Submitted by hooontaaah t3_1273fhp in personalfinance

I've been hearing about it here and there for years and just did a bunch of reading today. Are clinics like Biomat, Octapharma, and Trusting Heart legit? Can you really get hundreds of dollars a month for regular donations? I've been looking for a little boost in cash flow and I'm a healthy young adult with plenty of blood lol. I'm just afraid that it's not as real as it seems online.

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Thehufinmufin t1_jeccnsv wrote

Promotional material definitely makes it sound like a lot more than it ends up being even if you do it regularly. Also keep in mind how it might effect you at work, you will feel tired and drained of energy the day after. I had a roofing job and donated consistently and I almost passed out even with plenty of fluid intake.

Different labs have different reward tiers and time requirements so if you think the extra 100-150 a week won't bother you I'd say go for it.

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[deleted] t1_jeccrl6 wrote

Scam? No. Hundreds a month? Depends. After initial bonus which depends on location they let you know how often you can donate plasma. And machine tells the quality of plasma so the payout can be all over the place.

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yes_its_him t1_jeccwjv wrote

It's a legitimate need. You probably want to avoid places with slick marketing.

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HaruspicyEnjoyer t1_jecd9f7 wrote

It is a real thing, but lots of people can't do it for one reason or another.

It's also possible to be deferred from donating for no fault of your own and not be able to go for weeks so you can't really budget for the money.

I did it pretty solidly for almost 10 years.

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throwsisteraita t1_jeceeos wrote

Selling plasma is real, but hundreds seems way off. I did it in college in 2010 but it was like $40 a time, and I could only go the week before my period because my iron would be depleted the two weeks after đŸ¤£ so $80 a month LOL

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firefly20200 t1_jecf6tn wrote

I don't believe you can sell blood or platelets. You can certainly donate those though. Both are often in short supply and are life saving.

Plasma I believe you can sell because it's then sold to pharmaceuticals that use it to make treatments and medications which are then sold back... they are also often extremely expensive.

Most locations will advertise $500 or $700 or more the first month, usually 6 to 8 collections or something in a five week period. After that it usually drops to about $15 to $30 a collection... sometimes like $15 and then if you complete another collection in the same week the second one is $30, etc.

You usually can't donate more than I think 8 times a month or something, so maybe $150 to $200/mo extra for 8 visits. Honestly when I dug into it... it didn't seem worth the 25 minute drive (and 25 minute back) eight times a month.

Edit: https://www.statnews.com/2016/01/22/paid-plasma-not-blood/ I'll be damned, much different than I thought. Still, you likely won't find somewhere paying for blood. I would be curious about the platelets though, you certainly don't want disease increasing, but as someone who has a mother suffering from acute myeloid leukemia and has probably had close to a hundred units of platelets over the last year and MANY times been told they are in short supply, she can't get them until tomorrow, or she can only have one unit instead of the two the doctor recommended, all because of supply... anything to increase their availability (safely) would be good! Same with the bone marrow!! She had a foreign donation because the registries are so much larger over there. The system is ironed out pretty well, but because of COVID it had to be transported frozen (one day of cancelled international flights could really screw things up) and the cryopreservitive is REALLY unpleasant, almost everyone becomes physically sick, including my mother, twice since it was split across two days. It otherwise is a fairly quick and straight forward process and would have been a lot less of a crappy day if she could have had that fresh. I'm surprised they don't pay $1000 or something in America for it and just spend time testing up front. The donor has to go through some processing for a few days before anyway, I would think most assays on blood work could be done in that time.

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harrisc42 t1_jecf6x0 wrote

Why don't you go to one of these labs in your area and find out? Ask them what it takes in order to get reimbursed and what the risks are.

I donated plasma once a week in college for extra money.

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Dragon_wryter t1_jecibpa wrote

It's not a scam. My husband did it for like 2 years just for beer & fun money. The ones around here usually offer a sign on bonus, and then additional bonuses for donating so many times per week/month. He definitely got hundreds of dollars a month from it. Sometimes over $1,000 depending on the bonuses.

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Jolie-Fille t1_jecl5lg wrote

I did it during college. It’s completely legitimate and safe. You have to meet certain health requirements like they test a drop of your blood each time for certain things, and your blood pressure and stuff.

I can not donate anymore because of medications I am on.

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beagletronic61 t1_jecpc8k wrote

You listed three places; two of them are legit, one will try to take take your kidney on the third visit.

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thetastenaughty t1_jectpj0 wrote

It is real but the dollar amount varies.

Also the techs are not always the best and they can blow a vein and you are asked to leave with no payments. Too many times and they ban you.

Also….look up what it can do to you. There are some horror stories.

I did it for a little while pretty regularly to make ends meet, but I hated how I felt after and had a string of visits that the tech messed up and gave me bad bruising or had to switch arms because they messed up in the stick.

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RupertKing88 t1_jed8yf4 wrote

Just got a coupon, after not donating for a few months. $850. For 8 donations. 2 donations a week. So $850 for one month. After that it will be 60 and 80. So $140 a week. Been doing it for about 7 years on and off. I'm usually in and out in about 1.5 hours. Nice extra income if you can stand the gaint ass needle they use lol

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timbear17 t1_jed903o wrote

Having done this back in the day, just be aware that it completely fucked the veins in my arms. They usually use a fairly big needle and it can cause scarring. Made mine almost impossible to get blood from. That was just from a couple months of doing it.

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crazy_chicken88 t1_jed9k3n wrote

I donated for about 10 years. The compensation varies, but I usually got at least a couple hundred per month.

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dnyte270 t1_jedofmg wrote

Yeah it's real. It's not a ton of money though. A friend of mine did it recently and I think it was $100/visit first 8 visit then like $40/50 visit after. You gotta do a physical and pass a questionnaire and they won't let you donate if XYZ have happened recently. If I was unemployed I'd do it because it's theoretically $100/hr but it typically doesn't work out to that.

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Disastrous-Aspect569 t1_jedw19r wrote

I sell plasma on a regular basis, I made about 4 grand last year. My work schedule doesn't always let me do twice a week. I'm currently getting 130 per week, about 400 per month is normal for me

Avoid greesy food the day before, it makes things go faster. Drink lots of water, but be ready to chill in one place for a an hour or without getting up. Don't go there when you're in a hurry. I don't know why it is but when I'm in a hurry they are slow. Make sure your phone is charged or bring a good book. If you work out work out before you sell plasma, not after. If you stick with it your gonna wanna supplement with iron and a protein shake now and then, they should let you know how your protein and iron are doing.

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D_P_A_D t1_jedxpdv wrote

I go twice a week. $120 per week.

$40 first donation of the week, $80 the second.

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snyderling t1_jee7n89 wrote

It's legit, and you could make hundreds if you enough donate enough, but it's probably not gonna be that much. I did it a few years ago with CSL Plasma. They let you donate every two days (but no more than twice a week). Each donation took about 4-5 hours (2-3 waiting in line and 1-2 donating), and they paid me 50$-$150 because of sign up bonuses.

So if you managed to make 8 donations in the first month with the sign-up bonus, you could make over a thousand in a month. But after that, you'll make a lot less than that because it hurts to donate too much, and you'll likely get closer to the $50 side of payouts after the first few.

But ~$10/hr to sit with a needle in your arm while watching Netflix isn't terrible.

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crazy_chicken88 t1_jeeey2c wrote

It depends where you donate and what promotions they are running. One place also based it on how much plasma you donate so people who weighed less and couldn't donate as much were paid less. It is all up to the location.

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morenodavid661 t1_jef2r7d wrote

Well that's not a scam though as per I have heard though but one things just look around for the certified once

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throwsisteraita t1_jef9f8m wrote

It’s fine to donate with tattoos just as long as they’re not new. I don’t have tattoos so not sure about timing but as long as it’s like 3-6 mos after it’s fine

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Nelsontl t1_jefcf2s wrote

I currently give plasma twice a week (the limit) through CSL Plasma. I've been doing this for over half a year and I usually get about $400 a month (amount is based on weight). The big drawback for me is the scarring. I have a bump like scar on my arm from where the needle goes in. Aside from that and the initial pain of having the needle go in and out, I don't have any complaints. I literally sit in a chair for an hour on my phone while the machine does its thing.

It's a nice bit of extra income that I can use on whatever. Usually on trips or unexpected costs (such as having to replace a flat tire).

Btw, after they get the plasma from your blood, they pump everything else back into you and it is COLD. Bring a blanket.

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FloweryCyme19 t1_jefq10p wrote

Lmao when it was first time I thought it would just be a small needle just as in an injection.

Until the nurse came around with a gigantic needle gave me a stress ball and just pinched the needle into my veins. I was like does it take out blood or kills people lmao

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ryanbahneman t1_jefxc0y wrote

You got two kidneys? I thought people were up for giving their plasma and get some cash.

But you guys it seems like are on a whole new level though lmao that just scared the hell out of me too bad

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flatzfishinG90 t1_jegdsgb wrote

I get $115 a week, which pays for my vacations basically.

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