3-On Your Side: Wacky Ways To Make Money
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Unemployment is high, savings are low and you're struggling to make ends meet. But what if we told you that you could make some extra money doing things like sending texts, or listening to music? Would you be interested? 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan tells about some wacky ways that people are making extra money.
Jonathan Turner is looking at all options when it comes to making money these days, including checking out garage sales for used books. Not to read-but to resell. He says, "I've got an app on my iPhone and I'm able to scan the IBN number on it and actually pull up right there and it tells me right there how much is that book worth."
There are lots of web sites that will now buy used books and using the smart phone app Bookscouter, he knows on the spot if he'll make a profit buying a book at the yard sale price.
Like texting people? Kyle Taylor with ThePennyHoarder.com says you can answer questions for ChaCha.com and make a few bucks right from your couch. Taylor says, "They get questions, random questions on their web site and via text and they need people to come up with answers and just thru Google search or whatever, you get paid per text."
You can also rate music for money. According to Taylor, "Sites like HitPredictor.com and SliceThePie.com will let you listen to music, rate it and then send you a small check for your efforts."
And if you're the creative type, you can be paid to help come up with company names. Taylor says, "There are websites online that hold naming contests. The person who comes up with the best name wins anywhere from $50 bucks to $500 dollars."
A word of caution, you shouldn't have to pay these sites in advance for any work you do. Be certain to check out the company before you sign up by doing a quick search of reviews online.
Kyle and Jonathan point out it's pretty easy money when times are tough. Taylor says, "You're not going to get to retire by doing any of these money making things but it's a good way to bring in a little bit of extra cash." While Turner adds,
"Anything that you can do, any little bit to help to offset your bills, you know, go for it."
By the way, another piece of advice from Kyle: Compare sites for what they pay. For example, with the used books, he found one site would give him eight dollars for a used cookbook, while another site only offered one buck.
For more information, click on the links below:
www.cash4books.net
www.bunchesofbooks.com
www.thepennyhoarder.com
www.chacha.com
http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/2011/07/make-money-answering-text-messages
www.hitpredictor.com
www.slicethepie.com
www.thepennyhoarder.com/2010/12/make-money-listening-to-music
WWW.namingforce.com
Reported by Jim Donovan, CBS 3
