Working from home

anne_whiting_2

Hi there, I am a recently retired grannie wanting to earn a bob or two at home to keep me living to the standard to which I have become accustomed! I have come across web sites: valuedopions.co.uk and homeworkfor you2, in which you complete survey forms on line and get paid in some sort of vouchers eg Tesco, the latter makes a registration charge (dont know how much). Just wonder if anyone has come across these in particular or any others in general and if they are all they make out to be. Are there any to beware of! thanks Grannie Annie

Chell

I wouldn't join any site where you have to pay. Try ciao for surveys, Gapbuster for mystery shopping, Pigsback, lightspeed, retaileyes etc.

tesuhoha

You could try taking in ironing. That seems to be quite in demand at the moment.

Toon

Have you ever thought about dropshipping?

DevilWear offers a dropshipping service free of charge for branded clothing and designer sunglasses. There's no initial outlay other than a small refundable deposit so you can give it a try without the worry of losing money.

What is dropshipping?
Dropshipping is where you would advertise one of our products whether this be on your own website or an online auction site etc. When that product sells then you collect the payment from your customer and place an order with the dropshipper. The dropshipper will then send that product directly to your customer. The idea is that you sell the product for more than what the dropshipper would charge you eg. They sell a tshirt for £9.99. You advertise the product and sell it for £19.99. You collect £19.99 from your customer and forward £9.99 to the dropshipper. You have then made yourself £10 profit! You can do this with as many or as few of the products as you like.

This means you spend as much time as you like on your sales, never need to store stock and never need to process orders yourself.

Want more information?
For more information on this program visit the dropshipping section on this website. There's also a link to the FAQs.

DevilWear are also setting up a new dropshipping program where you will be able to have your very own fully automated dropshipping website. More information on this can be found here.

sweetymum

Are you any good at baking? I started my own business by making celebration cakes for friends and family at home. Now I have my own shop. :j

anne_whiting_2

thanks will try those web sites menioned

Grannie A

margaretclare

We have our second bedroom at the front furnished with second-hand office furniture. We each have a computer with broadband connection and the working conditions here are far better than in any office we ever worked in!

My DH does surveys for Ciao, but it's pocket-money really. I used to do television and radio opinion surveys, but all I got was to be entered into prize draws - needless to say I never won anything, so I stopped doing that. I don't watch enough TV to be worth it anyway!

I'm not into baking, cooking, ironing or any of those things, I'm not domesticated! What I could do is copy-typing or even audio-typing.

Margaret Clare

trevored

margaretclare wrote:

We have our second bedroom at the front furnished with second-hand office furniture. We each have a computer with broadband connection and the working conditions here are far better than in any office we ever worked in!

My DH does surveys for Ciao, but it's pocket-money really. I used to do television and radio opinion surveys, but all I got was to be entered into prize draws - needless to say I never won anything, so I stopped doing that. I don't watch enough TV to be worth it anyway!

I'm not into baking, cooking, ironing or any of those things, I'm not domesticated! What I could do is copy-typing or even audio-typing.

Margaret Clare

Hi, as you are a typist, you could consider offering a clerical service to students (local colleges/universities) for typing up dissertations/essays/theses etc.

anne_whiting_2

hi trevored, anne here, how would you go about that as I too can offer copy typing, word processing etc. Would you have to put an advert in local paper?

trevored

anne_whiting wrote:

hi trevored, anne here, how would you go about that as I too can offer copy typing, word processing etc. Would you have to put an advert in local paper?

Check your local paper, see if anyone else is offering the service, if they are phone them up, let them believe you are a potential customer and get their rates, the services they provide and also ask how they operate. This will give you a) an idea of the competition b) the going rate c) time scales and d) maybe ideas you hadn't thought of!

Visit your local college(s)/University/libraries check out any posters/business cards that may be displayed on notice boards in communial areas offering such services. If there aren't any on the notice boards then these may be golden opportunities for you to get started (but get permission before displaying your poster/business cards . Contact the Student Advisory unit at the college/uni. and tell them what you are offering & see what they say.

Use Google & search for 'typing services' (without the quotes) - I've just tried it & got useful replies.

Just a few pointers to get you started. I don't think it'll make you a fortune but could prove quite lucrative! Good luck!

NigeWick

Anne,
Think about what you enjoy doing. I do a bit of referral marketing, mystery shopping, shop auditing & merchandising and a few online surveys to top up my pension.

Surveys are at best just a litlle pin money, at worst a method for some unscrupulous companies to send you loads of adverts and other useless time wasting rubbish. I've been with Yougov a year and just got to £14 and they don't pay out until £50 is reached. Another company has sent me three seperate £5 vouchers in just about a year. I tend not to contribute to the ones that offer a "go in a competition" as payment for my time.

Mystery shopping assignments are at present not well paid although the odd rare job will pay a £40 fee. Having said that, getting paid to stay at a hotel, eat out or buy something in a shop is a pleasant way to while away retirement.

Counting (shop auditing) various products in a pharmacy or supermarket can pay quite a decent rate too. Last year I did one job where I got over £500 for about 36 hours work.

The merchandising company I have worked with is quite poorly paying and I have refused offers of work that are not economically viable for me over the last several months.

Referral marketing pays according to how much effort you put into it. I don't put a lot of effort in but still get a small ongoing monthly payment even if I do nothing. Some people make a full time job of it and get paid thousands per month after a few years growing their business.

As has been suggested, you may well be able to earn money using a skill that you already have, to start your own business or to offer for payment.

Nigel.