16 Realistic Ways to Make $500 Fast

When life hands you lemons… make lemonade. Sure. But, what about when life hands you a bill of $538.27 for car repairs? Or a broken water heater? And payday is two weeks away.  How do you make enough money to cover these unforeseen costs in a matter of days? Surprisingly, there are a bunch of different ways to make $500 fast. Read on for our list of ways to make money without a job in a hurry!

Sell Stuff

You don’t have to sell your soul to make up the cash for that broken water heater. You could sell some lemonade. Selling cups of lemonade at $2 a-piece, with a profit of $ 1 worked in for yourself. You would have to sell 500 cups of lemonade! Find a nice busy spot, you could make that money in a day. However, there are easier ways.

Many of us have gadgets, clothing, or furniture lying around that we don’t need. Getting rid of these items can free up some space and some cash! If you have high demand items, you could make a lot of money very quickly. 

1. Craigslist

You can sell just about anything on Craigslist: Smartphones, LEGO, appliances, yard equipment, furniture, and even cars. The shortcoming of selling your goods on Craigslist is that you will likely only reach people in your area. The upside is that you could sell your unwanted items in a matter of days.

2. eBay

This is another platform where you can sell almost anything. Books, DVDs, toys, tech, clothes, etc. The upside of eBay is that you have an extensive reach. You can sell to people all over the world. Have a look at what similar items have sold for in the past so that you can price yours competitively. You are more likely to sell your item more quickly if your price comes in a little lower than what others are selling at. Don’t forget about shipping costs. Remember to indicate whether shipping costs are included in the selling price or not.

Most buyers on eBay pay via PayPal. So, make sure that you have a PayPal account set up.

3. Facebook

Facebook Buy Sell Trade (BST) and Facebook Marketplace have become popular ways for people to sell their unwanted items. It is super easy. Simply post a message with details about what you are selling. Include detailed descriptions, clear pricing, and some great pics. Depending on how many items you want to sell or the value of those items, you could make your way to $500 pretty quickly on this social media selling platform.

4. Amazon Trade-In Program

With the Amazon Trade-In Program, you can exchange your unwanted items for Amazon gift cards. There is a bunch of stuff that is eligible for trade-in with Amazon: Books, video games, DVDs, Kindles, electronics, etc.

How does the Amazon Trade-In Program work? You send details of the item that you want to trade-in to Amazon. If the item qualifies for their trade-in, they will make an offer. If you accept the offer, they will send you an email with a prepaid shipping label. Package your item and send it off with the shipping label. Depending on where you are, your package could take up to ten business days to arrive before it is processed. Your submission will be appraised. Thereafter, you will receive an email notification stating whether your item is accepted or rejected. This usually takes two business days.

On eligible trade-ins, Amazon offers instant payment. You will receive an Amazon gift card/s to the amount of the item’s trade-in value.

5. Decluttr

Decluttr is a super-easy way to get cash back from your old, even broken, smartphones, and tech devices online. You can sell books, CDs, DVDs, or video games, even LEGO. Just enter the ISBN of the product and Decluttr will make you an immediate offer. Once you agree to the offer prices of the product/s you want to sell, the company will send you a prepaid shipping label. Decluttr processes the item/s within a day or two of receiving them. They make payment via PayPal or a direct deposit to your bank account. They can even mail you a check! If you are in a hurry for the moolah, PayPal is your best option.

6. Consignment Shop

If you have a lot of clothes or household items that you do not need anymore, you can swap them for cash. Do a Google search for consignment shops in your area. Call ahead to find out more about the specific items that they usually take and whether they would be able to sell the goods that you want to get rid of. The items that usually sell the quickest are the brand-name goods in good condition.

7. Pawn Shop

If you need instant cash, this might be the best route to follow. You might not get the best price for your clutter at a pawn shop, but you will get your money instantaneously. Pawnshops will offer you a price upfront and pay immediately. They will then resell your item at a profit.

8. Garage Sale

If you want to cut out the middle-man, this is the best way to go. Also, you can sell a bunch of stuff in one day. Organizing a garage sale is hard work, but it can get you to that $500 mark in a day or two. Totally worth it!

9. Bookscouter

If you have some old high school or college textbooks lying around, you can sell them on the book buyback site, Bookscouter. 

Make Money Quickly Using Your Smartphone

Yes, you read right. You can make $500 fast with your iphone. How do you make good money with your phone? Here are a couple of different options to get some extra cash!

10. Take Online Surveys

There are a few different survey companies that you can sign up with to make money online. Some of the best paying survey sites are InboxDollars, LifePoints, Opinion Outpost, and Toluna.  Vindale Research can pay you up to $ 50 per survey. With most of these sites or survey apps, you earn points for each completed survey. These points are exchanged for gift cards, PayPal cash, or Visa prepaid debit cards. Typically, you earn between $ 1 and $ 5 for a survey. It will take you some time to get to $ 500. However, these surveys are something that you can do in your spare time. While waiting in line at the grocery store or the doctor’s office.

11. Web Surfing

Some survey sites offer points for more than just doing surveys. Playing games, cash back shopping, and doing internet searches can also earn you points. Swagbucks and MyPoints are great examples. You can even earn Swagbucks with your online shopping.

Once you reach a certain number of points, Swagbucks will the corresponding amount of money to you. They pay in the form of a cash deposit to your PayPal account or a gift card from Target, Walmart, or Amazon.

Enter your email for $10 cash back

12. Gigwalk

Gigwalk helps businesses to make the most of their advertising efforts. They use “Gigwalkers” to assist in this process. Sign up with Gigwalk to make money by using your phone. Gigwalkers are paid anywhere between $3 and $100 to complete tasks. For example, take a picture of a product’s display stand at your local store, or take a photo of a menu at a restaurant.

13. Take on a Side Hustle

Taking on an extra job can be a great way to make up a financial shortfall in a hurry. It is certainly better than taking out a payday loan and getting into debt that you cannot repay. What’s more, if you enjoy the side hustle and the money you are earning, you can keep at it to start saving money for an emergency fund or your retirement. Some side hustle ideas:

  • Sell your craft hobby items on Etsy.
  • Become a freelancer with freelancing sites such as Fiverr and Upwork. The list of part-time jobs that you can do is extensive. Freelance writing, editing, proofreading, graphic design, web design, translating, data entry, the list goes on.
  • Start your own blog. Bloggers make money from ads on their blogs and through affiliate marketing.
  • Sign up with Rover.com to make money dog walking and petsitting.
  • Do you enjoy babysitting? Sites like care.com, UrbanSitter, and SitterCity are a great place to get a babysitting side gig.
  • Do you love photography? Why not make money selling your images on a site like Shutterstock or Getty Images.
  • Do you have a special skill or are very knowledgeable about a topic? You can create an online course to sell to other people who would like to learn something from you.
  • Become a ride-share driver with Uber or Lyft.
  • Set up an online business designing and printing custom T-shirts.
  • Mystery shopping. Help business owners improve their customer engagement and product displays by becoming a mystery shopper.

14. Rent Your Car or RV

With an app like Getaround or Turo, you can make quick cash by renting your car out to others while you are not using it. With Getaround, you could make about $ 120 per week if you rent your car out for 40 hours at the lowest rate of $ 5 per hour (they take a 40 % cut).

Why not make some money off your RV when you are not using it. RVShare is the Airbnb for RVs. Sign up on their site, list your RV for free, and wait for users to find you. You could make up $ 500 quite quickly with just one booking depending on the season, your proximity to holiday destinations, and the type of RV that you own!

15. Do Odd Jobs with TaskRabbit

Sign up for TaskRabbit to earn a bit of extra money if you like working with your hands. TaskRabbit connects you with people in your area who need assistance with things like moving, gutter cleaning, mowing lawns, and painting. Depending on how much you charge and how many jobs you can do, you can get to $ 500 in under a week.

16. Get to Know the Stock Market

Once you have learnt how to save money, you can investigate investing in the stock market. This is a great way to earn passive income. There are a bunch of stock market apps for beginners. For example, Robinhood, Acorns, Stash, WeBull, SoFi, Fidelity.

How To Make Money Without A Job

When your personal finance situation is a bit pear-shaped, don’t despair. There is a lot that you can do to fix this problem. For a quick cash injection, you can sell stuff that you don’t need anymore. Blogging, ride-share driving and other side hustles are becoming a popular way for people to make money over and above their real job, or even instead of a job. Who knows, you might love your side gig so much that you can turn it into a small business and quit your full-time job!

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