Money Making Schemes

Nagesh answers:

Depends on the type of materials and how much time you want to put into it. Many homeschoolers sell on http://www.eBay.com; selling teacher’s editions there can be a problem but the bidding format helps you to get the best price possible and after you’ve sold a few items, the rating system will help reassure buyers that you aren’t going to cheat them. Others like places such as http://www.vegsource.com on their homeschool forums, or one of the many Yahoo! Groups devoted to buying and selling curriculum where there are no fees for listing but also fewer customers looking and fewer safeguards for buyer and seller. There are lots and lots of sites devoted to buying and selling homeschool curricula. If the curriculum is popular, you might try selling it on websites devoted to that particular curriculum or to methods of homeschooling that favor that curriculum. (Knowing which methods use which curricula can help a lot in finding the best places to sell.)

The more information you include in listings, the more likely a sale. Bare minimum is to include title, grade level, and condition. Including additional information such as author or publisher, summary of the book or list of chapters included or other description of the material will help. Links to reviews can help. Photos of the actual material is good, too. Basically, the more information you include, the more likely buyers are to find the material and decide to buy it. However, including lots of information takes up your time…

Do some research first. Check out the prices that the same (or similar) curricula in similar condition is selling for, so you can price your materials competively. Having a set price for shipping, or even including it in the price, can help the materials sell faster; if you are selling books, media mail is usually the least expensive method of shipping–so check out those prices with the post office.

You’ll want to consider whether to require insurance. Some sellers do, in case items are lost in transit; but it will up your costs which will lose some sales.

You’ll want to consider whether to include tracking. Some sellers do so customers can track the package and so they have proof that they sent the item (or that the person on the other end received it), but again, it causes costs to go up and you’ll have to consider if that is worth it to you or not.

Paypal is one convenient and fast way to accept payments. Money orders or bank checks can work well, too. If you accept personal checks, you’ll want to state upfront that you’ll hold the checks for 7 to 10 days in order to give your bank time to make sure they clear before sending out the merchandise.

Good luck.

Nagesh answers:

There are several survey sites that are legit, your not going to get rich doing them though. Do not give anyone your SSN there are lots of sites out there that are legit and they do not need this info from you. Nor do you have to pay to join. I am a member of several. I have done survey savy which has a great referral program if you know people who will join you get money for surveys they complete also. They pay by check in the mail. I have also tried American Consumer Opinion. They pay by check in mail for all surveys, but I have not been able to complete many of their surveys. Pinecone is my favorite. You have to have an invitation to join though. They send one or two surveys a month. They are great though cause you will have a few days or a week to answer the survey if you don’t check your email religiously. Then they send a check in the mail pronto (or deposit in paypal). Surveyspot is good too and you can just go to their site everyday and answer surveys you don’t have to wait for them to be emailed to you (I think they do paypal now?).

Most pay a few dollars or less per survey completed so it is best to use several. You also need to be a regular email checker because if you don’t respond to the survey fast enough they have met their quota.

If you would like to give me a referral credit use the link in my profile for survey savvy and the other sites I use are listed there as well. Good Luck!

Nagesh answers:

Etsy.com is a fantastic website for people to sell their handmade wares as well as buy supplies for such! I wanted to teach myself how to stamp metal jewelry and found an awesome kit of tools (brand new) on Etsy for dirt cheap. (By the way I received my kit super fast and am VERY happy with it!) They also do not allow people on Etsy to “gouge” with shipping prices and they run a pretty tight ship there. It’s actually a really really refreshing site to buy from after dealing for years with eBay and misc online stores that could be ANYBODY just running of with my money or credit info. Etsy sellers are “governed” by Etsy, have ratings, and accept PayPal as well as some other forms of payment- depending on the seller.

Nagesh answers:

If you have online bill pay you may be able to send an e-check to your other bank account. Just call your branches (not the 800 number) and ask them. They will know the fastest way to do it.

Nagesh answers:

Find businesses that are walking distance (15 minutes) or on a bus route. Grocery stores are great. That’s were I started and get tips for helping people with their groceries. If possible try to avoid fast food restaurants. Also go to employment offices and hiring fairs. At 16 working at a movie theatre would be ideal. Good luck.