You’re looking to make a few extra bucks and ideally want to do it from home. Because sometimes life gets a little too busy and complicated, and your bank account gets too strapped.
But here’s the kicker —
There’s so much junk on the internet, and you don’t want to get roped into some crazy MLM or shady “make money from home” scheme that it’s hard to know who you can trust.
Well, if you’re looking for legitimate gigs, then I’m glad you stopped by this site.
This page intends to provide links to resources that both adults and teens can use to make extra cash on the side from home and Reviews from my personal experiences with making money online.
No gimmickstrash talk, orno “get rich quick & easy” ploys. These are genuine reviews on legitimate side hustles that I’ve tried. Are they worth your time? Read more to decide for yourself.
Surveys for Cash
This section reviews several popular (and some less known) survey panels you can access on a computer or phone. The reviews also include my opinions on general profitability (whether or not they are worth your time if you are mainly looking to make money online from home.)
Click the link above to connect to my Surveys page. This page contains reviews of survey sites and apps I have used and my personal experiences with each of them.
You can make money online by taking surveys, but they are an acquired taste for some. However, if you’re willing to put in the time, then definitely try online surveys for monde. It may not make you a millionaire, but you will earn extra cash.
Related: Hate Taking Surveys? Surveysavvy Turns Your Trash Into Cash
Website User Testing
This section contains reviews and best practices for Website User Testing.
Companies pay people to test their websites to ensure the layout, wording, and functionalities are clear and understandable. So you can make money online by providing your valuable opinion to businesses who want to test how their websites perform.
They may want feedback on the website design or search functionality or ask you to go through a transaction to see how easy it is to use their checkout page.
These are all legitimate ways to make money online by being a Website Tester.
Price Drop Services
How I Earned Over $700 Over $2,000 Cash Back With Price Drop Services Like Earny, Sift, Ebates and Paribus
This section goes over how to make some extra cash by shopping with the use of Price Drop Services, which could fall under the following:
- A service where you must initiate a purchase through an app or website to generate an electronic trail back to your account. Then once your purchase has been validated, you receive a percentage or dollar amount back.
- Programs where your email address or credit card is linked so the service can identify when you’ve made an online purchase. Purchases are scanned on the backend, and you are notified if a refund may be available due to a price drop. In many cases, the service will contact the store and submit a claim on your behalf for any refund owed (with minimal to no effort on your end.)
Some of the best (& legitimate) ways to make money online are by purchasing everyday items and getting cash back just for using these services. A great example of this is Amazon shopping.
While I know of no specific Amazon rebate app, you can make cash back by shopping on Amazon. Additionally, several rebate apps cover Amazon purchases if you go about it correctly.
Shopping and Rebate Apps
This section reviews popular (and not-so-popular) Shopping, Couponing, and Rebate apps. By this, I mean apps where you can “activate” special offers for cashback when you purchase specific items.
You activate the offer, go shopping as you normally would, and scan your receipt as proof that you purchased said item. Once the scanned receipt is validated, you will be awarded the cashback amount to your account.
Online Consignment
This section reviews my experiences with making money through Online Consignment, including eBay, Swap.com, and ThredUp.
Many people have items sitting around their house that are in excellent condition but they don’t have a use for anymore. A fancy dress you only wore one time.
You received an expensive handbag as a gift, but it isn’t your cup of tea. Designer shoes you wore once but decided weren’t worth the blisters.
You can take your gently used clothing or accessories and make some extra coin on the side by selling through online consignment.
Print on Demand
Many people have been building a sizable side income through Print on Demand (POD). An example is Merch by Amazon, where you can upload your graphics and designs onto t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, and much more. Click above to read more about my journey into designing Merch t-shirts.
Crowdsourcing and Micro-tasking Sites
This section contains reviews and recommendations on sites where you can sign up to perform short tasks or micro-tasks. For example, crowdsourcing sites pay you to complete small tasks that may not be very complicated but require human intervention.
Think of it as a way to ensure robots will never take over our workforce. Some things cannot be automated and require a real person to complete them.
These are short, repetitive tasks that require keen attention to detail. You can acquire more money with more time you dedicate to these micro-tasks or micro-jobs.
Earn Money by Clicking on Ads
Clicking on ads — can that help you make money online? Some people love these types of opportunities.
Examples of ad-clicking sites would be getting paid to open/read emails or watch advertisement videos. While the payment per item can be low compared to other ways to make money online, the right person can benefit from accumulating these tasks.
Do you have time to spare, maybe while you’re watching TV or listening to music? If you’re good at multi-tasking, this side jam could be for you. And the best part is — this is legitimate.
While it may seem silly to sit there for hours watching or clicking on ads, these marketing companies are paying for you to do this. (Subliminal advertising at its best?? You be the judge!)
Focus Groups
This section addresses how to sign-up for online and in-person focus groups. Focus Groups are a great way to provide feedback while collaborating with others.
Some people find it easier to communicate opinions as part of a group so that you can help one another build out a collective response. At times it can be difficult to verbalize exactly how you feel.
When you are exposed to the opinions of others, it can help you determine your response, whether it’s in line with what others are saying or if you hold a differing opinion.
Focus groups can have many different formats. Popular ones are online chat groups, webcam interviews, mobile phone video responses, live surveys with online moderators, in-person at a central location, or even on the regular telephone.
Websites Where You Can Search for and Join Focus Groups:
- Accelerant Research
- Focus Group Interactive
- User Interviews
- Plaza Research
- Survey Squad (Focus Forward)
- 20|20 Panel
- Sis International Research
- Fieldwork Nrc
Freelancing
Everyone has something that they are good at — writing, drawing, singing, organizing, programming — you name it. Freelancing websites allow you to market those skills to potential buyers. This could result in either short or long-term assignments, depending on what the buyer is looking for.
Maybe they need someone to design a new web page or brand logo. Or maybe they need someone to consistently provide short articles as content for their blog. The possibilities are endless, and these sites allow you to connect with clients you may not have found otherwise.
Websites where you can apply for freelancing jobs/tasks:
- Fiverr
- Upwork
- Iwriter
- ZipRecruiter
Product Influencer
There are communities where you can provide feedback on products and services, build a social following, and potentially make money by giving honest and thoughtful reviews.
And once you build a large enough following (increasing your circle of impact), businesses can send their products to you with the intent of having you use them and then share your honest feedback.
Websites where you can apply for product influencer jobs/tasks:
- Influenster
- Product Tube
- Mobee
Renting Out Items You Own
So here’s a fascinating concept — and definitely, a unique way to earn some extra income. Picture a peer-to-peer rental marketplace where you can save money on items you need and also make money on the things you own.
Fat Llama is a company that allows you to rent out your items to others in your neighborhood. They go by the mantra that sharing is the future and experiences are more important than owning stuff.
Let’s say you need some tools to work on a backyard DIY project. Or you want to paint your bedrooms or your house. You can go to the local home improvement store and spend hundreds of dollars on items you’ll use maybe once every few years.
Or you can go onto the Fat Llama website, find someone in your neighborhood who owns such tools and rent them at a fair price. No need to break the bank on things you’ll rarely even use.
The concept for Fat Llama was developed in 2015 in the UK and quickly became an online success. Now Fat Llama is expanding into the US.
Here is some basic info on how it works from the Fat Llama website:
- Fat Llama is a fully-insured online marketplace for lending and borrowing anything
- It’s a peer-to-peer lending platform allowing users to lend locally.
- All items are free to list on the platform and insured up to the value of $30,000.
- Fat Llama will only take a commission (15%) if you make a successful rental on the platform.
- Lenders can list just about anything from cameras, sports equipment, musical instruments, and homewares
- Trending rental categories include: Film & Photography, Campers, Drones, Video Projectors, Bikes
Related: Earn Tons of Money Back With Rebate, Cash Back and Price Drop Apps
Miscellaneous Ways To Make Money Online From Home
This section is for all other opportunities that don’t fit in the above categories.
Examples:
Bank Bonuses
We all know how important it is to start saving money, even if it’s just a few dollars here and there. Know what’s even better, getting free money just for opening a bank account? So you can feel good about setting up your rainy day fund, PLUS earning a bank bonus for a new savings or checking account.
Digital Reflection
Get paid for having your home computer and cell phone connected to an advertisement monitoring device.
Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel
Make money by scanning your grocery, retail, and online store purchases.
Selling Your Junk Mail for Cash
Yup, that’s exactly how it sounds. This company pays you to mail all of your junk mail to them. They even provide large postage-paid envelopes for you to send it all back to them.
Earn Money by Scanning Your Receipts
There are many companies that will pay you (or award points) for scanning your grocery store receipts into their app. Each company has unique requirements on what types of receipts they’ll accept. The link is specific to the Fetch Rewards app, with more to be added.
