I'm making this suggestion because I would personally use this service and I know several others who would as well. I've recently been obsessed with spring cleaning and getting rid of my excess things, but here's the problem: I would love to make some profit off of the stuff I'm already planning to get rid of, but I don't want to put in the time/effort to individually list and ship each item on eBay, Craigslist, Copious, etc. I would love to have someone else do all of this for me and keep 40% or more of the profit. This is kind of like eBay/Craigslist flipping, except your wife wouldn't have to buy the items initially.
Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
171–180 of 186 posts
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#172Skype for the sick, create a service that does scheduled calls (ideally video calls) to the elderly and infirm for a fee. I had this idea because my father suffers from Parkinsons disease and gets quite lonely in the house during the day. He lives in Florida and I life in California and I can't call him as much as I would like to given the time difference. I know he gets lonely and would love to just have a conversat…
I'm sorry about your dad having Parkinsons.
As a father and son, I can relate to how you feel. Your idea is good. Maybe someone will take up the offer.
Good luck and good health to both of you.
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#173If she chooses to start a small (micro) business I will do the marketing stuff for her. No charge.
No strings attached. Just paying it forward.
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another way to differentiate yourself from the plethora of eCommerce sites around is to have really good customer service and delivery. I once setup a small online shop selling one particular hot form of consumer electronics at the time, and what gave me the edge over drop-shipped competitors was overnight delivery to anywhere in the country. We always had stock on hand. People are willing to pay extra for good servi…
You're exactly right - outstanding service is a GREAT way to differentiate yourself. And it's often some of the best marketing you can do, too. I'm constantly amazed at how many companies will make you send something back to get a refund / replacement, even if it only costs a few bucks. If our customers receive a defective item that costs less than $20, we simply ship them a new item immediately, without asking them…
Very true - and it becomes a self-fulfulling mission to maintain that high level of service. Its hugely rewarding to get positive emails and testimonials from customers every day.
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#175Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#176QA, testing web sites in late development and logging bugs. Most developers hate doing this, & PM's are not good at anything. I usually pay $40/hr for this, however it only takes a few hours, and that rate means the bug report is reported in a way that it's easy to read and recreate without having to have a conversation about it.
I'd love to get into doing this on the side, but 99% of QA jobs I've seen require solid knowledge of programming. Is this not the case?
My little world of web apps there are 2 types of testers, both valuable.
1) Programmer testers that write reusable, and automated tests, as well as encourage & assist the dev team to write their own tests. These folks work through the entire project , usually on product type projects.
2) Manual Testers (there must be a better name) These folks are good communicators that focus primarily on the client perspective. Developers, and their tests, tend to evaluate code in a rigid & consistent way that may not reflect the end user experience. These testers are also used on products but more commonly on turn-and-burn projects for Agencies or startup MVP's that are not huge yet.
If you did want to get into programming I do think that QA is an outstanding way to bootstrap a web dev career. I've laid out a plan here http://www.robertspeer.com/blog/no-degree-no-problem-some-ha...
It's not how I got got into making web apps but I think it's a solid way to get into a well paying career.
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#177Skype for the sick, create a service that does scheduled calls (ideally video calls) to the elderly and infirm for a fee. I had this idea because my father suffers from Parkinsons disease and gets quite lonely in the house during the day. He lives in Florida and I life in California and I can't call him as much as I would like to given the time difference. I know he gets lonely and would love to just have a conversat…
when I am an old man, I hope my family make more of an effort than to plan for strangers to call me. This seems more for your own guilt than helping them. That said, I would have loved the chance to skype with my grandad or tap into his "what I am doing" view. Knowing how many older folk play crosswords, I think an async game you can play is far more meaningful.
I don't take offense to your comment, in fact I think you are partially correct but your view is to simplistic. I don't think you appreciate how difficult it can be to provide care for some one with old age/dementia or a neurally degenerative disease like Parkinsons or Alzheimer's. Caregivers need more tools and this would be one that would help for some people. It wouldn't replace all the other things that you need to do as a Caregiver, technology is just another tool that can be used.
You do feel a great guilt and sadness watching someone you love slowly wither away over years. You are always thinking of ways to help but the hard reality is that there isn't a lot you can do except provide companionship.
But what do you do when you need a job to pay for all the other care this loved one needs? These things compete for your time and ability to provide companionship 24hrs/day. If I quit my job and moved across the country to take care of my father their wouldn't be any money to pay for the nurse's, medicine, and doctors. Plus all the other complexities of life that this would create for my wife and our plans to have a family. Caring for a sick person is complex.
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#178Skype for the sick, create a service that does scheduled calls (ideally video calls) to the elderly and infirm for a fee. I had this idea because my father suffers from Parkinsons disease and gets quite lonely in the house during the day. He lives in Florida and I life in California and I can't call him as much as I would like to given the time difference. I know he gets lonely and would love to just have a conversat…
That's not only for the sick and elderly, but for all lonely people. I have actually thought about such a service a while ago, because I read about those online leeches who pretend to be poor girls from a developing country (actually they are mostly middle aged men). They keep in contact for years, urging their "host" to send them money to support them, and sometimes even help the host find a job when he is fired. Th…
Sadly my father has been a victim of this sort of thing. He has been transfixed by the idea that a Bank in Ghana has an $8 million dollar inheritance for him. I have had so many conversations with him about this being a scam but he won't believe me.
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
I stand by it, I dont think it is rude. I think it highlights the focus we as technology advocates hold that technology can solve society based problems. Turn back the dial 50 years, we held our elders in far higher respect than we do today. That said, I want to show you an example of something a bit more meaningful with skype and the older generation. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-17870178 Clearly this is not f…
Is there data for well elders were respected now and 50 years ago? I think this is a common cultural misconception. Much like "Americans are getting dumber," is socially manufactured.
For one thing, nursing homes used to be unthinkable. You wouldn't kick elders out of the family home.
Re: Ask HN: My wife needs something to do from home to make money...
#180A younger, stupider me would have suggested writing for one of the freelancer sites. However, that seems to put her on a collision course with lots of not-so-savvy-but-they-don't-need-to-be folks who would be thrilled to make 1/4 of her reserve price. Ignoring credentials for a moment, does your wife have any skill which is commercially valuable? Can she develop one? Many knowledge-worker things can get delivered ove…
> "executive recently transferred from Nomura Securities to their NYC office who feels his career growth will be stymied by his poor conversational English skills."
Have paid double the top end of your range for lessons over skype. IME they also tend to be a lot easier to teach than students paying at the lower end.