Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and Jannoon028
Dear WAHFAQ,
The other day, I was at the doctor’s office and reading one of their magazines, when I saw an ad for assembling products from home. Is this something I could really do? How does that work?
Oh dear. This one is still around, eh?
I know you’ve seen the ads. Somewhere in the depths of the “Classified” section, there it is, calling out to you,”Assemble Products at home. No experience necessary. Make $200-$2000 a week! You get giddy. Perhaps you’re a stay at home mom, or maybe you have a disability or something else that prevents you from being able to go out and work. By all accounts you’re competent, independent, and reliable. You need this job. You can do this job. The only problem is:
These people LIE.
The whole concept of this business is that you’ll buy a package from them, ranging from $20-$100 or so. You have to pay a fee because the company needs to be “covered” in case the materials get lost or damaged. They also want to make sure that you’ll actually do the work, after all, it cost them money, and they need to be able to re-coup their costs. It’s logical…it makes sense. The company will even tell you that after you return the products you’ll receive not only your payment, but the initial fee you put forth, plus shipping and handling…since you were so reliable and all. But no matter what sense you were given, you begin to think it’s a good deal.
Believe me. It doesn’t matter what it is that you’re assembling, it could be stuffed animals, jewelry, toys, whatever…the ending result is always the same:
You ship the package back, awaiting for their “approval.” After all, they need to make sure that your work is up to their “quality standards.” They take their own sweet time getting back to you. And when you finally contact them to find out where your check is, they tell you “Oh, it wasn’t up to our specifications.”
Don’t believe for one second that they threw away your products. If you did a decent job, they will get sold to some consumer. But wasn’t that nice of you? Not only did you work for free, you actually paid the assembly company to work for them.
How sweet.
Just don’t do this one, OK?
Think about all the extra money you could make by being a mystery shopper, starting your own business, or working from home for a legitimate company. Take control of your income and check out our LEARN page for a list of classes, books, and more!
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