Need Extra Cash? Become a Mystery Shopper (but be careful!!)

You’ve probably seen the banner ads all over the place—Earn Extra Cash Become a Mystery Shopper.  But most of us don’t even know what mystery shopping is.  In short—mystery shopping entities focus on assessing retail customer service by hiring people like you and me to “shop” and rate our interactions with the store’s customer service employees.  Usually, retailers don’t hire mystery shoppers directly but instead contract a third-party vendor to handle the mystery shopping for them.

Mystery shopping vendors hire everyday people to go into stores, act like a shopper and report their findings.  The retailer then assesses the data and can train their employees based on the feedback.  Usually, when you’re hired by a mystery shopping vendor you get paid once you send them your report of your experience.  Sometimes, they may ask you to take pictures of a certain display or store shelving set-up to help them see if products are being displayed properly.

The good news is:  mystery shopping usually pays between $10 and $15 dollars per assignment and can provide easy income when you need extra cash.  The bad new is:  you need to be careful because there quite a few “scammers” out there who promise to pay and either never pay you or charge you a fee to become a member of their “service” promising big returns on your investment.

To steer you in the right direction here a few reputable mystery shopping companies that will pay you for your work:

BeyondHello.com
AboutFaceCorp.com

Also, check out mysteryshop.org—a very informative website dedicated to providing legitimate information about the mystery shopping industry.

Need Extra Cash? Sell 3 Things on Ebay or Craig’s List TODAY!!!

We’ve all seen the thousands of banner ads and spam mails that promise to help you make a fortune off of Ebay.  The reality is very few of us have the time or inclination to scour garage sales and yard sales to scrounge up enough stuff to make a living from Ebay or Craig’s LIst.  But, Ebay and CL are great tools when you need extra cash.

Here’s a quick way to get some cash in your hands now:  Think Small!  That’s right, we suggest that you find just 3 things to sell today.  All of us have at least 3 things that we no longer use or need that can be sold on Ebay or Craig’s List today.  Just look around your house and you’ll be amazed at what it just sitting there waiting to be sold.  Here’s some suggestions:

Appliances You Don’t Use or Have Duplicates of (i.e. blenders, waffle makers, toaster ovens)

Partially Used Gift Cards (see our previous post on this)

Stereo Equipment that you no longer use

Household Items (lamps, fans, window A/C units)

Lawncare Items (mowers, weed eaters, garden tools)

Childcare Equipment (Strollers, Car Seats, Baby Clothes)

You get the drift!  Remember, with Ebay and CL you’re selling locally and internationally so there’s a market for almost everything–even if you don’t think it has much value.  Rather than just letting stuff you don’t care about or need collect dust–sell it today get some extra cash.

I’ll keep digging if you keep reading!

Need Extra Cash? Try ZeroPriceTags.com

We’ve all seen them:  those sites that promise you free computers, video games or Paypal cards for completing “offers”.  Some of them are scams but many of them are the real deal and can give you some bucks when you need extra cash.  Zeropricetags.com is a reputable “freebie” site that really works.  You can get a “free” gift by completing 2-3 offers yourself, usually for things like Blockbuster Online, Free Credit Reports and wrinkle-cream type products.  Then, you need to get a few people to do the same thing under your referral code.  Now, as I’ve said before I’m not a big fan of hitting up my friends to sign up under me.  If you’re not either, here’s a thought:  pay them to sign up under you.  Give them each $20 or so to sign up under you.  The free gift you’ll get from zeropricetags.com will definitely be worth more than the $60 or so that you give away to your friends.  It’s an easy way to make about $60 or so after you pay your friends.  Meanwhile, your friends don’t feel like Amway-type targets, because you’re paying them and not asking them to do it for free.

Again, be careful on which “freebie” site you use–some of them are scams.  But, zeropricetags.com is definitely legit.

I’ll keep digging if you keep reading!

Need Extra Cash? Try Writing on the Internet

Ok…so maybe your not the world’s best writer.  Maybe you don’t have much interest in becoming an internet blogger.  But that’s ok, you can still make free money online by putting your keyboard to use for just a short amount of time.  You don’t need to have a degree in journalism to be able to write content that will make you make you some bucks anytime you need extra cash.

Here’s where to start.  First, think of a few things you know something about like a hobby, an occupation or a sport.  It’s always better to write about what you know.  It’s more fun that way and easier to get motivated.   Once you’ve narrowed down a few topics you want to write about–go ahead and write about 350 words on the topic.  This “article” can be just facts, tips or your opinion on a matter.  Once that’s done you can start making some money by posting it to your own blog (don’t let that word scare you–it’s free and easy to set up) on sites like Squidoo or About.com.  They’ll pay you as people come to your article and click on the advertisements.  You won’t get rich quick doing this but it can definitely bring you in a little extra cash.

If you want to go a different route and write on demand, go ahead and pimp yourself out as an article writer on Digital Point Forum.  Website owners hire writers from Digital Point to write all kinds of articles and web content for their sites.  One well written article will usually get you about $8 a pop.  If you’re really ambitious you can offer ten articles for $75 or so.   This will gaurantee you a more sizeable stash of cash.  Usually, if you’re good, you’ll get a good reputation on DP and the work will start flowing in.  But, be careful!  The orders for articles can start piling up and you can find writing turn into a full-time “part-time” job if you’re not careful.  Good Luck!

I’ll keep digging if you keep reading!