# How can someone earn money online? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226 "2009-08-12T21:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zeno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zeno/32/15040_2.png) [@zeno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeno)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/1 "2009-08-12T21:36:05Z")
I’m not talking a get rich quick deal. A real job. For someone willing to work for $10 an hour (or a little less). Is this possible? Any ideas or sources? thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/2 "2009-08-12T21:59:29Z")
Are you artsy or crafty at all? If so you can sell wares on [Etsy](http://www.etsy.com/), which is a marketplace for hand-made goods. Think online artisan fare. If you feel like really investing time and money, find things on eBay that are selling well, then go to Goodwill, thrift stores, and garage sales looking for things that you could then sell at a markup. Then there’s ChaCha, though I wouldn’t recommend it. It works like this: someone sends ChaCha a text message asking a question. Then you would, as a guide, research the question and send an answer back. Depending on the category you get anywhere from .10 to .20 a question, which means you’d need to answer a LOT to earn anywhere near a decent wage. I did this for awhile, and was doing fairly well at it before they changed their pay system, and consequently had major issues (“Infoseekers” weren’t getting their questions answered, and “Guides” weren’t getting any questions to answer). Not too long ago, I received an email from them basically telling me my services were no longer required, so my account had been terminated. Short of telecommuting, though, I don’t think that there’s many places you can earn $10 an hour in your bathrobe… unless, maybe you’re a female with a sexy voice. Or, I suppose, a male with a sexy voice, though I don’t think those are in high demand. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/3 "2009-08-13T00:23:58Z")
Find something you can sell on Ebay for more than it costs you to buy. There are a lot of ways to do this but they require very good knowledge of the market. Two acquaintances of mine run a business buying and selling Magic the Gathering cards, although they do attend a local (and somewhat small) card show each week. A high school teacher said he made money in the pre-Ebay by finding good deals on various collectibles and knowing where to look for buyers willing to pay more. While this would probably be a bit harder to do with Ebay around, you might be able to make it up by volume - if you know what you’re doing. I’m sure there are jobs out there that pay decent money for working at your computer (and aren’t “scams” or MLM stuff), but I don’t think there’s a good way to find them besides finding a job in general. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/4 "2009-08-13T02:32:29Z")
Here’s an [Ehow.com](http://Ehow.com) article you might find interesting: > **[How to Make $1,000 a Day Online](https://pocketsense.com/how-to-make-1000-a-day-online-13369549.html)** > > Online earning involves online advertising, selling products of your own or selling products for others. With persistence, you may hit your $1,000 a day goal. ---
**Author:** ![tofergregg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tofergregg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofergregg)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/5 "2009-08-13T02:40:29Z")
Some people claim to make that kind of money with [Amazon’s Mechanical Turk](http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/07/05/can-you-actually-earn-reasonable-money-from-mechanical-turk/). You get little jobs that pay a small amount, and the more you do, the more you make. ---
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/6 "2009-08-13T02:45:01Z")
I sell life and health insurance from my home office. Granted, I do spend a LOT of time outside of the office networking and meeting clients, but the foundation of my business is online and home-based. You could look into becoming a virtual assistant. Here’s one company that does that very thing: [http://www.virtualassistant.org/](http://www.virtualassistant.org/) Would you be willing to telemarket? I know that some insurance agents and real estate agents will hire telemarketers to cold call residences and businesses to drum up business. You could approach agents in your area (we’re easy to find - check the Department of Insurance website for your state for a directory) and see if anyone’s seeking a marketer. If you’d like to look more into the telemarketing thing, PM me. I’m not hiring a marketer right now, but I did fire one not too long ago and I’d be happy to go over some of the things she did that royally pissed me off so that, if you wanted to go down that same road, you wouldn’t have the same experience. Besides that, do you have any particularly marketable skills or areas of expertise? ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/7 "2009-08-13T12:16:21Z")
Start a blog that’s successful. Very hard to do, but not impossible. Sell Ad Space. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/8 "2009-08-13T15:01:14Z")
> [@muttrox](#): > > Start a blog that’s successful. Very hard to do, but not impossible. Sell Ad Space. The median income for _professional_ bloggers is under $100 month. I think saying that you can make money from starting a blog is sort of like saying you can make money playing poker. A handful do; the overwhelmning majority don’t. The OP does not describe his/her skillset, but there are marketplaces for virtually everyone to bid on freelance jobs, such as [eLance.com](http://elance.com), [project4hire.com](http://project4hire.com), or [rentacoder.com](http://rentacoder.com). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/9 "2009-08-13T15:30:56Z")
There’s a site called Associated Content that will pay you per click for original written articles. They accept unsolicited submissions, and also offer “assignments” that you can claim. For example, an article about free things to do in your city, or reviews of recent TV shows or movies, etc. I don’t know anyone who’s made a pile there, but I suppose it’s possible. With minimal effort (three articles), I’ve earned almost 50 cents there already!..TRM ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/10 "2009-08-13T15:37:14Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > The median income for _professional_ bloggers is under $100 month. I will submit that anyone making $100 per month from blogging is a hobbyist and not a professional. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/11 "2009-08-13T18:21:36Z")
> [@tofergregg](#): > > Some people claim to make that kind of money with [Amazon’s Mechanical Turk](http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/07/05/can-you-actually-earn-reasonable-money-from-mechanical-turk/). You get little jobs that pay a small amount, and the more you do, the more you make. I’ve been working on AMT since June 2008. I’ve actually made about $1,040.00 so far. Not fantastic, but it’s still money in the bank. If you’re fast at typing and can write and rewrite easily, it’s not bad for some extra income. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/12 "2009-08-13T19:00:04Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m not talking a get rich quick deal. A real job How is this different than “How do I get a job?” The question you should be asking yourself is “What are my marketable skills?” I know a guy who is self-employed and works off the internet. He’s a freelance coder. He is a skilled programmer. If youre looking for a internet job that requires no marketable skills then I doubt you will find it. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/13 "2009-08-13T19:08:24Z")
My brother-in-law makes a decent living reselling books on Amazon. He spends a lot of time at library sales and book clearances to acquire stock, and has a seller’s account on Amazon where he sells them. He sometimes has to travel up to three hours away for a good book sale. He also has to store all his inventory at his home and do all the packaging/mailing, so it’s quite a bit of work. He specializes in textbooks and non-fiction, I think. I wanna say he pulled in $50-60k last year before taxes, and it wasn’t an especially good year. But it’s a LOT of work and you have to know what books will sell and what you can afford to pay for them. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-someone-earn-money-online/506226/14 "2009-08-13T23:05:44Z")
A lot of those content things are scams, typically they require you get a minimum in your account before you can withdraw, say for instance, $75.00. Of couse as soon as you get near 75.00 they say your quality of work is suffering and cancel your account. You can make money off blogs but you have to pick the right key words. As other posters have said, this is very unlikely. As for telemarketing, I’d forget it, the foreign sites will kill you. For example in 2003 I did technical writing, for anywhere from 10¢ to 50¢ per WORD. Now those jobs are outsourced to India for 25¢ A PAGE. IF it can be telemarketed it’ll be outsourced to a cheaper area