Xander Walther, Video Editor
Malek Sidani, Reporter
The years one spends as a teenager are different from any other. When you’re a teen, you’ve gained a lot of privileges and responsibilities, but you’re still living under someone else’s roof, and you aren’t quite independent. One way this is exemplified is through teen’s relationships with money. At this stage, money is almost a plaything. Most teens aren’t the ones paying the bills or buying groceries, but at the same time, they’re at an age where they have the opportunity to earn money and the freedom to spend it without having to worry about closing on the mortgage.
That’s where jobs come into play. There are surprisingly, a lot of job opportunities for teens. If you’re over 16 and have the time, an official job as a cashier, for instance, is usually the move considering the stability and the higher salary. Even those without much spare time can find ways to make money, like walking your friend’s dog, or mowing the neighbor’s lawn. Unfortunately, with the lockdown in place, the chances of getting a job this summer, or at all really, are pretty dismal. That’s why we put together this list. Some of these websites will take more effort than others to actually get paid, but if you’re going to be doing nothing all quarantine, you may as well spend a little bit of time making money.
1. Swagbucks
Swagbucks is probably the easiest way to make money during quarantine.
Take a survey, play a game, or watch a short video and makeup to $25 in one day. Of course, that requires patience and dedication but it is entirely possible (and I’m speaking from experience). Swagbucks makes the process of taking surveys and other offers easy by displaying the best ones on their homepage. Every offer has a set number of Swagbucks that will be credited on completion. Every 100 Swagbucks credited to your account is worth one dollar. Swagbucks also has many ways to cash out such as PayPal, Amazon, Steam, Best Buy, and other popular outlets.
2. Fiverr
Fiverr is great whether or not you have a special skill, because there is always a market for you.
When signing up for a seller’s account, you agree to terms and conditions that state you are separate from any organization or business. As long as you are, you can sell any service you want… literally. People will pay you for anything from dancing around in the pond behind your house holding a Wendy’s drive-through sign to designing graphics, editing videos, or even writing their blog for them. The downside of Fiverr (in comparison to websites such as Swagbucks) is that you need exposure, whereas, for Swagbucks, all you need is a room temperature IQ. The best way to advertise your service to customers is to repeat keywords and phrases in the title and description of your service, have a portfolio of past work and experience, or at least an example of the work you’d be providing and share with your friends and family.
3. Redbubble
Redbubble is a custom-product based retail site.
For entrepreneurs looking to sell their own custom products, Redbubble is a good place to start. You can list products anywhere from hand-painted jeans to posters of famous celebrities digitally drawn in Photoshop. As long as you are willing to do the work, there is generally a customer willing to pay for it. Due to the selective market, the reward is much greater than it is on other sites that either provide objectively easy tasks or an open market where exposure is the only obstacle.
WATCH OUT FOR SCAMS!
Whether you use Instagram, Facebook or Twitter you have seen ads promising “You can make $300 a month taking surveys online!” accompanied by an image of someone over-enthusiastically smiling with a few one hundred dollar bills. The only scam is the amount of money they promise. At best you can expect to make $400 annually assuming you take surveys weekly. New scam sites are created every day, some with more serious intentions than others.
Cashgems.co is a creative scam promising over $50 a day. It doesn’t ask for any payment information, just your full name and email address. The catch is, when completing the “surveys” you will be asked about your home address and phone number which will be added to the data you’ve previously entered. By answering these questions, you are expanding your own profile that Cashgems.co has the right to the information they can then sell online. It’s all there in the terms and conditions everyone blindly agrees to. The worst part is, you can’t even cash out on your millions!
Now realistically, the money you’re going to be making isn’t going to equate to anywhere near a minimum wage job or even a summer job. It’s not going to pay for college, and it certainly is not going to pay for that trip your dad wants to go on. But use these apps enough, and you can make a pretty nice sum of pocket change.
