate marketer
Amazon, Starbucks, Weight Watchers and other similar companies are constantly looking for people (affiliates) to help them get new customers and are willing to pay for this. Most will assign you a URL with a unique code to provide prospective customers so that when a customer uses your unique link to buy something, you earn money. You can learn more about this gig through specific websites of companies that consolidate affiliate marketing like Shareasale or Rakuten Affiliate Network.
Sell direct
You’ve probably been bothered by a friend or relative who contacted you to buy her or his products. Even though you might have found this to be annoying, direct selling like this does offer a great opportunity. Lots of people earn a nice side income by selling products directly from companies like Mary Kay and Avon. And this isn’t about pushing only cosmetic items either. You can work at home selling wellness and health products like AdvoCare, products for pets (Pawtree) and accessories from Thirty-one Gifts.
Participate in focus groups
You can earn extra income by participating in focus groups sponsored by companies that want to improve their marketing. They will not only pay for your opinions but in some cases will actually come to your apartment or home to interview you. You can find companies that are looking for people to participate in focus groups by checking the listings on FindFocusGroups.com or by searching Craigslist using keywords like “paid study, ” “market research” or just “surveys.”
Rent your stuff
Through sites like Zilok you can connect with people interested in renting some of that stuff you have stuck away in your garage, storage closet or basement. There are people out there that would be willing to renting your tools, videogame consoles party supplies, furniture, and other such items. You rent them for some period of time and get paid for it. It’s a great way to earn money from stuff you own but don’t use.
Be a consultant
There are companies willing to pay good money for consultants. However, many have learned how expensive it can be to work with those huge consulting firms and are now getting the help they need by hiring individual people. The site Hourly Nerd connects companies looking for consultants with highly educated professionals that have the appropriate skills. If you’re not a “highly educated professional” but can write or do graphic arts you could earn extra money on sites such as Upwork and Freelancer.
Rent out that spare room
If you have a spare bedroom you could earn extra money by running it
AirBNB. This site connects travelers with people that will to rent their rooms or even their entire homes. There are also sites such as the (Vacation Rentals by Owner) VRBO and HomeAway where you could advertise your home to potential paying guests while you’re not there. If you have relatives or friends that would let you crash on their couches you can actually earn extra money by renting out your house without ever having to leave town.
Take part in an online jury
Attorneys that do trials often want people to give their opinions about cases that have not yet gone to trial. They use jurors that are online to help them figure out what a typical bunch of people might feel about the strength of their arguments or how they might respond to various tactics. Companies such as Online Verdict will pay you to consider the lawyer’s case and review it. While this doesn’t pay extraordinarily well, most online jurors get from $10 to $60 an hour. Of course, if you could get five online jury assignments a week at $50 an hour that would be a nice $250 extra for just sitting around, watching attorneys in action and then offering up your opinions.
