Looking for an off-the-wall way to make a few bucks? These sites offer weird and wonderful side hustles — sometimes for a limited time; sometimes as a matter of course.
Weird and wonderful side hustles
Our favorite among the weird and wonderful side hustles that we looked into this week is a limited time offer.
A site called FinanceBuzz is looking for one freelancer to binge-watch all 10 Fast & Furious movies and count all the car accidents in each movie. FinanceBuzz, which advises people on auto insurance, is planning to do a story about what kind of insurance rates you’d pay if you really drove like that. The site will pay $1,000 for the assignment, plus reimburse up to $100 in expenses for streaming fees, movie tickets and popcorn.
However, if you want to apply for this opportunity, you’ve got to move fast. The site is only taking applications until May 19th. The winner will be notified May 26 and have two weeks to complete the assignment. You can click here to apply.
They want your blood
They’re not vampires. But a number of companies will pay you good money — anywhere from $50 to $100 an hour — for blood, plasma or platelets. Why? They develop drugs or sell the plasma to hospitals and medical centers. Incidentally, for people who are time constrained, this is an ideal — though admittedly weird — side hustle. That’s because these blood and plasma donation centers are often available at night and on weekends, when you might have an hour to spare.
Companies offering to pay for blood and plasma include Octapharma and BioMat. Not sure if you’re up for this? You can read more about how it works in our story “Make Money and Save Lives.”
In a similar vein, you can earn literally thousands of dollars if you’re willing to participate in clinical trials. Companies such as Altasciences (formerly known as WCCT Global) and Covance, enlist individuals to test out new drugs and treatments. Some trials involve overnight stays; others just require a few check-ins, medical tests. To be sure, you end up getting poked and prodded, giving blood samples and having your blood pressure monitored ad nauseam. But most of these studies pay generously so it may be well worth the discomfort.
Cash for companionship
There are lots of reasons that someone might hire you as a paid companion. The most common reason, of course, is when an elderly client needs help with activities of daily living — from shopping to getting out of bed. A site called Care is the industry leader in this space, and offers plenty of jobs that aren’t really weird side hustles at all.
But several other companies enlist paid companions to give lonely people a hug, provide them with a dinner companion, or someone to take to the movies. Sites that arrange this type of paid companionship insist that they are not arranging illicit activity. In fact, anything that would raise your mother’s eyebrows is strictly forbidden. Nonetheless, Cuddlist, RentAFriend and CuddleComfort maintain that their freelance companions can earn $40 to $80 per hour.
Drive a billboard
Drive a long way to work — or drive for one of the big rideshare or delivery companies, like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash or GrubHub? A handful of companies would love to enlist you — or, rather, your car — to be a rolling billboard.
Wrapify and Carvertise work with clients that range from sandwich shops to movie production houses that want to run mobile advertising campaigns. Their proposition is that they’ll cover your late-model car in ads and you drive as usual. Pay varies by the campaign, but usually ranges from $100 to $450 a month.
Play games
Among the most wonderful side hustles are those that will pay you — generously even — to play games. Our favorite of these sites is StartPlaying. StartPlaying is an online meeting place for fans of Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder and other role-playing games.
The site enlists freelance “game masters” to host games with different themes and quests. Game masters determine when to play; how many people can join the game; and what to charge per seat. The amount game masters earn is determined by how many games they play and how many people sign up to join in. The site simply takes a commission when customers book seats at your table.
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