Make Money Challenge: Week 1
Earlier this week I outlined my latest challenge – make some money, hopefully fairly fast, using supplementary sources of income.
I’m trying to raise £300 so I can put that towards a new laptop, but you can set any target and goal that you like if you’re joining in. Pick something to aim for that’ll keep you motivated, and maybe go public and write it down in the comments section to make it official and give yourself the extra pressure of accountability.
What I’ve done so far this week:
1. Put a few listings up on eBay, to try to get some decent prices at auction. You can list up to 20 items per month as a private seller without paying any listing fees, and I’ve done six so far, so there’s still plenty of scope for decluttering and earning at the same time. None of those auctions have finished yet, so no earnings as such, but it seemed like a good idea to get the ball rolling.
Unfortunately, as you may have heard, eBay’s final seller fees have recently gone up to 10% plus VAT, and they include whatever you’ve charged for the postage in this too. So now you have to remember to factor that into whatever you decide to quote for the P&P price. That said, I still think doing auctions on eBay for most of my bits and bobs is my best option for raising a semi-decent amount of cash using one single method.
2. I looked into selling a few books to the bulk buying companies, but at rates as pathetically low as 8p to 20p for a recent paperback I decided it would be a big mistake to go down the ‘speed and convenience’ route. Now researching whether to sell books individually or to sites that guarantee a better minimum price…
3. Next up, I’ve been looking for ways to earn cashback that don’t involve spending any money. My favourite cashback provider at the moment is TopCashback, and I’ve been using the site to get ‘paid’ free trials, ‘paid’ searches and so on. Some of these only pay 5p per day, and it can take several weeks to have cashback clear and get paid out to you generally, so this is a waiting game really.
4. I’ve mentioned Qmee before, and have been using that to earn a few pence here and there while I’m using search. It’s a case of getting back into the habit of clicking on Qmee’s alternative links that occasionally pop up on the left hand side of the page instead of tearing ahead with what I was doing in the first place. The nice thing about Qmee is that as soon as you’ve earned anything with them you can cash it out immediately.
5. And finally, I’ve signed up to try out Swagbucks, one of a growing number of sites that give you points here and there for watching videos, doing quizzes and surveys, playing games, finding hidden codes etc. You then eventually convert these points into cash/Paypal payouts. I haven’t been a member long enough to decide whether I love it or not yet, but I’ll give it a go and come back and do a proper review later.
More ideas, tips and tricks coming soon. Have you made any extra cash so far this week? Do you have any extra ideas that I haven’t mentioned here?
Full disclosure: The links above are my refer-a-friend links. If you sign up to any of the services mentioned using these links it will be at no extra cost to you, but it might make this site a small amount of money. Once signed up, you will be able to invite your own friends in turn. Any money this site raises in this way will be mentioned and put towards the total of my Laptop Challenge.
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Love your progress chart – reminds me if Blue Peter days! I’m planning to sell my unwanted craft supplies on Etsy. It’s 20p to list an item for 4 months, and they only take 3.5 per cent of sales.
Hi Dottie Doodle – I remember them, they used to have a Totaliser! Might see if I can find one of those, the Blue Peter approach is just about right. Good luck with the Etsy selling, that sounds like a pretty good deal compared to some other sites. What’s your shop called?