Fixya.com is a community where people who need help with just about anything can float a question and “experts” on various subjects, who are also members, can answer them. It’s the mother of all forums in a lot of ways, but there is a nice little “make money” hook to it all which is what makes it so compelling.

From the standpoint of the basic user needing help, you have the option of posting your request for assistance on just about any product you can come up with-even cars! You can also add yours if it’s not already listed. The beauty of this is that even though you might need help in one area, you might find that someone else needs help with another product and you could potentially help them. One for one support, so to speak. This works fine for problems that you are okay with solving in a casual manner, but what if you need or want your support NOW?

Well that is where the premium services come in. The account is always free, but if you want an answer a bit sooner than you can pay a premium to get Fixya “experts” to work the issue. For example, as a consumer who has no idea how to get their kids Playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii online, they can go and ask their question on the premium service, and pay for the support. This is where the money making opportunity of Fixya.com comes into play.

Any new member of Fixya.com is able to both ask for help and help others. However, if you really want to make some money on the site it is possible to do this by becoming a Fixya.com expert. To do so, you must first help others with their issues on the free service. Fixya.com has a rating system that also comes into play here. Everyone you help has the ability to rate you and your ability to solve their problem. This rating must reach and be maintained at a minimum level of 70% in order for you to keep your expert status.

So how much can you make? Once you reach expert status in your area of expertise you have the ability to start taking on the premium issues that users post. For every premium issue you solve, you get $6.00 and for every Live Chat issue you work, you get $10.00. If you work a lot of issues you could really make a decent living, right?

Well, maybe. I actually work in technology, as a network engineer in fact. I already get paid to solve issues of a technical nature so I felt like I was a good candidate to give this service a try and, who knows, maybe replace my income with it. However, in a very short time I realized that I was not going to quit my day job anytime soon. Here’s my take:

My biggest problem so far with the site is some of the users make it impossible to work with them. Unfortunately I have to start at the bottom so I can’t yet work any premium issues. And the users requests for assistance are usually very vague. It’s hard to help someone when they barely give you any information to work with. Example: How do I set up my 4 computers on a wireless network? While that seems like a valid question, there are just way too many variables for anyone to answer that easily, so I asked a lot of those questions and posted it up. The original person never wrote back and then some other guy wrote a very simple sentence about the most basic wireless network setup (that wouldn’t have even worked for this person) and they basically took my rating potential away. I wasted my time. I figured that was just a fluke, but then I started reading the forum where the experts post their pet peeves and concerns about the site. While they obviously do make money, it seems that a lot of them are frustrated by other “experts” who have very poor ratings and essentially steal their premium issues out from under them. I have to admit that I don’t fully understand how their payment system works yet since I am not an expert on their site and cannot work premium issues myself yet, however I can say that just working 50 free issues to get to the point where I can be an expert may be tough. So think about that for a second. If I can’t even get 50 in one week then how much earning potential do I really have? Well, for me to quit my day job I would have to work 65 problems per day or about 40 Live Chats per day. Ugh, no thanks, I think I’ll stick to my day job after all.

One more thing. I thought I would find Fixya.com to be a nice distraction for those times where I am a little bored in my own job. IT has a lot of downtime sometimes so I thought working some issues on Fixya.com would help me pass the time. Instead, I resented “working” the issues on there because it felt too much like real work, only I wasn’t getting any benefit from it, only Fixya.com is. It was less than a day of joining the site that I started to feel like it was real work. This is no way for a beach bum to spend his free time, let me tell ya!

So, can you make money on Fixya.com? Yes and it is one of the more legitimate sites if you ask me. I think they do provide a great service to both the consumer who needs help as well as the person willing to help others and get a little extra money in their pockets. But I honestly don’t think it’s for everyone. Even if you’re not in IT. Let’s say you’re an expert mechanic, would you prefer to live chat a complete novice through replacing an alternator? Oh, and would you accept $10 for the trouble?

Unfortunately I received a notice from my bank on Saturday which informed me that the check bounced. All kinds of thoughts run through my head when something like this happens. There really is nothing worse than having money you’ve earned yanked back from you, but I did have to give them the benefit of the doubt. We all make mistakes, after all.

So I sent an email to customer service and got the following response back:

“I apologize for this inconvenience.  Our internet service provider has been down the past few days, and this is causing issues with publishers who have tried to cash their checks during this time.  We are working on a resolution, and I will contact you as soon as this is resolved.  Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience and we appreciate your patience in this matter.”

I have never heard of an Internet Service Provider outage causing checks to bounce. I must say that is a first. But what can you do? I have no choice but to wait for them to reissue a check or string me along.

Has anyone else out there run into this problem with Text Link Ads? Is this happening to everyone right now or is this just a fluke?

As soon as I find out more I will update this post.

UPDATE (from Text Link Ads):

“We apologize for the inconvenience that you have experienced with your June TLA check.  Our internet service provider was down towards the end of last week, an issue that affected a large part of the New York area, and was completely out of our hands.  The way this affected the cashing of checks, is when a bank receives a check from TLA, they contact us and request a positive pay file.  These files are sent in automated emails,
and because of the internet outage were never sent, resulting in the checks to bounce.  All checks that bounced are going to be re-sent by Wednesday of this week.  If your bank charged you some sort of processing fee, please let me know the amount and we will reimburse you for the fee on your next TLA check (If you previously mentioned the
amount it has been noted and there is no need to reply).  Once again, we apologize for this inconvenience and if you have any questions, please let me know.”

7/5/08 Update:

I was just recently given a new check and so far that has not bounced. Still curious if anyone else ran into this problem in the past month so feel free to comment.

Well there is an even more-powerful service being offered now that you may be interested in if you’ve given up on your dream of selling online because of the somewhat overwhelming notion that entrepreneurs are faced with in this arena - inventory tracking, payment processing and web development. Does that sound familiar to you?

Amazon webstore is a great way to limit your own exposure to the nightmares of getting a fully integrated product inventory and payment processing system online by letting the proven Amazon engine work for you. You can use your own domain name and build your site using a variety of fully customizable templates and set up your site inventory completely from a user friendly web interface. What’s more is that you can add some powerful tools to your site such as reviews, top selling items, etc - all powered by the familiar Amazon backend. And if you want to fill in your inventory offerings with products that you don’t sell, you can do that to - and get commissions for it by simply adding in Amazon products where you see fit. That is a great feature for anyone who wants a complete inventory but who doesn’t necessarily have all the products on their own.

By now you’re probably wondering what the cost is. Well it’s not as bad as you might think. It’s $59.99 monthly plus 7% commission on your sales. I think you’ll find that it is actually quite cost effective if you look at what it would take you to set up a fully integrated site with payment processing and inventory tracking built in. And you’d be surprised by some of the big name companies out there who are taking advantage of this: Soloflex, Jelly Belly and more.
Of course, if you have the skills to do this yourself, then by all means, have at it. But if you’ve been holding back on getting your web store opened due to being overwhelmed by all the work, and expense, involved then this is a great way to just go ahead and get it going today!

Here’s a link to get you started (http://webstore.amazon.com). Good Luck and be sure to drop us a line so we can all visit your new store!

6)  ALWAYS do your preliminary shopping online to see what rebates the dealerships and the manufacturer are offering.  Many places will let you shop online and you can get an idea of what they’re charging but be prepared that the car you like may be sold when you get there as the site isn’t always updated right away. 

7)  Do your test driving on a Saturday when tons of people are there or on bad weather days.  You’ll have a better chance of getting away and be able to cross ones off that don’t feel right.  Take that opportunity to collect business cards of sales people.  When you lie to them about having gone out all day and been beaten up by other sales people, you tell them the deal you want and say “another guy was able to offer me that.”  Be prepared, they may ask you who and they’ll be surprised when you have a name they can (and will) verify.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS shop on the LAST DAY OF THE MONTH!!!  They are desperate to make a sale to meet their quota for the month.  Shop the last hour and you’ll get it so cheap THEY’LL be the ones needing the Vaseline.

I hope that you’ve found this series helpful. I highly recommend that you follow them closely and be sure to tell friends and family because everyone should save some money.

The biggest thing to remember about these tips is that you are not screwing the dealer over here. You are giving them just enough profit to still make it worth their while but not at your expense. They may not like to sell all of their cars like this but ultimately they still make money and will make even more on your trade-in, etc. So there is no reason to feel bad for them. This is more of a win-win situation because you are getting the payment you want (and deserve) and they are getting a sale.

Good luck and be sure to tell me how these tips worked for you on your next car purchase!

4)  ALWAYS give them ONE chance to meet your price.  You tell them you’ve gone to dealers all over the city, you’re in a bad mood, the last thing you feel like doing is being here and you tell them you’re not doing the back and forth shit.  They have ONE chance to meet your price and if they don’t, you’re leaving.  They’ll always come back higher.  That’s when you say “thanks but I wasn’t lying when I said you had one shot” and start walking out.  They’ll either tell you “no, no don’t leave” at which point you stand by the door and say “my price or I’m outta here” and they’ll say yes and talk about how you’re screwing them out of a car or they’ll say “sorry, we can’t do a deal for you” and you leave.  At which point you know if they’re letting you walk out, they really can’t do the deal.  But how do you know what to offer them to get a good deal?

5)  ALWAYS offer 85 percent of the sticker price.  This is a fair price for you and they’ll still be making a profit.  It’s a figure that has worked since the dawn of man. Trust me. This has worked EVERY TIME for me and there is NO REASON why it won’t for you if you stick to your guns!

See you tomorrow for the FINAL TIPS!

3) ALWAYS be willing to walk away.  Give the dealer the absolute deal on the table. For example, say “My car as a trade-in and $14K out the door. If you can do it, we’ve got a deal. If you can’t, that’s fine but I will leave”. If they’re not meeting your price and you don’t have 2-3 hours to sit around like a dipshit while they go back and forth with “their manager” (aka going to the bathroom, eating lunch, shooting paper wads in a trashcan with fellow salesmen, etc) then get the heck up and leave.  (Oh yeah, always have an extra key on you that you give them when they look over your trade in like the valet key.  Some dealers will actually try to hold you hostage and you just whip out your other one and drive off).

See you tomorrow for yet another great tip!

2) NEVER let on how much you like a car.  People are so stupid when it comes to this.  You have to act like you’re settling b/c if they think you’re in love with the car, they know they can hand you a jar of Vaseline and screw you until the place closes without so much as a thank you.

One tool you have in your arsenal with regards to this tip is the fact that most dealerships now offer their inventory online. You don’t even have to go to the dealer lot now to know what they’ve got. This is a must because if you really want a black car with sunroof, etc then make sure you know that they’ve got one on the lot already. If they do not, they may offer to get you one but then all bets are off. You simply WILL NOT get the deal you want, if you let them know that they are getting you the car you really want. This does not mean that you cannot get exactly what you want, you just have to be “stealthy” about it, ya know?

See you tomorrow for tip #3!

Think about it for a second. If you go in to a dealership without a plan, you are the salesperson’s wet dream. There is nothing they like more than a clean slate. They are very good at finding out things about your finances and just how much car they can get you into without you even realizing it if you aren’t careful. And don’t think for a second that just because the salesperson seems nice enough that they wouldn’t oversell you a car for their own benefit. You can’t blame them, it’s how they make their living, after all.

The biggest mistake people make is going in without any up front research. The internet has made it possible to go in armed and dangerous, but this alone is not enough. You need a few other weapons in your arsenal before you take on the sales force. Yes, I said sales force. Nowadays, you don’t only deal with one salesperson. They take the entire team out on you and you’d better be prepared and ready for battle. Now let’s get down to today’s tip:

1)  NEVER finance through the dealership!!!  You might as well write CHUMP on your forehead.  Always get pre-approval from a credit union / bank even if you have to open an account and slap $5 in it to qualify to get a loan.  Ask them to work up how much you’d need to borrow to get to the payment YOU want to pay and tell them to only approve you for that much.

I cannot stress enough the part about getting the payment YOU want to pay. Only YOU know what YOU can afford so don’t go over that amount. Any salesperson would make you go over what you know you can afford without blinking an eye so take them out of the equation altogether. No they won’t like it, but they will still sell you a car regardless. They will even try to say that they can beat what you’ve got pre-approved, but don’t let them persuade you because they will pull something and you are always safer sticking with your bank/credit union. I do recommend credit unions if you have access to one. They seem to have a way of saving you additional money on loans. I don’t know how, but they do and they have never steered me wrong.

By going in knowing what you are pre-approved for, this also helps you figure out exactly how much car you can afford. In the coming days we’ll cover more of this but this first tip is one of the most important tools in your arsenal that you can have so do not skip it no matter what you do!

More tips are coming. See you tomorrow for the next one!