| Follow Lou Ann's journey... the article below was written in April 2001 and should be read first. In January 2002 Lou Ann wrote again with an update to her experience which you can read
here.
We are grateful to Lou Ann for being open about her experience and sharing it with us. Lou Ann's experience has helped many others and maybe you too if you are looking for craft or assembly work.
|
Lou Ann emailed us with her mixed experience of homeworking opportunities and offers some great advice for craft work schemes.
"I think this site is great and very informative, but wanted to write and let you and others know it's not all scams.
"I had been nailed with the envelope stuffing scams your site refers to years
ago and decided at that point that there wasn't such a thing as work at home
legitimate jobs. It was exactly as stated in the scams list...you have to
scam other people to get money just as you were scammed.
"I qualify at this point in my life as being one of the perfect situations to
be prey to these scams. I lost my full time/excellent paying job due to
cutbacks and closings of the corporation I worked for and although the
devastation of losing my job was high, the enjoyment of being home for my
daughter was great.
Comment from Homeworking.com
- How many scams does one have to work through to find a scheme that works?
- Does the company really seem to be re-selling the products you make? If not, then they are probably making their money from selling the kits to homeworkers rather than the business of selling the products you make.
- Before buying a kit, check to see if the raw materials you are buying would be significantly cheaper if you bought them direct from a supplier?
- The value of kits are not always as advertised. For example, you might be told that the jewellery you will make will be worth X amount when really they are a pile of garbage that no-one would ever wear let alone buy.
- Consider that you could buy the raw materials from a supplier, see your Yellow Pages, and produce your own craft ideas to sell yourself? There are great craft books in the library which don't cost anything to borrow, and if you end up having to try to sell your rejected kit products then you may as well be trying to sell your own products.
- When thinking about what to make (whether through a kit or your own craft idea) consider whether this item is something you would really want to buy yourself, and if it is worth making compared to the amount you would be able to sell it for.
- Like Lou Ann says, anything you make will have to be made to a very high standard. It is hard work!
Nine months after this article was written, Lou Ann has kindly agreed to update us with her experience of these schemes and we thank her for her contribution. Read the update here. |
"I found a website that states they investigate for scams before posting any
work at home jobs so I took a chance and paid for access to the list of work
from home opportunities even though my head was telling me not to. The
opportunities are such as the ones listed on your site as scams (I found your
site after I did this).
"They have medical transcription for example and craft assembly and many others. I don't know anything about the medical transcription but have had experience with the craft assembly. I sent to the companies I was interested in and paid for the start up pack, received the kit, assembled and returned the item and I have been paid for making it, and
have done a second shipment the company ordered that was double the first.
"The point I'm trying to get across is they are not all scams and some do pay
for your work. The catch is that it does have to meet high quality and be
resaleable by the company and they are picky. Since I have been paid for my
work, I don't qualify that as a scam. The way I look at it is; if it was my
business, I would not send out supplies and kits to everyone who asked for
them without a fee of some sort to cover my costs.......you can't trust that
people will actually make the product and send it back to you.
"The other
argument is the statements I've read on many sites saying "it's a scam if
they ask for money up front because you wouldn't expect to go get a job
somewhere and pay them to hire you". That's a totally different scenario.
If you didn't show up for that job, you wouldn't be paid for your work.
"These home employment jobs whether it be assembly jobs or something else are
not you being hired by those companies. You do not work for them........you
are an independent contractor in your own business offering them a service or
product. Bottom line is you are sending them money to purchase a kit with
instructions and patterns same as if you went to your local craft store and
bought a kit to assemble at home.
"The plus is the company will purchase the
items you make using this kit providing you make them to their standards neat
and resaleable. You may also make and sell the item anyway you wish aside
from the company buying from you. The items I make are bought by the company
and I can also go to craft shows and sell or like in my case, my family and
friends see the items I am making and place orders with me.
"You don't even
have to try and sell to the company if you don't want to. I do because it's
guaranteed income where if you go to a craft show you might not sell anything
or you might sell a lot........it's hit and miss.
"The above is best case
scenario with one of the kits I purchased. Bad case scenario is that if you
attempt to assemble an item that is difficult or beyond your
knowledge/talent, you end up spending money on the kit, the supplies and the
shipping only to have a rejection letter come in the mail with notice that
you have to send them money to pay for them to ship the items back to you for
you to fix them.
"So this would be where people start calling it a scam, but
it really isn't if you think about it. These companies have purchasers and
if you send assembled items that they know their purchasers will not accept,
why would they pay you for them? I am working on a project right now for a
company that accepts as many tries at inspection that you want and they also
pay for whichever ones are up to standard and return the rest to you. I have
submitted 3 tries now and have gotten them to standard except for one thing
and the company is great and working with me to help me and get them to pass
because they need producers.
"The bad part is that I have invested in the
kit, the supplies that I have used making many of these items. The other
side is, I picked something I was really interested in and although I've made
many, I still enjoy making them and once I get the last problem area
conquered, I will be making money and will make up for what I've lost in the
start up. All the ones I've used for training, which are still cute as dickens are going to be Christmas presents for family and friends or sold at craft fairs.
"The main point is you do get paid for the work
if it is done correctly, but it is not a "get rich quick" idea and you do
work for your money. To make the big money they advertise, you have to
produce high quantities of top quality product.
"Even though I have a new job starting next month, I still intend to continue
with these work at home projects for extra income and plan to order other
kits and try a variety of items. I would rather leave the first job and come
home and work on these than go to a second job and not be at home for my
daughter.
"It is very discouraging to get the rejection letters on something
that you think is put together right and done well, but I think where people
who try this get disgusted and upset because they don't look at it from the
companies' point of view that is purchasing the item and you have to also
remember it is your own business and the financial risks are there the same
as starting up a business of your own. You can't rely on it providing you
with an income until you search around and find the right company with the
right assembly product for you!
"I'm not putting down anything said or anyone on this
site and I enjoy this site very much. I just wanted to give a different point
of view and tell that I am enjoying working on these home projects. I have
only sent for 4 different projects with 4 different companies but only 1 out
of the 4 was rude in their inspection and didn't offer any help. Yes I did
lose my money with that company, but hey I have my own business, it's a tax
write off expense and I'll make it up with a good company.
- Lesson #1: When your kit
arrives, look it over thoroughly and really consider "can I do this to
perfection" and "do I like the item well enough to make a gazillion of them."
If the answer to either of these is no, pack up the kit and send it back so
you can get your money back.
- Lesson #2: Do not buy large quantities of
supplies to make the item before you get a passing inspection.
I went and
spent $90 at Hancock fabrics buying all the supplies I needed to make a unit
of each of the items. I bought the fabric type they listed and the
inspection sheet said I had the wrong type of fabric. They said I didn't use the correct color of trim.
Mine all matched it was just off a shade from theirs but still green. This particular company was rude with their rejections and after you sit and work so hard trying
to make something and then have that happen it's sometimes devastating.
- Lesson #3: Don't order more than one kit from any one company until you test them out.
- Lesson #4: You have to give yourself practice time before comparing $/hour. It's always going to take a long time to make something the first few times, but after you do a few times it gets faster and you think of shortcuts.
Thank you to
Lou Ann for her contribution
[Please note that with all items on the Soapbox the views expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily of Homeworking.com]
