Make A Quick Buck From Junked Computers

We’ve all gone through times when we needed to make a quick buck. Here is a great way to earn some extra cash by fishing out junked operating system product keys.

Many computers today come preinstalled with an operating system and have the product key label stuck on the case somewhere. With the way our society generally acts, when a computer slows down and becomes too much trouble you just throw it out and get a new one. I’ve seen piles of computers in local junk yards, scrap yards, and on the sidewalk during garbage collection day. The computers get junked and the product keys go to waste.

Right now a legitimate copy of Windows XP 32 bit still costs $90 USD. You can find a good key on just about any junked computer you come across. You might even find Vista keys if you get lucky (I got 3 home keys in stock at the moment).

Here’s how you can make some cash with these babies:

1: Find yourself a product key on a junked computer (not a computer that is still in use!). You will find the product key on the outside of the case in most situations. Look for the key on the bottom, back, or sides of the computer. After writing down the product key (and noting exactly what OS and edition it goes with), scrape the label off the junked computer with a screw driver or a knife.

2: Make sure nobody can use it again. If you want to sell the key, it needs to be legit and not in use by anyone else. Open up the computer, find the hard drive (the hard drive looks like a metal book sized object, it will be labeled as HDD near the CD drives), and take it. You will have to destroy the hard drive or sell it with the product key. This ensures that someone else won’t stumble upon the hard drive and use the product key that you are going to sell.

3: Now there are a few things you can do with your new product key. Some of them require you get the OEM (system builder) discs for Windows. If you don’t have one you can either buy one (and use it over and over again for each new product key you find) or you can borrow a CD from someone you know that built their computer with the same edition of the key you have. You may even find someone that is just looking for a key and doesn’t need an install disc.

The problem with pirating and trying to sell it is if you get caught with the disc, you are screwed. If you have a legitimate windows disc the customer will trust you and retards that want to rape you sideways can’t say anything about it because you are using all legitimate software and keys.

A lot of the punks in the IT departments of American colleges build computers for the experience (or to just shlick their e-penis) and you can sell it to them for $20-$40 cheaper than what they could get for it online. There are also the idiots that just want a completely fresh install of windows or want to go back to XP (easy money). I’ve made hundreds selling these keys on the side at $60 a piece in just a couple of months. You will find your own market; there are plenty of people looking for a clean and legitimate OS product keys. If I went out looking for these things every trash day I would be made of cash by now…and probably be labeled as a hobo and arrested.

Just don’t do this every day.

Top 3 Reasons NOT to Advertise on BoingBoing

I’m always looking for new ways to grow readership here at  zMogo.com, and assumed that because we are in the same ‘tech’ niche as BoingBoing.net,  an ad placement on their site would perform fairly well.

I was wrong.

BoingBoing ads are sold through the Federated Media ad network, a web service with the mission “to support independent website authors and audiences, by connecting them to marketers in an ongoing and robust conversation that feeds everyone involved.”

They go on to make the following claim about BoingBoing:

Boing Boing attracts more than 3 million unique visitors to its site each month, and has over 600,000 RSS subscribers. And it now offers Boing Boing Video, which was recently highlighted by CNN, and Boing Boing Gadgets. By Comscore’s measure, Boing Boing is among the five most-visited blogs on the web. Technorati’s list of most influential blogs — based on how many other sites link to that blog — puts Boing Boing in the top 5. According to Google, more than 600,000 other sites link to Boing Boing. Forbes voted Boing Boing “best of the web” among tech blogs… blah blah blah.

Sounds pretty good, right? Here are the results:

Ad Type: Text ad
Run Dates: January 26th through February 1st
Impressions: 1,571,483
Clicks: 52
Total Cost: $227.50

That’s a great CPM (seriously), and I’m sure the ‘branding’ from a text ad will last us for years, but 52 clicks at $4.38 per click? Awesome.

So without further ado, here are the top 3 reasons not to advertise on BoingBoing.net:

1. It’s a waste of money.
2. It’s a waste of time.
3. There are hundreds of advertising sources that deliver a better ROI, starting with the obvious Google AdWords, and ending with bathroom graffiti.

It was a lesson well learned, and I just hope this story can help other web publishers/marketers avoid making the same mistake. More tips here.