My First Online Part-Time Job Experience

Recently, online part-time jobs have become very popular. In simpler terms, this means earning money through the internet. I often receive QQ messages claiming you can earn 150 yuan a day from part-time work. Whether these are reliable or just scams, true online earning is not that easy.

In June 2012, the day I finished my college entrance exam, I spent my days idly surfing the internet while waiting for my results. At that time, I knew nothing about online earning. Later, a friend told me he used to earn 1,000 yuan a month as a Taobao affiliate. This sparked my interest immediately. However, I learned that the methods for doing Taobao affiliate marketing now are different from before, and for a beginner like me, the income would likely not be easy to achieve (though I do regret not learning more from this friend about Taobao affiliates). So, were there no other platforms to earn money?

Unintentionally, a netizen told me I could earn some pocket money through Taobao brushing. It wasn't as amazing as some claimed, where you could earn hundreds a day just by brushing, though there might be a few crazy exceptions. So-called brushing involves fake chats, fake orders, and fake shipping to boost sales, reputation, and reviews for Taobao and Tmall stores. Before contacting brushing, I always trusted Taobao and Tmall. After getting involved in brushing, I began to doubt whether everything I bought was genuine.

I joined a YY guild at the time; I can't remember the specific name. I paid a membership fee of 40 yuan. During brushing sessions, the host would notify members to queue up. Honestly, the requirements were quite numerous: browsing a certain number of items on a store, staying on the page for a specific duration, favoriting items, favoriting the store, sharing, chatting with the seller, and finally, paying via red packet and fake shipping.

Initially, I was quite interested. However, the more I did it, the more I realized this income was barely enough to cover internet fees, and it wasted a lot of time (waiting in line took a long time, not including the ordering process). It might also be that I wasn't doing it well enough (I admit a small minority did make money this way). There were also restrictions on how many orders a Taobao account could make per month. If you only had one Taobao account, you probably wouldn't earn much. I continued for over a month, just enough to recover the membership fee, and then I quit.

The only takeaway from this experience was a re-evaluation of Tmall and Taobao. I realized there was such a gray industry. Every time I shopped, I wondered if these sales and reviews were all brushed. Also, doing this gave me a basic understanding of SEO (since the guild host would tell you how to post to attract members and give you a commission). However, after over a month, it was extremely time-consuming and completely disproportionate to the income. It was a loss, so I chose to quit.

This was my first online part-time job experience, or rather, my experience with online earning. I hope this provides a reference for those planning to do this. Additionally, internet fraud methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated, so please be extremely cautious. Remember: never brush virtual items; this is a lesson learned.