Stuffing envelopes is a menial but essential task in everyday life. Companies spend a lot of time and effort preparing and shipping documents. Businesses, especially those who sell their own products, fill up parcels and envelopes with their products to customers. It can be a very tiring and boring task, which is why some are interested in stuffing envelopes as a job opportunity.
This seems like a perfect entry-level job. However, beware of companies and brands that advertise these positions, because they are most likely, if not always, a scam.
In this article, we’ll be talking more about what envelope stuffing is, what businesses are doing to employ people for the task, and what alternatives you can try to make money at home.
Can I make money stuffing envelopes?
As mentioned, the short answer to this question is no. If you do get employed to stuff envelopes, you are most likely going to be paid at a very low rate–one that does not properly compensate you for your labor. Other times, the job will require you to do other tasks that are not related to the position advertised to you.
With how simple and easy the task is, it is highly unlikely that companies will need to look for employees to simply prepare and mail documents for them. The rates that are promoted online are usually $1-$3 per envelope. This kind of pay is very high: imagine stuffing 100 envelopes in 1 hour. You would be able to make $100 in the same amount of time other people get paid $30-$50.
Moreover, the websites that advertise envelope stuffing jobs require you to pay an upfront fee to qualify for their job. The key rule to applying and working for a job is to not pay any fee before you start working. These are one of the key indicators that it is a scam.
How can I make money stuffing envelopes?
So if you can’t make money stuffing envelopes, what other alternative jobs can you try? We’ll go over some legit work-from-home job ideas that are similar to stuffing envelopes.
Alternative Work-from-Home Jobs
Virtual Assistant
Being a virtual assistant is very flexible, depending on what kind of company or business you’re interested in working for. As a virtual assistant, you’ll be responsible for accomplishing tasks for company employees. These are usually scheduling meetings, writing emails, preparing documents, and going on calls with employees and clients.
Certain companies also require their virtual assistants to have particular skills. These skills can include knowledge of copywriting and SEO, while others require assistance with software and website development. There are all kinds of options that you can look into to help you figure out what kind of position is best for you.
This kind of job is definitely more complex and difficult than mere envelope stuffing, but, with hard work, you’ll be able to earn a steady amount of money. Pro-tip: Attend a lot of workshops made for virtual assistants to prepare you for your jobs, and to set yourself apart from other applicants.
Customer Service
Another similar job to being a virtual assistant is participating in customer service. Customer service requires people to attend to customers’ inquiries and concerns about a company’s products or services. If you want to work in customer service, you can work as a chat support agent: you won’t need to show your face or use your voice through call; you’ll only need to talk to customers through chat.
If you want to be a call center agent, or provide support through calls, you’ll need a landline or specific software.
Just like being a virtual assistant, it’s also important for you to take up training or workshops to properly prepare you for the job.
Accomplish Microtasks
If you’re looking for low-effort tasks to do for some cash on the side, you can perform microtasks and surveys for different websites and companies.
Sites like Remotasks offer tasks like grouping photos and tracing images. These tasks are for optimizing artificial intelligence (AI). You can also make money off of sites like Swagbucks, where you can accomplish surveys for money or even coupons to your favorite brands.
Compared to being a virtual assistant or customer support agent, accomplishing these tasks will pay a bit lower. However, if you commit to finishing a lot of tasks or surveys, you can earn a significant amount of money.
Data entry jobs
The final job that you can consider taking up is related to data entry. Data entry can range from typing captchas to transcribing audio, filling out documents, and encoding numbers.
These kinds of jobs are best for fast typers and those who are attentive. This especially goes for those who want to work in transcription, where you will have to caption or type out what you hear in a video.
If you’re more comfortable dealing with numbers, you can try becoming a bookkeeper and helping out businesses with their profits.
For all of these jobs, you can explore your options of freelancing sites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Flexjobs. However, feel free to search for more specialized sites that cater to your particular field of interest.
Though envelope stuffing may have seemed like an appealing job opportunity at first, we all have to be wary of “low effort, high pay” promises like these. If there is anything you should take away from this, it’s that good money never comes easy. Make the most out of your abilities, and be smart about any and all job opportunities you come across.
