Consumer Reports took a look at some popular work-at-home schemes, and found that you could actually make money with some of them … sort of:

We paid $50 to Gone Fish’n for a starter kit that enabled us to make 24 flies. The company would pay us $12 for those, if they passed inspection, leaving us $38 in the hole. To continue, we’d have to keep buying materials: $40 for the makings of 144 flies. We’d have to spend $890 on materials, including the initial outlay, to produce 3,048 flies, for which we’d be paid $1,524. That nets $634 for about 190 hours of labor, or slightly less than $3.35 per hour, about half the federal minimum wage.

The president of Gone Fish’n admits that the company makes most of its money by hooking consumers with its kits. Gone Fish’n sells about 1,500 kits a year; about 20 customers have made a business out of selling flies back to the company (the company says that dissatisfied customers can get a full refund within 45 days of purchase).

Beware of work-at-home stings [Consumer Reports]

(Photo: kasperbs)

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