Work at home jobs?

[Van]

My wife has been wanting to make some money to help with expenses and Im looking to do the same. I've been reading some information about work at home jobs such as transcription but before I let either of us step into anything I want to make sure that we can find legitimate companies to start a work at home job through. Are there any websites that are watch dogs or that rate these companies that any of our members here can pass along?

Another thing I've considered is dropship selling on ebay but so far all that I have found is a catalog dropshipper called DAP wich has a free membership trial.

 

[bjdraw]

I do freelance writing for Weblogsinc.com, they are owned by AOL and very reputable. Personally I write for EngadgetHD, but they have lots of blogs about just about anything you can think of. They pay per post and have full time work from home jobs as well.

 

[TheForce]

I've been doing home based business for a long time. It started when I was in NY. I became a scuba instructor. Later I turned that into commercial diving work which paid better and took less of my time. In '93 I finally quit my full time job, actually got fired when the company went out of business. So after a few months of job searching, I realized I'd be better off expanding a home based business doing what I enjoyed full time. I'll never go back. The trick as you indicated Van is figuring out what you want to do.
You have divided it into a different approach from what I consider. You are looking to work for a boss but at home. I have never done that. So no advice from me.

Here's something you may consider doing- How about quick turn real estate service. You buy up a distressed property cheap and sell it fast to another investor. The biggest problem these investors have is finding a property to buy, not to be able to sell it. Maybe you don't have the cash for that now, So, you make a job of locating properties that are on the market cheap, do some photos, write up a short spec sheet and contact information and sell it to an investor. I can give you more details if interested in how this works but it is a way to get your foot in the door, learn the ropes before doing your own buy sell to make the big bucks. You are your own boss and you can sell the product on two levels, the info pays $50 and if he buys the property you get $500. Think this sounds crazy? I know a guy here in Jacksonville who has been working with people with this program for the past 10 years. As I recall, he pays out a $500 commission for 1 in about 50 properties so it becomes a numbers game. He stopped doing the search himself and relies totally on his scouts. His scouts are mostly college kids and housewives with a digital camera. Oh well just an idea.

 

[Van]

I dont know about even considering realestate since its such a horrible market these days, all the places in my neighborhood are still up for sale and have been since I moved here in november of last year, and your right I dont have the funds to touch any property and probably wont for atleast another 10 years.

Any idea's of working for myself are onhold right now, the economy here has worsened wich is another reason why Im looking to move again and after looking further into the idea I would have to hire an accountant and atorney since I dont have enough education to do alot of the paperwork on my own.

 

[mastermesh]

My wife's been doing home biz for a few years... some have been real bad investments... others have been ok. Most companies that ask you to pay something to work for them are mainly rip offs. In the last couple of years she's gone through the following scam businesses: Nikken (they sell magnets to put in shoes and stuff), Fruta Vida (a caffiene based natural drink juice thing), Jerky Direct, and a whole slew of others. She's finally decided to stick with the basics and just do Avon. Avon is pretty cheap - I think it's 10.00 startup + a certain amount of sales need to be sustained monthly.

If you are in to web design, blogs, etc. can be good, but go with linkshare and clickbank. Google Ads are a waste of time and energy for most people.... I was a part of them a long time ago, but once I started to actually get close to making enough where they'd have to pay out they banned me from the program falsly claiming I was doing click fraud. I hear they do that to a LOT of people, especially if you ever update your websites on computers that others have access to as far as ip addresses go, like in a university computer lab. If you ever get banned, you are out for life, even if the reason for the ban isn't legit.

If you are good with a digital camera, one place I sell photos online is 3D Models, Plugins, Textures, and more at Turbo Squid - it doesn't pay much, but a few dollars here and there is better than nothing. Plus, I get a good reason to use the digital camera a lot and walk around outside taking pics all over the place, a nice hobby of mine.

 

[Van]

From looking at some of the website for turbosquid it looks like they are looking for 3D artwork, I dont see where they are taking pictures.

 

[SatelliteGAL]

That was the impression I got also.

 

[Van]

Well after doing alot of searching and learning I've found that all but a very tiny percentage of these jobs are scams of one sort or another and there are countless complaints to the FTC, BBB, and other applicable offices and law enforcement every day. At the moment the best idea that Ive come across is selling on ebay and I know that there are several members here that are selling on ebay.

For those who are selling on ebay are you going through a drop shipper? Are you paying a monthly sub to do so?
How well is it working out for you?