This article originally began as ‘ways for teens to make money’, but as I have updated and added to it over the years, I have found that many of the items listed actually work for many adults looking to make some extra income as well.
Not sure about you, but there have been many times in my life when I wanted/needed to make some extra money.
The good news for us today is there are a wide range of ways to make money that weren’t around even a decade ago.
Luckily for many of us, we may already be very skilled in certain areas that could easily translate into a nice side income for us.
So potentially, someone who is willing to work hard could make considerably more than working traditional side jobs like delivering pizza, babysitting, mowing lawns, etc.
So, check out the ideas listed below. Some may not be a good fit, but some of the ideas may be perfect for you!
1Make Money Online With Swagbucks
Basically this is a free site that offers you a bunch of ways to earn cash, gift cards, or other rewards.
You can earn money by a variety of methods including:
- Answering polls
- Using their search engine
- Doing simple tasks (like giving feedback about a website)
- Getting cash back for shopping online
- Taking surveys
- Playing games on their site.
I have tried it out and have received multiple payments from them, so I can attest that it is legit. They also offer a $5 bonus!
Oh and they also have an A+ rating with the BBB.
While you won’t get rich doing this, to me it seems like a great way for internet-lovers to make some money. Find out more in the video below or get started here.
2Start Making Money Scanning Your Groceries
Have you heard of the National Consumer Panel (NCP)?
Well, they pay you to scan your grocery purchases with their Smartphone App.
Basically, as a member of NCP you help manufacturers and retailers make decisions on what products to develop or improve.
How It Works:
- Sign up for your free account here
- Next NCP will provide you access to use their Smartphone App
- Then, you’ll use your phone to scan the barcodes on all products you purchase during any shopping trip.
- You record some other information like where you shopped and how much you paid.
- Each week you are compensated with points that can be redeemed for CASH.
For More Info, You Can Check Out Their Website Or Sign Up Here.
3Get Paid To Download An App
SmartPanel is a new app that collects anonymous usage data from your phone and believe it or not they pay you $5 just to install it.
And then $5 more for each month you leave it installed!
All you need to do is click the button to get the app and then you can get paid via paypal or Amazon gift card!
4Take A Few Surveys On Your Phone
Ipsos i-Say is a survey app that allows you to take surveys, Earn points, and then cash out for PayPal or other rewards.
It is a great user experience and really just a nice site.
In order to try them out you need to sign up here first and then they will send you a link for the app.
And here are a few other options if you’re wanting to do some surveys:
5 Get Paid To Watch Videos?
How many online videos do you watch each day? What if you were getting paid for watching them?
InboxDollars (for U.S. only) allows you to earn money for watching videos from their website.
So, what’s the catch?
Each video has ads. So in exchange for watching the ads, they can afford to pay us for it.
I tried it out and it definitely isn’t something that will replace your day-job, but if you love watching videos why not get paid something for it!
And right now you can instantly get a $5 bonus just for confirming your email address after signing up.
After signing up, just click “More” in the navigation bar, and then click “Radio” like in the image above.
6Ebates
Ok this one it is more of a money saver, but they will send you a check every few months if you use them.
I have been using them for many years for all of my online purchases.
Basically it works like this…
You visit Ebates.com, then click a link to your favorite online store (they have over 1200 stores like Target, Kohls, Walmart, etc) and make your purchase like normal.
They will then will be paid a referral fee by that retailer and will share the earnings with you. They pay you a percentage (1%-25%) of the purchase price back.
It is completely free to and they even give you a free $5 gift card for signing up. For more info read my review (what is Ebates?)
7Use Bookscouter To Sell Books From Thrift Stores
Ok here is a simple business idea for you.
Start by downloading the BookScouter app on your phone or going to BookScouter.com.
Go visit garage sales or thrift shops and scan the used book sections to find books that you can sell for higher prices.
Many thrift stores sell all their books for 50 cents or less and some of those books are worth a whole lot more.
As you can see in the image to the right, you just scan the barcode with your phone (or enter the ISBN #) and then the app provides the prices that a bunch of book buyback sites are willing to pay for that particular book.
In this case, we can make $3.60 selling this Dave Ramsey book. If I can buy it for 50 cents, then that sounds like a nice profit.
Most of the sites offer free shipping as well, so you don’t even have to pay shipping.
8Make Money Grocery Shopping With Shipt
Shipt is an on-demand grocery delivery service looking for reliable, independent people to shop for groceries and deliver to their members.
They aren’t available in all states yet but as a Shopper, you can make an average of $15-$25/hour, be a part of an exciting start-up and set your own schedule.
To be a Shipt shopper, you must:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Have reliable transportation
- Have a current Driver’s License
- Have knowledge of produce selection
- Agree to a thorough background check
9Freebie Trading
A couple years ago I did an interview with a guy who made $28,000 in one year doing this part time. It is work and requires organization skills to do it well, but it is legit.
I tried my hand at it using Project Payday and their training materials to see that it was legit.
Basically companies are willing to pay you to do trial offers for their products. They know that many people who do the trial offer will like their product and continue to be customers, so they are willing to pay people to sign up for trial offers.
So one of the main ways of making money freebie trading is signing up for offers like a Free Netflix trial, emusic.com, applying for a Discover Card, etc. The key to success seems to be having a calendar where you can keep track of when the trial periods end and make sure to cancel before they end.
If you are interested in learning more I definitely recommend Project Payday as they have a ton of training guides (free if you complete a couple offers) that will greatly simplify the process. But be warned that in order to succeed with this you have to be VERY detail oriented and organized, if you aren’t I wouldn’t try it.
10Get Paid For Testing Websites
Many big companies are looking for feedback about the usability of their website.
This is where Usertesting.com comes in. You sign up for free and then answer questions about a particular website, explaining what is good or bad, confusing or clear, etc. and then you get paid.
You have to be accepted into the program and must be 18+, but the payouts are pretty good! Their current payouts are $10-$15 per test and the tests normally take about 20 minutes.
I found the video below from a tester explaining how it works.
11
Rent Out Your Home On AirBNB
AirBNB is a site that allows you to rent out your home to other people who may just want to visit where you live.
You can rent it out as little or as much as you want and can list it to rent by the night, week, or month. They offer a $1,000,000 guarantee to protect you from any kind of property damage that was caused by renters.
They also have a renter rating system, so you can choose whether or not you want to rent it out to a particular renter. Check out the video below for more:
12Buy And Sell Cars For Profit
If you love cars and aren’t afraid to haggle, you could start a car flipping biz. We have a friend of the family who has done this for years. He scours the classified listings for deals, lands a good deal and then drives the car while trying to sell it for a couple grand more.
Sometimes he sells them quickly, sometimes it takes a little longer, but he gets to drives lots of cars (which he loves) and makes a nice side income as well.
13Sell Your Closet
If you are anything like my wife, you have a closet full of old clothes that you don’t wear any more.
You can easily sell them on a site like ThredUp, which will pay anywhere from $2-$25 for items from Gap, Banana Republic, J.Crew, etc. You can click here and then scroll down to the bottom to see what items may sell for.
What I love about them is that all you have to do is pack up your clothes in a box and then just ship it to them – you don’t even have to pay for shipping!
14Get Paid $35/Hr With Lyft (Or Uber)
Not sure if you’ve heard, but Uber and Lyft are apps that basically eliminates the need to ever call a taxi. Instead of calling a cab, you just click “request driver” and then a Uber or Lyft driver gets a notification and comes and picks you up.
The service is way faster than calling a cab and is about half the price.
I say all that to say that as a driver for Lyft, you use your own car, drive only when you want to, and (according to the website) get paid $35/hr to pick people up and drive them around. Not too shabby.
15Work As A Virtual Call Center Agent
One of our writers worked as a virtual call center agent and this is what she had to say aboutLiveOps.com
“Live Ops is a company that hires virtual call center agents. You are responsible for paying for your own criminal background check prior to starting work (this costs around $30). You also must have your own dedicated phone line and a quiet workspace.
Once you are all set up, Live Ops has an excellent online training program that teaches you how to handle calls from customers. You will be taking calls for many different companies. When you start working, your phone will ring and a script will pop up on your screen. You simply read the script word for word and input customer information as you go along. If customers have questions, there is a section on your screen with FAQ’s and you are also logged into a virtual chat room should you need to ask for support from a supervisor.
The pay is .25 per minute of talk time. Agents typically make anywhere from $7-$14 per hour. As for the hours, they are totally flexible. You can choose which shifts you want to work each week and the shifts are broken down into half hour increments giving you optimal flexibility. You can even log in and work if you are not scheduled for some impromptu cash.”
16Get Paid To Shop
There is a cool app (Android and iPhone) called IBOTTA that pays you for your everyday shopping that you do. It is completely free and pretty easy to use.
Just watch the quick video for more info:
17Build Websites For Others
I can’t tell you how many people have asked me to build them a website since I started this one a couple years ago. I am not seeking the work and people are requesting it, so if you do a little legwork and pursue small business owners, there is a lot of work available. Teens might be great for this, because they would be able to work for less than some higher end website developers, which would put them in the price range that it seems many small businesses are looking to spend. Here is a great course to help you get started.
18Tutor Or Give Lessons With Take Lessons
If you have a skill that you can teach other – guitar, singing, dancing – this is a great site for you to check out!
Take lessons gives you the opportunity to grow your business by reaching more students across the country with no risk – they don’t get paid until you get a new student!
The process is pretty easy – you fill out an application online, complete a background check and agree to their independent contractor terms and then you can get started!
You’ll start earning 60% of the price your student pays for lessons and for every 5 lessons you teach, you’ll earn 10% more of that student’s lesson price – up to 90%!
19Create Facebook Graphics Or Pages
or Twitter backgrounds for that matter.
Lots of small business owners are needing help making their online presence not so lame. If you have even the smallest amount of graphic design skill you can help some of them!
Just set up a simple site to sell your work, get a paypal “buy it now link” and you are off and running.
20Rent Out Your Car For $10+ An Hour
I just heard about RelayRides.com which allows you to either rent or lend your car to others – and get paid in the process. If you live in a big city, this could be pretty profitable!
21Blogging
Two years ago I wasn’t sure if there was money to be made blogging, but I have since found it to work out nicely.
It isn’t something that will provide much income quickly, but if you stick at it, it can.
Since I have been a full-time blogger for many years now, you candownload my free book teaching everything i’ve learned about how to make money blogging.
The book covers the basics of getting started as well as how to get traffic and how to earn from it as well.
22Raise Money Online
If you are raising money for a community service project or missions, you might want to check out a site like GoFundMe.com.
They make it easy for teens to raise money for any type of project. People have used it to raise the money for everything from mission trips to medical bills, weddings and honeymoons, business ventures, and even college tuition.
23Social Marketing Consultant
Many companies are looking for qualified candidates who know the ins and outs of Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter to help them with their social marketing efforts. Head over to a job site and search for “social media marketing”.
24Get Paid To Do The Leg Work For Others WithWeGoLook
WeGoLook is a way for customers to have someone else do the leg work of having something inspected or perform a task.
As a “looker”, you join a family of over 20,000 who are dispatched based on their skills and experience. You must pass a background check, dress and appear professional, work with the onsite contacts in a friendly way and have the ability to do your “looks” via a smart phone.
To become a looker, you apply online, pass the background check and start projects that pay between $25 to $200..
25Start An EBay Business
Last year I experimented with starting an eBay business to see if there was money to be made.
While profit margins can be thin selling on eBay, there are over a million eBay businesses, so it is a viable option.
26Sell Digital Photos
Making money as a photographer has become easier over the last decade. There are now lots of sites looking to buy digital photos:
As with most things, the better you are, the more money you will make, but it can be a nice passive income if you work at it!
27Find Odd-Jobs On Craigslist
Some of these might be landscaping work, or similar odd-jobs, but it might be great summer-time work!
28Sell Vintage Items Or Widgets On Etsy.Com
If you create any kind of arts or crafts or widgets of any sort, you should definitely be selling it on Etsy.com.
29Design Web Logos
If you have a flair for design, it may be worth trying to make some money designing logos for small business or blogs.
30Make Money By Viewing Ads On Your Android Lock Screen
I’ve been trying out this android app called Locket that puts ads on your lock screen and pays you for each time you unlock your phone.(update: Locket did away with their payment program unfortunately)
I’ve been trying it out for a few days and have made about 3 bucks thus far, so it isn’t huge, but at the same time, I didn’t really have to do any work to earn the money.
31Be A Mystery Shopper
This is the dream job isn’t it? You get to shop and get paid!
If you are not familiar with mystery shopping, the gist is that companies often hire everyday people like you and I to come in and pose as regular shoppers.
All the while we are paying attention to how clean the store is, how kind the employees are, etc and then reporting back our findings.
If you are interested you can sign up for mystery shopping jobs in your city.
32Offer To Do Jobs On Zaarly.Com
Zaarly is a website that connects those offering random services (like walking a dog, being a personal assistant for a day, giving guitar lessons, etc) with buyers who are looking for those services. I would suggest checking out some of the ideas listed on the site and sign up and offer those services.
33Get Paid From Your IPhone (Smartphone)
There seem to be some apps popping up that pay you to do simple stuff like take a picture of a menu, or of yourself drinking a starbucks, or verifying that a road is closed – you get the picture. Here are a few that I found:
- Gigwalk
- CheckPoints
34Teach English (Or Other Language) Classes Online
Did you know that English speakers are in high demand in Asia? As a result many are turning to freelance English teachers using websites like Italki.com. The site is basically a virtual online classroom for freelance teachers and students. Anyone can offer lessons (and set their own price) and anyone can take lessons. From a quick scan, it looks like making $15-20/hour is a fair expectation.
35Sell Plasma Or Do Medical Studies
Not sure how old you have to be, nor how painful it is, but if you are into that sort of thing, it can be a way to make some quick money.
You can find plasma donation centers here or if you want to do medical studies, you can just google “medical studies” + your city to find some options.
I have a couple friends who have almost done this exclusively as a job. They were basically human guinea pigs, but they made some decent cash at it. Sometimes they would have be at the medical facility for up to 48 hours, so your schedule may need to be flexible.
This article was written by Bob
FTC Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above may be affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and/or believe will add value to readers. Read more here.
FTC Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above may be affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and/or believe will add value to readers. Read more here.
