How to ring money out of rocks

[gonzo]

OK doing some research on scrounging for money for an article...and ski bums and reformed ski bums certainly know how do to that. Tips would be appreciated...I'll start it off:

Sell your:
Hair
Body
Blood
Jewelery
Stuff
Change
Scrap metal

Need links:
Power level MMORPG characters
Affiliate advertising

[Cliff Huckable]

OK doing some research on scrounging for money for an article...and ski bums and reformed ski bums certainly know how do to that. Tips would be appreciated...I'll start it off:

Sell your:

Body

Drug studies/"clinical research"/whatever -- do not even think about it. Very bad idea, no matter what they claim. Don't do it.

[gonzo]

Drug studies/"clinical research"/whatever -- do not even think about it. Very bad idea, no matter what they claim. Don't do it.

you sound like you're speaking from experience? good stories?

i had an unemployed buddy who was going to do a sleep study for 2 months several years ago. no communication, "timeless environment" (no clocks), IV in all the time, sleep drugs, no TV, only reading material, etc. he got like $10k if he did the whole thing but way less if he bailed without finishing. we talked him out of it.

[P_McPoser]

I thought this thread was going to be up my alley. I want my money back.

[gonzo]

well at least your signature has a clinical trial reference

[Nathan Explosion]

you sound like you're speaking from experience? good stories?

i had an unemployed buddy who was going to do a sleep study for 2 months several years ago. no communication, "timeless environment" (no clocks), IV in all the time, sleep drugs, no TV, only reading material, etc. he got like $10k if he did the whole thing but way less if he bailed without finishing. we talked him out of it.

That sounds a little creepy.

[gregm]

Scrap metal

meth heads are all over this

[DJSapp]

I live in a college town and at the end of every quarter and especially at the end of the year students throw away a shitload of home furnishings. I'm wondering if there is money to be made dumpster diving these things and taking them to donation for the tax write-off. Definitely dirtbag, but no immediate payoff.

[Cliff Huckable]

I thought this thread was going to be up my alley. I want my money back.

That's a word puzzle, isn't it? Well, I figured it out and yeah, you can get money for that.

[Cliff Huckable]

meth heads are all over this

They would be.
The recyclables market has all but collapsed. I suppose they're hoarding and waiting for a rebound.

[gonzo]

Another good one:

Voice/Time(phone support)

Anyone have any good experiences with paid online surveys?

[toast2266]

I live in a college town and at the end of every quarter and especially at the end of the year students throw away a shitload of home furnishings. I'm wondering if there is money to be made dumpster diving these things and taking them to donation for the tax write-off. Definitely dirtbag, but no immediate payoff.

I've done this and sold some of the stuff on ebay. We used to drive over to campus with a large pickup truck and fill the bed a couple times over. DVD players, TIVO's, TV's (craigslist for those), computers, printers, and lots of other random shit. Some of it we kept (its a great place to get lumber; kids build bunk beds or whatever in their room, and then throw it all away at the end of the year). Its amazing what people throw away. I didn't have to buy laundry detergent for about 3 years.

[RootSkier]

Did you ever find any weed? I lost some back in '98.

[toast2266]

No, but if you're missing some bong water that was heavily embedded into an upholstered chair, I think I found that.

Surprisingly, that chair didn't sell for much.

[gonzo]

anyone ever driven cars from point to point for money?

[RootSkier]

No, but if you're missing some bong water that was heavily embedded into an upholstered chair, I think I found that.

Dang, I remember that chair. It probably had a little puke on it, too.

Ah, the good old days.

[Z]

yeah whats the deal with online surveys? Scam as suspected? or are there a few buck to be had?

[skiaholik]

anyone ever driven cars from point to point for money?

A couple times. A friend of the family helped run a dealership and when I needed some cash he would pay me $15/hr to drive a car from one dealership to another a couple hours a way. Drop it off, pick up one of their cars and bring it back. Pretty simple. Never done the real long distance but I know people who have and who've paid to have their car driven. It's a win win situation for both parties IMO.

[Franz Klammer]

I thought the powerleveling MMORPG was completely outsourced to China as nobody could compete for those incredibly low wages.

[rip]

I have a friend who mines for gold on world of warcraft, and then sells it for real actual cash. When he told me about this, it blew my mind.

I also had a different friend in college do one of those clinical studies. He was gone for 2 weeks and got paid like 2 grand for it. I think it was some lame drug for blood pressure, I can't really remember. He said the worst part was getting blood drawn like 15 times a day.

As for myself, I just work a crappy job for low pay. Which would make a pretty boring article. But mornings off is mornings off.

How about buying stuff at the DI/Goodwill and selling it on ebay?

[splat]

you sound like you're speaking from experience? good stories?

i had an unemployed buddy who was going to do a sleep study for 2 months several years ago. no communication, "timeless environment" (no clocks), IV in all the time, sleep drugs, no TV, only reading material, etc. he got like $10k if he did the whole thing but way less if he bailed without finishing. we talked him out of it.

I read a magazine story about migrant clinical trial test crash dummies a year or so ago.
These were people who made it their jobs.

[Hugh Conway]

I thought the powerleveling MMORPG was completely outsourced to China as nobody could compete for those incredibly low wages.

I pay a couple of fellas in Guangzhou $.05 a post. The do a capital job

[gravitylover]

I used to go into old gold/silver mines in CO that hadn't been worked in a while and didn't have an active claim with a metal detector. A couple of hours and a bit of luck and there was money to be made.

You didn't put sell drugs as an option

[CantDog]

Bullshit on the "clinical studies" thing. A lot of the time you just get something as simple as an MRI, give blood, or take vitamin pills. I can't think of a single case of a well person becoming ill or dying from participating in a clinical trial(I'm not talking about sick people participating in intervention studies). They are broken down into types too; observation and intervention--someone might just want to observe a natural phenomenon.

They can be nice too--free acupuncture or massages.

[Happy Fun Ball]

I used to pick up bodies from a regional airport and drive them to their rural funeral home destination of choice. Not a bad job for some spending money.