The everyday challenge for students in the USA is financial needs vs. school responsibilities. Fortunately, the internet offers millions of ways to earn money online, with no upfront investment required. Among the ones, the most accessible would be small task websites where you can get cash for simple and sometimes quick tasks. This guide will therefore cover some of these websites, along with a few tips to help you maximize your earnings.
Microtask Websites
Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk)
One of the established microtask platforms is Amazon Mechanical Turk, where you will do various HITs, ranging from verifying data to transcriptions and answering surveys. Tasks differ both in complexity and compensation.
Earnings Potential: $2 to $10 per hour, depending on task complexity
Payment Methods: Amazon gift cards, direct deposit into a bank account
Minimum payout: $1 for bank transfers.
Clickworker
Clickworker offers the job seeker a wide variety of jobs to do, such as writing, translation, web research, and answering surveys. In return, you get to work on tasks at your level of expertise only when you have completed and passed some assessments.
Possible earnings: $3 – $10 per hour
Payment Options: PayPal, SEPA bank transfer
Minimum Withdrawal: $5
Figure Eight (now part of Appen)
Figure Eight (formerly CrowdFlower) has a platform for the completion of tasks such as Data Entry, Categorization, and Content Moderation. The tasks are really simple—practically any human can do them. In return, the pay is really both simple and small.
Average Earning Potential: $2–5/hr
Payment Options: PayPal
Minimum Payout: It varies depending on the platform through which you access Figure Eight jobs, for example, Swagbucks or InboxDollars.
Cashback and Reward Sites
Cashback and reward sites are programs you use to get money back or points for online purchases, signing up for services, and other tasks.
Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates)
Rakuten is an online cashback website wherein you get some of your money back if you go shopping through their links. They have thousands of retailers who partner at different cashback rates.
Earning Potential: Depends on shopping habits
Payment Methods: PayPal, Check
Minimum Payout: $5.01
InboxDollars
InboxDollars will pay you for taking surveys, watching videos, reading emails, and shopping online. You’ll earn real money—there are no points-confusing things—so it’s always crystal clear how much you’re earning.
Earnings Potential: Up to $5 per hour
Payment Methods: Check, PayPal, gift cards
Minimum Payout: $30
TopCashback
TopCashback has some of the highest cashback rates that you’re going to find anywhere online. Much like Rakuten, you simply shop through their portal and they pay you back a percentage of your purchase.
Earnings Potential: Varies on shopping habits
Payment Methods: PayPal, direct deposit, gift cards
Minimum Payout: There is no minimum payout for PayPal or direct deposit
Get-Paid-To (GPT) Websites
Swagbucks
This is a GPT website, but it’s fully integrated to give users the opportunity to earning points against many various activities in return. Such points are redeemed for gift cards or cash.
Earning Potential: Depends on tasks a user chooses
Payment Methods: PayPal, gift cards
Minimum Payout: 300 SB ($3)
PrizeRebel
PrizeRebel is yet another GPT site in which you will earn points for taking surveys, watching videos, and doing offers; the points can be then redeemed into a wide variety of gift cards or PayPal money.
Earning Potential: $2 – $5 per hour
Payment Methods: PayPal, gift cards
Minimum Payout: $5
MyPoints
MyPoints is just another GPT site, much like Swagbucks, that has paid out millions of dollars to its members for things like shopping online, taking surveys, watching videos, and more. The points from these activities can then be exchanged for gift cards or redeemed for cash via PayPal.
Earning Potential: Varies based on activities
Payment Methods: PayPal, gift cards
Minimum Payout: 700 points ($5 equivalent)
Task-Based Websites
UserTesting
UserTesting allows users to get paid for testing websites and apps, then providing their feedback. These tests take an average of 20 minutes, and then you are expected to provide your feedback by talking through your screen while using a site or an app.
Earnings: $10 per 20-minute test
Payment Methods: PayPal
Minimum Payout: $10—one test
Respondent.io
Respondent.io hooks you up with research studies that pay for your opinions. Studies can vary greatly in nature and pay, but many dwell on consumer habits, technology use, and professional roles.
Earnings Potential: $50 to $200 per study
Payment Methods: PayPal
Minimum Payout: There is no minimum payout
TestingTime
TestingTime users get paid for participating in user tests, online interviews, and focus groups. Most of these are done through Skype. Each test goes for between 30 and 90 minutes and pays based on that duration.
Earnings: $10-$50 per test
Payment Options: PayPal, direct bank transfer
Minimum Payout: There is no minimum payout
Online Marketplaces for Selling Items
eBay
It’s an online marketplace where you can sell almost everything, from gadgets to clothing. There’s no fee to set up a seller account, but they do charge a small fee for each sale.
link : : https://www.ebay.com/
Earnings Potential: Varies by items sold
Payment Methods: PayPal, direct bank transfer
Minimum Payout: There is no minimum payout
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace enables local selling with no fees. It’s one of the better sites for larger items you want to sell, like furniture and electronics.
Earning Potential: Varies by item
Payment Methods: Cash in hand by local buyers
Minimum Payout Threshold: There is no minimum threshold to payout
Mercari
Mercari offers an approachable mobile marketplace for selling clothing, electronics, and even other home goods. Primarily for fashion items, though it does offer a service for prepaid shipping labels.
Earnings Potential: Up to $7,000/week for top 10 sellers with current offerings; Varies otherwise based on items sold
Payment Methods: Direct Deposit, Instant Pay — with a fee
Minimum Payout: $2
Participate in Online Competitions and Contests
Kaggle
Kaggle provides a place for competing in data science competitions. Sure, some contests are extremely competitive and may call for advanced skills, but others are open to everyone and offer large cash prizes.
Earning Potential: $1,000–$100,000.
Payment Method: PayPal, direct deposit
Minimum Payout Threshold: Various per competition
99Designs
99Designs runs design contests in which designers submit their work based on a client’s brief. Cash prizes are given to winning designs, so if you have graphical design skills, this becomes very worth your while.
Earnings: $100 – $2,500 per contest
Payment Method: PayPal, Payoneer
Minimum Payout: $25 (for PayPal)
HQ Trivia
HQ Trivia is a live trivia application where players can log on to play games against others to win real cash money. Games occur every day, and the money is split between players who answer all questions correctly.
Earnings Potential: Up to $10,000 per game (shared among winners)
Payment Methods: PayPal
Minimum Payout: $20
Rent Out Your Possessions
Turo
Turo: Turo is a car-sharing marketplace that allows you to rent out the car to others. This makes it perfect if you have a car that you do not drive daily.
Earnings Potential: $30 to $150 per day, depending on the car model and location
Payment Methods: Direct deposit
Minimum Payout: Varies based on earnings
Neighbor
This allows one to rent out surplus storage space in their home, like the garage, basement, or even a shed. Hosts can profit by allowing renters to store their goods in that extra space in your home.
Earnings: $50-$300 per month
How to get paid: Direct deposit
Minimum Payout: No minimum
Fat Llama
Fat Llama is a peer-to-peer renting platform for items such as cameras, electronics, tools, and others. You define the rent, and the website helps connect people to you who want to rent your items.
Earning Potential: Varies depending on items rented
Payment Options: PayPal, direct deposit
Minimum Payout: There is no minimum payout
Tips for Maximizing Your Earnings
Sign Up to Various Sites: The more options you have, the greater the chances of getting better jobs. All these allow one to pick the best-paying opportunities on different sites.
Take Top-Paying Assignments First: Focus on tasks that offer the best payout for your time. An example is some of the user testing sites that will pay a premium for longer, more complex tests.
Be Consistent: The more consistent one is, the better it is. Allocate time daily to spend on completing tasks and answering surveys in order to build up earnings over a period of time.
Watch Out for Scams: Steer clear of websites that want you to pay to join or those promising very high earnings for very little work. Only deal with well-known and reputable platforms.
Conclusion
Students in the USA can easily earn money online without investment through the many small-task websites available. Such platforms have flexibility in offering anything from surveys to microtasks to user testing to supplement one’s income. Therefore, with careful selection of opportunities and dedication of time, one can very easily strike a balance between studies and earning extra money.