Going to school full-time often eliminates the possibility for students to maintain a full-time job. Despite students’ booked availability, their need for money remains prevalent. Here are three ways students can safely earn income on their own time.

Donating Plasma 

With a constant need for plasma, individuals can earn money safely by simply donating. 

BioLife Plasma Services is a facility that collects plasma that is eventually used in plasma-based therapies. According to biolifeplasma.com, “BioLife Plasma Services is an industry leader in the collection of high-quality plasma that is processed into life-saving plasma-based therapies. We operate numerous state-of-the-art plasma collection facilities throughout the United States and Europe.”

Alicia Highlander, BioLife communications lead, discusses the importance of plasma donations. 

“Plasma donations are used to create life-saving medicine for hundreds of thousands of people who live with rare and complex chronic diseases, including immunodeficiency disorders. For many of these individuals, medicine developed from plasma is their only option for treatment,” Highlander said. “Plasma cannot be artificially produced. It can only be sourced from healthy individuals who choose to donate making it a scarce, life-changing resource. We are grateful for every single person who graciously donates their plasma.”

According to ​​info.biolifeplasma.com, new donors can earn up to $900 in eight plasma donations by using their new donor coupon. To find this coupon, visit your local plasma donation centers website and find the “click here” link.

Highlander explains compensation from donating varies depending on the local market environment. “BioLife compensates individuals who donate plasma in recognition of their time and commitment. Donor compensation can vary depending on the local market environment,” Highlander said. “If you’re interested in learning more, head to BioLifePlasma.com, give us a call or stop by the local BioLife center in Tyler.”

To be eligible to donate, individuals need to meet a specific set of requirements such as:

• 18 years or older 

• Weigh at least 110 pounds

• Good health

• Valid identification

• A healthy diet 

• Proof of address

In addition to the main requirements, individuals must undergo a medical screening. The screening will include, “medical history interview, a physical examination and a blood test,” according to the BioLife Plasma Services website. There are also additional requirements depending on your use of drugs and medications, medical conditions, medical procedures and body modifications such as tattoos and piercings.

Individuals can donate plasma up to twice a week. 

“The body quickly replaces the plasma removed during the donation process, which allows healthy individuals to donate as often as twice in a seven-day period, with at least one day between donations,” Highlander said.

For more information regarding plasma donation visit, biolifeplasma.com.

Delivery Services 

The rise of apps such as Uber Eats, DoorDash and InstaCart in Tyler has created a need for delivery drivers. Delivery services provide opportunities for students to earn money at their own convenience. 

Grubhub, Postmates, DoorDash and UberEats are all common delivery services used when it comes to  transporting  food. Each service allows drivers to set their own schedule by picking up delivery orders at their own time.

The following list is the average income for each delivery service yearly, monthly and weekly in Texas, according to ziprecruiter.com.  

Grubhub drivers’ average yearly income is around $31,977. This is equivalent to $615 a week or $2,665 a month. 

Postmate drivers’ average yearly income is around $38,089. This is equal to $732 a week or $3,174 a month.

DoorDash drivers’ average yearly income is around $36,565. This is equal to $648 a week or $2,808 a month.

UberEats drivers’ average yearly income is around $35,002. This is equal to $773 a week or $3,348 a month.

The ziprecruiter website said, “While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $55,014 and as low as $10,372, the majority of Food Delivery Driver salaries currently range between $18,488 (25th percentile) to $31,114 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $41,035 annually in Tyler.”

In addition to food delivery services, InstaCart has become more popular in the grocery delivering industry. Much like DoorDash and UberEats, InstaCart drivers can also pick up orders at their own convenience.

According to indeed.com, InstaCart drivers’ yearly income is around $25,633. After dividing the income by 12 months, InstaCart drivers make roughly $2,136 monthly. Also by dividing the yearly income by 51 weeks in the year InstaCart drivers weekly pay is around $501. 

If you’re looking to make a little extra cash, delivery driving might be for you.

Sell old items on resale apps or to stores

Surprisingly, one may actually have money laying around they are unaware of. Those jeans you no longer like or that old gaming system you never use can both be resold on a variety of sites such as Mercari, Facebook Marketplace and eBay for profit. 

If you are looking to make extra cash and you have stuff you no longer need, resale it. Top sellers on eBay make approximately $3,625 monthly, according to a study by ziprecruiter.com.

In addition to making money, you are also decluttering your home while giving your items a second chance. 

In addition to selling online, students can take apparel to their local Plato’s Closet or Uptown Cheapskate to potentially sell their old items for profit. According to platoscloset.com, “we buy gently used teen and young adult clothes, shoes and accessories that are in good condition- no stains. We buy every day and will pay you in cash on the spot, no appointment needed!”

At Uptown Cheapskate you can earn a third of what they intend to price the item at.

General manager Jacey Mallory discusses how the percentage of money back works when selling your clothing. 

“You get a different percent based off of what brand it is. So if you were to bring in something from Walmart, you’re not going to get as much as what it would be if it was like Adidas or Nike,” Mallory said.

Uptown Cheapskate accepts men’s and women’s styles when purchasing clothing.

“So we do all seasons all year around. Typically, we can take things up to two years old from any retail store, but we do also take vintage items. And we try to stay with like late teens to young adults as much as possible,”  Mallory said.

The opportunities listed above are jobs for college students that will allow you to create your own schedule at your own time in addition to being able to leave at your own. convenience.