Make Money by Selling Parts of Yourself

In the past, I suggested that people could make money by selling their blood. Turns out that's not the only thing they are selling to earn a few extra bucks. For instance:

Increasingly, industry officials say people are hoping to trade spare body fluids, tissues and other parts for payments that can range from $20 to $50 a pop for blood plasma to $60 to $100 for a shot of sperm, $200 for a shiny ponytail and up to $7,000 for a fertile egg.

More and more people are considering selling parts of themselves due to the poor economy in the U.S.:

“I am seeing a huge increase,” said Mary Fusillo, director of The Donor Solution, an agency in Texas. She says egg donor applications have jumped in the past six weeks from two to five a day to 20. “It’s people who suddenly see it as a viable way to make a chunk of change all at one time.”

Visits to BloodBanker.com, a Web site that lists locations and reviews of cash-for-plasma centers nationwide, are up 50 percent this fall, and TheHairTrader.com, a site that lets users shill their long locks, is about 20 percent busier with people desperate for cash.

“I just got laid off and I really need the money for house payments” is how the owner of a 32-inch reddish-brown braid put it on Nov. 3.

“They’re donating due to economic things,” said Jacalyn Elise, an executive partner with the Murietta, Calif., hair clearinghouse, whose clients range from college students to homemakers. “I’m seeing more ads from people saying they want money for the holidays.”

I'm not sure what to think about this, but here are a few comments this piece made come to mind:

1. Seems like an ok way to earn a bit of extra money. Why not sell your blood, sperm, eggs, hair, etc.? (FYI, for an inside look at leaving a sperm sample, see this post.)

2. Are people really living that close to the vest that they need $20 here, $50 there, etc.? Sure, $7k for an egg is one thing, but people appear to be needing even "trivial" amounts in this economy. Where are the emergency funds? Where is the cushion between what people make and what they earn? Then again, if you just lost your job, almost everything's on the table when it comes to earning money, huh?

3. If you're facing hard times, here's a list of all the ways I've suggested to make money and save money. Could be useful to you.

Comments

[Aya @ Thrive]

I've donated blood in the past but have never thought about making money off of it. My friend and I just had a conversation about selling other things but have decided that it's a little too creepy to think that someone you don't know will end up with your genes...but I guess if times are desperate, some people might not care about those minute details. It's strange to think that parts of us are worth so much. I guess the moral aspects seem to be worth much more.

[Christy]

I did the egg donor thing about 15 years ago in my early 20's. I received about $2,000., less after taxes. Of course to me at the time was a great deal of money, and allowed me to move from Virginia to Texas. I can tell you that the process is very time consuming with doctor visits every other week for at least six months, injections that you have to administer to yourself, can't drink or smoke, psycological tests, and at the end, surgery. I don't think it was really worth it after all that.

[Me]

I've considered selling plasma before, but it's not that lucrative, at least in Utah. You sit for almost three hours and can't do anything, not even use a laptop. For $20 a shot, it's not worth it to me.

[Craig]

Selling plasma is an easy way to make some cash. Takes about an hour, usually get $25. Once a week is an extra 100$ to have cash in your pocket. Helped me get extra money in college to pay for spring break.

[Nicki]

I've donated blood, but where I live it's all on a volunteer basis. I would donate a kidney or something if I knew someone personally that desperately needed it, but selling a part of my body just strikes a weird cord with me.

[DW]

2. Are people really living that close to the vest that they need $20 here, $50 there, etc.? Sure, $7k for an egg is one thing, but people appear to be needing even "trivial" amounts in this economy. Where are the emergency funds?

A prolonged period of unemployment could defintely drain an emergency fund. Also, a $20 or $50 earned here or there is that amount of $$ that's not coming out of savings. Selling plasma, maybe ... other body parts or fluids is a bit creepy to me.

[pharmboy]

I enjoy Walter William's thoughts on this subject, paraphrased:

Who owns your kidneys? Apparently you don't, the government does. If you owned your organs, why can't you sell them?

The world would be a much better place for people suffering on dialysis if the government and physicians would allow the free market to work.

[Mark]

One reason not to donate sperm is that advances in DNA testing and changing laws have allowed some people to go back and find their "natural father", and of course if he is well-off (20 years after being the poor student sperm donor) they feel they deserve child-support. Not sure if this has happened in the US yet, but I know it has elsewhere.

I wonder if egg donors might face the same issue.

[Mark]

One reason not to donate sperm is that advances in DNA testing and changing laws have allowed some people to go back and find their "natural father", and of course if he is well-off (20 years after being the poor student sperm donor) they feel they deserve child-support. Not sure if this has happened in the US yet, but I know it has elsewhere.

I wonder if egg donors might face the same issue

[Paul]

I cannot agree it is "ok" to sell a part of yourself. It seems to me our creator designed us to profit from our labor, not His creation of us. I am all for organ and blood donation, but not to profit from it.