Work From Home Opportunities

**Coleroo** · 12-20-2007, 12:29 AM

i have developed the really biased opinion that most of the ads out there are schemes that just require fees upon fees - and if they do somehow "work", its something you could have done yourself without having to go through a company which required the fees.

Surveys are legit - but you have to choose companies carefully. They can range from 3...4...5$ and more per survey. the higher your profession the better paying surveys you'll get, i believe. I think my highest has only been $15 for a survey. much of the stuff out there though tends to be nothing more than junk mail and a few pennies earned per year so look carefully.

Home data entry jobs (medical transcriptionists, etc) can be obtained without going through companies that post those ads. check with your local technical college or a certified school....then you can contact businesses yourself to offer your services. some schools offer credited courses with a certificate - and then offer to help find job placement in those fields.

shopping online? i suppose you may mean "secret shopper"? most of the ads you see for those only give you lists of (perhaps now defunct) more lists with more lists..etc..of places that may or may not need mystery shoppers. mystery shoppers do exist however... but you can get hired directly by a company if you want to do that. the want ads simply give you "lists" and "access" to more lists of how you can "become" a mystery shopper........if you dont mean the mystery shopper ads.... i wonder what you mean by shopping online as a job?? whose money would you be spending??

if you are determined to work at home, i would suggest putting your energy into working for yourself and starting your own business. ANYTHING can succeed if you work hard enough (even MLM!) - so why not put your energies into starting your own business? that way you wont be subject to the possible scams out there.

now i am aware of 2 things you can do at home to earn money...and i praise them a lot on here because i have had personal success doing it --- if you have any web skills, get a blog or start a website on a theme you are passionate about and earn passive revenue from well placed adsense blocks..... and if you're artistic and have knowledge of a computer graphics program, open a premium shop at Cafepress.com and promote your own store. I put very little work now into my cafepress shop and i make a good side income from it - but i do know people who work full time at it and its their "full time job" and has been for over 5 years (some stores pull in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year)

**nanamom** · 12-20-2007, 06:58 AM

I know a guy whose living is ebay. He doesn't have a high standard of living and he is single but he does it all on ebay. I don't know how! I know a woman who earned 1K a month on ebay when her husband was a garbage man. I would love to find an at home business that works either on or off the internet but after decades of searching I haven't. I hope someone who is successful at something that can be duplicated posts.

**zetta** · 12-20-2007, 08:02 AM

I'd suggest looking where people are posting "help wanted" sorts of ads -- Craig's list, local newspaper website, etc -- those are more likely to be legit.

**krayziebone33** · 12-20-2007, 08:55 AM

Thank you all very much. I thought that some of that stuff had to be legit since it was posted on the career builder site, but I guess I was mistaking a little. I'm not really determined to find something to do at home. I really just want to do something to supplement my real income. That is proving to be a little harder than I anticipated. It has actually been somewhat frustrating.

**mom-from-missouri** · 12-20-2007, 09:39 AM

I haven't been able to find anything. I live in the middle of nowhere, and there are NO jobs here, not even childcare or house cleaning. The work at homes I found on Craigs list did not seem ligit. I am also limited because we only have dialup in our area, and our phone cable is full, so we can't add a 2nd line either. Cell service works about 50% of the time and only in the rooms on the south side of the house. It is also long distance to call anywhere but here. So, I have searched them all, and have yet to find a good work at home.

**Confetti** · 12-21-2007, 01:24 PM

There are several legit companies that hire people to answer calls at home. I worked for West, but there are others, such as Live-ops, etc. It was a good thing, but not the thing for me. My house is just too unpredictably noisy. The companies hire you and train you, then route calls to you and you do the data/order entry online using their system.
Look for message boards devoted to the subject to get a feel for this kind of work - there are a few of them out there.

**krayziebone33** · 12-23-2007, 08:44 AM

Originally posted by Confetti View Post

There are several legit companies that hire people to answer calls at home. I worked for West, but there are others, such as Live-ops, etc. It was a good thing, but not the thing for me. My house is just too unpredictably noisy. The companies hire you and train you, then route calls to you and you do the data/order entry online using their system.
Look for message boards devoted to the subject to get a feel for this kind of work - there are a few of them out there.

Thanks, Confetti. What was the pay like? I'm not asking you to give me your exact pay, but was the pay worth what you were being asked to do? How many hours a day did you have to answer calls? How would the company keep track of whether or not you were actually doing the job?

**Landwatch** · 12-23-2007, 10:31 PM

I really can't even think of working from home. Being a laid back person, I need that looking after that you get only in the office. However, it sure is a great way to earn some extra bucks.

**disneysteve** · 12-24-2007, 10:28 AM

Originally posted by nanamom View Post

I know a guy whose living is ebay.

There are many people who make a living, or at least a pretty solid 2nd income, on ebay. This doesn't totally qualify as work-from-home, though. When I was selling actively on ebay, I was also going to auctions several times each month, spending every Saturday going to yard sales and flea markets, shopping at outlets, "final clearance" stuff at stores, after-Christmas sales... anywhere where I could find stuff cheap that I could resell at a decent profit. It was a lot of work and a lot of running around.

What kind of money can you make? Back in 2000, I grossed about $14,000 for the year. My best month I took in $2,600. About 80% of that was profit, so I did quite well. Not enough to live on, but for someone looking for a 2nd income, it would do nicely.

**Exile** · 12-24-2007, 06:49 PM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

There are many people who make a living, or at least a pretty solid 2nd income, on ebay. This doesn't totally qualify as work-from-home, though. When I was selling actively on ebay, I was also going to auctions several times each month, spending every Saturday going to yard sales and flea markets, shopping at outlets, "final clearance" stuff at stores, after-Christmas sales... anywhere where I could find stuff cheap that I could resell at a decent profit. It was a lot of work and a lot of running around.

What kind of money can you make? Back in 2000, I grossed about $14,000 for the year. My best month I took in $2,600. About 80% of that was profit, so I did quite well. Not enough to live on, but for someone looking for a 2nd income, it would do nicely.

Sounds like a fair income for the kind of self-employment that you were involved in. But what happened after 2000? Did you discontinue your business?

**disneysteve** · 12-25-2007, 06:26 AM

Originally posted by Exile View Post

Sounds like a fair income for the kind of self-employment that you were involved in. But what happened after 2000? Did you discontinue your business?

I actually have a blog entry a few days ago about this. Basically, I gradually drifted away from it. Partly due to my new job. Partly due to my daughter growing up and spending more time with her. It was much easier when she was a toddler and went to bed at 7:00. I'd spend a couple of hours each night doing ebay stuff or going to auctions.

I've gone through spurts where I sold again for a couple of weeks at a time and then stopped again. As I said in my blog entry, I'm hoping to start up again in 2008, not for the money but to help declutter the house. Our basement is about 1/3 devoted to my ebay stock and it's time to regain some of that space. The garage too.

**MonkeyMama** · 12-25-2007, 06:55 AM

I think you have to really tread with caution on the MLMs, but there is a decent side income to be made, for sure. I don't think its all bad. I made a few hundred dollars this year without lifting a finger, and could make more with effort. I just make too much at my regular job to bother.

Of course, as with anything, there is no quick fix. Some of the people I know who work from home and make a lot of money (well, most) work A LOT. I know people who make really good money on ebay but they put a lot of time into it.

If you hear about something you don't have to put any effort in and you will make a ton of money, that's where the red flags start. You'll always make more figuring something on your own than buying into some gimmick.

**Tree0164** · 12-26-2007, 02:36 AM

Legit work at home jobs are hard to find. Phone, writing and technical jobs are the most common ones. Work at home journal has job listings as well as companies that reguarly hire telecommuters.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You need to work.

**murphyc** · 12-27-2007, 05:16 AM

I've been a medical transcriber working from home now for over 11 years and love it. I'm old school and was lucky enough to be trained on the job in the hospital for 18 years prior. I have never made more than $32,000 (Ohio) a year but have managed very well on that, have my own home and live a quiet life and am very contented. You have to be disciplined and of course it helps I don't have kids running around. My habits have stayed the same as they did when I was in the hospital; I take a half-hour lunch and a break or two. No doubt I could strive to make better money but I just don't care to work the overtime which they beg us to do all the time; the job can get tedious and boring like any other, but the benefits sure do outweigh the down side. My working conditions are just great.

Work From Home Opportunities