Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Money and internet

Grant scam satisfaction

hulahulagirl — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:19:45 -0800

How should I attempt to get satisfaction (ideally, a refund) from a scammy "grant" company? My mom was searching for grant information and was contacted by a company called United Economic Agency. She was told that for $375, they would hook her up with a grant ("pretty much guaranteed"), so she let them withdraw the $375 from her account with the promise that if she didn't get a grant, all but $50 would be refunded.

I know, it smells like scam right off the bat. But she was hopeful and did talk to some people on the phone and they had a website, so she trusted them. She's obviously naïve about things like this.

Now it's several months later and I am checking the BBB's website and surprise, surprise they have a score of F. Apparently the physical address on file for the business doesn't even exist and BBB has tried to resolve some complaints, but has not had a lot of luck.

I've seen consumer help articles in AARP or Costco's magazine or somewhere where someone goes after places that rip you off, but I don't know how/if I should start that process. If the BBB can't get any satisfaction, what are the chances someone else can? Do we just chalk this up to a lesson learned?

My mom has put her entire 401(k) into our business (a restaurant) and this $375 she's out for this scam is just like shit icing on the shit cake. What steps do we need to take to at least make sure they don't get any more money from her since she's already given them her bank info, short of closing the account which would be a hassle but ultimately worth it, I guess?

Online career change exercises wanted

reenum — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:22:57 -0800

Are there any websites or online resources for people considering a career change? I've been thinking of changing careers for a while, and after some recent events at the office, it's time to get up and start figuring some things out.

I'm going to get "What Color Is Your Parachute" and a few other recommended texts from other threads, but I'm wondering if there are any websites or other online resources (preferably free), that have exercises and other things I can use to try and evaluate what it is I truly want to do.

I have a lot of free time at work. For obvious reasons, I don't want to show up here with career change books.

Thanks!

I'm glad bookstores are in business, but how?

abdulf — Sun, 10 May 2009 19:18:05 -0800

How do bookstores make money? Ever since books were available for sale online, I've stopped buying books from bookstores. I assume other rational people purchase their books online or at local used stores.

What's keeping brick and mortar bookstores in business? Especially the ones that stock new titles?

Older patrons? People who just like browsing and picking up interesting looking books? Kids?

Some seem to rely on side businesses like movie/game rentals, music and a coffeeshop. Barnes and Noble sell online too, but don't they ship their books from a warehouse?

So how do they make rent? Harry Potter and Twilight release parties?

Are there any viable work at home [internet] based business to make a few hundred dollars a month?

blackout — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:22:00 -0800

Are there any viable work at home [internet] based business to make a few hundred dollars a month? I'm young (23) and my field of work has slowed down a bit. I'm not making the money I once was. I'm coming up between $200-$500/month short on my expenses, which has yet to be a real problem because of savings.
Soon I'll run out of savings, and my parents (great people that they are) are more than willing to lend me a hand in the money department (for the foreseeable future). That's all well and good, but I'd like to make money for myself if I could.
Unfortunately a second job will not work, as my current job has very weird and odd hours, with events being scheduled with less than an hours notice sometimes. As this job is more a means to an end of furthering my career rather than just something to pay the bills it's more important that I can work the odd hour here and there than be unable too because I'm working retail or something somewhere.

So what are some ways I could make some money online? Again I'm not looking to make a 'living' online just some extra money.
I sell stuff on ebay here and there, and know how that all works. I've looked into the companies that drop ship, the items I sell on ebay but I'm not sure if there is money to be made there.

Also; my skill set is very specialized (helicopter pilot/instructor) so if there was some way I could work that in that be awesome.

Mostly just looking for input from people, not looking for a get rich quick scheme by any means, and I also know it often takes money to make money.

How to make money off eHow?

spacefire — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:46:32 -0800

Can one make decent money (over $100/month) by writing eHow.com articles? If so, any tips? I just started with eHow.com, wrote five article but so far no earnings. I got some good tips like using (keyword trackers) to find out what people are searching for, also finding articles similar to what you wrote and clicking "I did this".

what are some other successful strategies in getting the best bang for the buck, or rather buck for the bang? I think with minimal research I can write a good article about any gadget or tech/computer related topic, which should definitely be things people are searching for...

I don't want to work for free either.

SinisterPurpose — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:24:04 -0800

I think I figured out how to effectively monetize the Internet for old media (newspapers, magazines, television). I also have a few ideas how this would work for new media as well. Who do I tell? Who don't I tell? What format should my proposal take? How do I make a little scratch out of it for myself? Well, here's the story: I've been unemployed for about two weeks now and when that happens my brain starts to do funny things. Like solve problems I really didn't have any interest in solving. I've been hearing a lot about how much trouble the newspaper industry is having acclimating to the “everything should be free” value set of the Internet. I believe I have stumbled upon a simple change they can make which will start some revenue earning for them even though their content would remain free and open. I feel this would also work for the other aforementioned media types.

So what do I do next? Write a blog post? Blindly contact someone in the industry?

These don't seem like very good ideas. Unfortunately, they are the best ideas I have for my next step.

I appreciate everyone's help in advance. And you guys can feel free to use the email address in my Metafilter profile if you feel like your answer needs more elaboration or you'd like to begin an independent dialogue.

Show me the money.

Esoquo — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:01:27 -0800

How much money will change hands over the internet this year? Where could I find figures projecting the amount of money exchanged via e-commerce over the coming year, or figures tracking that same amount over the past year?

Help me fuel my Starbucks addiction through freelancing!

adverb — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:41:32 -0800

What are some good sites to find short-term freelance writing/Internet gigs? Similar to this post, I'm looking for some temp work that will bring in a little supplemental income. I've been using Mechanical Turk for a few weeks, and have made some nice pocket change, but I'd like something a bit more substantive (and, of course, better paying).

A lot of the freelance boards seem to focus on more full-time/daytime contract work, which won't work for me. I have a full-time job and would like something to work on during the evenings and weekends.

An ideal situation would be a site where I could view some projects, bid/accept them, and work a few hours/days to finish a product for $25-$50. My background is in writing and editing, but any type of broad IT-related jobs (IA, usability, blogging) would also be good.

Am I a sucker?

LiveToEat — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:26:32 -0800

Am I a sucker or will this actually make me some money? I work an entry level, boring, cubicle-confined job. I was looking at Craigslist to see if there's anything interesting I can do to make some extra pocket money and I found these sites:
http://www.dealsncash.com/
http://hits4pay.com/

I've seen a lot of these kinds of ads on CL and I can't help but be curious. Are they scams? How do they work? I figure if I can make some money while sitting around at my desk or in my free time, it might be worth it. I wouldn't do anything that required a credit card number, obviously. Has anyone else done this?

The Economics of Financial Domination

divabat — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:18:21 -0800

How do financial dominatrices make their money? A comment on AskMefi some time ago talked about financial dominatrices, and I've been fascinated by their business ever since. From what I could gather, all they have to do is put up a website saying "You worship me! Give me money and stuff because I know you want to!" - and it works. One site had her Internet bills paid off. Many ask for regular tithes and offerings, and have application processes.

How does this work? From what I could tell, the buyers don't actually get anything back for their cash - it's up to the dominatrix if she wants to give them something or not. (Usually they don't bother.) It's not like she's selling pictures or anything (though I did see one with videos) - it pretty much seems like they're paying money because it gets them off.

How does one get established in the financial dominatrix business? Is there some sort of Financial Dominatrix Directory where they get listed and people just scroll through to see who they like? How do they get attention, and how do they get people to pay? Are there any male dominators, or any women that would pay for such "services"? How would you keep your identity secret to collect cash (and avoid a situation like this mess - link NSFW)?

If you would like to comment anonymously, send me an email at dominatrix.economics@gmail.com.

Moneyfilter: How can i earn a little money on the internet?

freddymetz — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 03:27:28 -0800

I'm a student looking to earn a bit of money on the internet. I feel that i have enough spare time and that i could use it productively. I'm thinking of things like for example doing surveys for 5 dollars an hour and the sort.
Something i can do as a 16 year old without qualifications (one year till i graduate in germany)

Internet documents archive security

tom123 — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:29:34 -0800

I want to archive my personal documents like birth certificate, mark sheet, bond, bank statement details etc by scanning them and storing in the internet. I thought i will scan and store them in my email accounts. (like yahoo etc) However i am not sure, whether storing those documents in yahoo email etc is safe. Can some one suggest a good safe option, where i can scan documents and put them in internet not accessible to others. Are there any free encryption software which encrypts the documents and stores them. It is okay, if some budget software is also available, instead of freeware.

Working poor need cash too!

Willie0248 — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 15:13:49 -0800

My underpaid mother is in serious need of some extra income without quitting her day job. Of course there is... My mother needs an extra chunk of cash each month, but cannot leave her current job even though she is significantly underpaid. She is a hard worker, and very intelligent to boot, but due to an old-school company loyalty mentality she will not leave her job for a better one despite my urgings. Unfortunately, I am a poor grad student and cannot contribute much to her bills, though I help in any way I can.

We have explored the idea of a second job to attain a little bigger income flow, but we live in a severely economically depressed area of the South (as in the median pay here is 60% lower than the national median), so we're looking at minimum wage for anything part time and after-hours. Perhaps an internet-based solution? I am more than willing to get the ball rolling for her, though she is quite the techie for her age.

Hive mind, I ask for your advice. How can a strong middle-aged, old-school woman make a few bucks on the side while working a normal 9-5 job?

How do you figure the value of a blog?

mrgreyisyelling — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 17:22:28 -0800

How do you value the content of a blog, or any media company, whose content isn't made up of physical assets? Myself and I are debating this: How would one figure out the worth of a company who's assets are primarily non-physical?

The example I'm trying to work out is if two people incorporate to create a blog to generate income. It will be a standard blog where an article a day is written. And after doing this for 5 years, Person B wants to buy a house and wants to sell his stake in the company to Person A. How do you value the assets of this company, so that you know what 50% of the company means? It can't be just the physical assets, like computers and office space, because the income from the articles is the actual asset. Is it the value of the projected income from these articles over a certain amount of time? Is it just what ever the person is willing to pay?

I'm essentially looking for a semi-logical method to estimate this value. Thank you.

Great googleymoogley

ZackTM — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 12:57:30 -0800

Do free online services really make lots of money? Do sites like facebook, youtube, google, and myspace make their creators lots of money through their operations? I'm not referring to the sale of these businesses, but instead their operations. Can anyone give me documented proof that these people are making good money running these sites? Also I'll take any references to website owners who are making good money by providing a free service to users.

I'm trying to prove a friend wrong, and i want as much ammunition as i can get.

I need my music fix!

tdreyer1 — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 07:17:10 -0800

Poor student needs music service suggestions. Ok Mefites, come help a poor(ish) student out. I love music, but I don't really want to pay a buck per song on iTunes. What ( legal ) music services out there offer downloads cheaper than iTunes. More specifically I'm looking for a monthly (yearly is ok) subscription that will get me the most songs for my money. What I'm not looking for are internet only services like Pandora, or illegal sources like limewire. Bonus points if I can use the files on any computer easily. Thanks!

Where can I find "low-tech" jobs online?

panzerboy — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 06:55:50 -0800

Where can I find "low-tech" jobs online? We just had a baby and so my wife has to stay at home and take care of him. However, she still has some free time and she would like to do some stuff from home. She's a medical doctor with a bit of IT experience (mostly as a user, though). So I was thinking to find her some work online, maybe entering some data or as a translator (she speaks English and German, German is her mother-tongue) or maybe other "low-tech" jobs like this... So do you have any idea where can I find such jobs? Thanks!

How much money can I expect to earn from ads on my website?

sjvilla79 — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 16:21:52 -0800

Would adding advertisements to my site generate enough earnings to even bother in the first place? The site generates about 80,000 unique visitors annually. Sure, that isn't much to write home about, but the hits alone are enough to get me thinking about adding some unobtrusive (yes, I know) ads to it (e.g. text ads). I've never done anything like this before on any of my websites though, so what can I expect in relation to earnings? Also, which are some good companies to go with? Yes, I know of Google, but who else is good? Lastly, would any of this be worth it? Again, I'm thinking in dollars and cents here. Oh and the website in question is not the blog linked in my profile. Just want to be clear on that.

Is the average blogger poorer than the average person?

growabrain — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 18:21:23 -0800

After reading hundreds of blogs (Why, oh why?), I’ve come to the conclusion that a big number of the people who write about their own financial situation, explicitly or indirectly tell of how broke they are; Like Jim Anchower, many describe low wages and bad jobs, job losses and unemployment, crashing bills, life in apartments with roommates who don’t care and having a hard time paying rents & bills, etc. I understand that the real median household income in 2003 was $43,318 (US), and I know that times are hard for most people. Still, is the average blogger poorer than the average person?

Can internet gossip = stock market success ?

smackfu — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 08:28:33 -0800

Anyone successfully used internet rumors/information to make money in the stock market?

Are there any international virtual currencies?

dabitch — Tue, 16 Dec 2003 04:12:58 -0800

There's Paypal, eGold, amazon bucks et al. Is there a "net-cash" system out there that people from all over the world - from Aruba to Brazil to Zimbabwe - can use?