ouch that sounds scary to be mailing out and expecting commission income from reply....ouch ouch ouch....

I am a former teacher and I am self employed as a driving instructor from my home....but it is perfect match for me....not for everyone out there....and somewhat depends on what state you live in as to what it takes to be driving instructor....but for me it is a huge huge self employment position that I live to love and love to live in.....

if you will go back thru this groups threads back maybe year or so I am sure you will find some of this stuff being discussed by others here....there are some opportunities discussed that I see as good potentials....but it means scanning back back back thru page after page after page of this groups threads and reading headlines to find out which ones are discussing home employment opportunities...well worth the time you invest in doing it though cause I saw something worth while that I told a friend about....it was writing in some capacity.....anyway if you want to scan back please let us know by bumping it up to top when you find those threads...ok thanks....hugs bill

Thanks, Bill. It is a risk. But I'll probably know in a few weeks whether I have a good opportunity or I've been a victim.

I have a bad feeling about Preston Lord Enterprises.
But I hope I'm wrong!!!!

I didn't even know that they still HAD 'envelope stuffing scams'.
Back before the advent of computers, they were rather common.
And I've yet to hear of one that was legit.

As a general rule of thumb, don't join up with any place that wants you to pay money up front. Or money at all.
For the most part, they are all scams.

I had never heard of the place you've joined, but I did a search on their name, along with the word 'complaints'
And a whole lot of bad stuff came up.

I have listened to Kim Komando (the self-proclaimed digital goddess, LOL!) on the radio for years now. Her show is nationwide.
It's a show that focuses on computers, the Internet, electronic gadgets, mobile phones, etc.
I looked at her site, just for some general info on legit online jobs and here's what she said, in part:

"A warning

Work-from-home scams abound online. Research any opportunity diligently. Be especially wary of get-rich-quick offers.

Check companies at the Better Business Bureau and on Google. Enter the company name along with scam. This can alert you to others bad experiences."

I did that with the place you mention and as I say, a lot of bad stuff came up.

Then I did it with a place my daughter has told me about -- Hubpages.com .
My daughter had researched it enough to convince her that it isn't a scam and she's pretty sharp.
(She hasn't, however, made any money off it. She has only written a couple of articles and not yet had any accepted. She thinks that people who put up a picture with their article do better and she intends to try that.)

Anyway, just to compare that to Preston Lord Enterprises, I did a search on 'Hubpages'+'scam'.

Stuff DID show up.
But the complaints were about much different things than on PLE.
People had hubpage articles published, but then complained about them being 'unpublished'. (I assume that means they were taken down.)
They were often given reasons why their material was removed and they disagreed with what they were told.
They never invested any money in it, but felt that they were being denied the chance to earn money that shouldn't have been denied.

I'm not saying that means that Hubpages is (or is not) a stand up company.

But the complaints about PLE (your place) were almost all about having paid money up front and then never hearing from them again. And of trying to reach someone in power at the place and not being able to speak with anyone who could tell them anything.

Then I tried a search on a place that I've been using since the end of November.
Swagbucks.com
It's not a job.
You 'earn' swagbucks by doing various things.
When you amass enough swagbucks, you can use them to 'buy' gift cards (or at least that's what *I* do with them.)
I don't make a lot, but judging by what I've done so far, it looks like I'll make about $85/month.

I've redeemed $246 in Amazon.com gift cards, so far.
And have submitted for maybe $25 or $30 more, which will take about a week to reach me.

I'm not getting rich, but as far as I can tell, it's legit.
And I did a fair amount of research on it before joining and never read anything about it being a scam.
But I never searched for it along with the word 'scam'.

So now I did.

And IT came up with complaints!!
However, once again, the KINDS of complaints that popped up were much different than the kind that Preston Lord Enterprises gets!!
And because when you join Swagbucks, it behooves you to frequently check in to their Facebook page, I'm already familiar with the complaints, because when people aren't happy with them, they post it on there.

I'll tell you a couple of the main ones, in case you ever think of trying it.
The main thing I would worry about is my computer starting to run slow because of malware and adware.
I have seen people complain about that, more than a couple of times.
I, myself, have not experienced that.
I've got a LOT of anti-malware/anti-adware on my computer.
Plus, I always use Adblock Plus.

Another major complaint I've seen (and which came up in the search) was people saying their account had been deactivated because Swagbucks accused them of being 'robots' and cheating to get 'bucks'.
Don't know how many times that happens.
I think I've seen people complain on Facebook about that happening on 2 occasions, in the 2 1/2 months that I've been on there.

And then people gripe because they take surveys that don't pay off or get a lot of info from them and then tell them they don't qualify.

I learned fast not to waste my time on the surveys.

I don't know if you have tried to take any surveys online, but you and I are in about the same boat. 'Old' and 'poor'!!
Whether it's because of just one or the other or because of both, most of the time that I try to take a survey it tells me pretty quickly that I don't qualify.

I think you should do a lot more research on any place that you're considering.

I would have linked to Kim's column, but it's from 2010.

I just did something else, though.
I searched

"work from home"+"legitimate"

A lot of stuff came up.
I didn't look at any of them but if I were looking for legit possibilities, I would look at a whole bunch of those links and see which places keep popping up again and again as being on the up and up.

AND search it with 'scam' to see what it says!!

Have you ever considered selling stuff on Etsy?
If you have nothing to sell, are you 'crafty' at all?
I know 3 different people who make jewelry and sell it online and at least claim to be doing rather well!!

I hope your current effort pays off and that it isn't a scam!!!

I wish you all the luck in the world!!!
(((((Hugs)))))

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your lengthy response! I'm sure it will benefit a lot of people.

The offer from Preston Lord came through the mail. When I Googled it, I saw he offers 2 programs. One is envelope stuffing and the other involves assembling booklets. Most of the complaints involved the booklet assembly.

Well, I sent in my money and now will see if I get the supplies I was promised. What scares me is that on a commission basis, either very few people will buy, and also that I am totally dependent on Preston Lord's honesty in him sending me the commission!

They are not a part of the Better Business Bureau and have had complaints against them that have been resolved. Make sure that any place you plan to do business with that you check out with the BBB first. Do you have something in writing about the refund of the money you sent them and if they will definitely refund it to you, under what circumstances and when?

BBB has under them to be very careful.

Also most companies have machines that stuff envelopes.

Hi, I don't know if this will fit your needs or not, but I thought I'd mention it. ( I"ve talked about it in other places) . My daughter works from home for a company called "O Desk" . This company matches up your abilities with needs other companies have. Amy, my daughter is a gifted writer and has worked with O D for about 5 years. She started out editing blogs and such that people wanted to post on the internet. She checked for grammar, etc- especially if the writer was from China . She had to refuse many blogs because of poor grammar, etc.

Now she works as a free lance writer for several hospital/medical people. They will tell her to research something ( she knows everything there is to know about vericose veins , as well as bipolar disorder ) , then write a blog about the subject. They usually want her to write in such a way that the person reading will "come back next week" for another installment. Amy is pregnant now, and has had to cut back her working. She said "I don't mind giving him up, but I'll never stop working for -- because she pays the big bucks". ( Amy is in high demand) .

As I said , I don't know if this is anything you would be intested in, but I do know it's reputable and not a scam. Good luck! - H.

I do work from home, but my situation probably isn't applicable to others. I opened a small business, which is like professional full-time freelance, from home and last year I rebounded after a dip during the recession. Praise the Lord.

But, one thing I have found that I wish I had time to do, is make and sell basic creative items from home. Like, if you are at all artistic, custom portraits of people or pets from their photos. Creatively stitched scarves that are very unique, stamped fabric from something literary, shaped into a trendy form, jewelry made from people's handwriting, things like that.
If you like to write, you might find a small income in spec writing and reporting or copyediting. I know I have tried to find reliable, quality proofreaders and copy editors, only to find I have to do it myself at the last minute.
Having been my own boss for 14 years, my best advice, it to find something that interests you, say reviewing movies, or sketching, or etching glass ... whatever, and find a way to sell it to someone in a niche. Etsy is definitely good and if you can get a magazine to mention your name, you may just have more orders than you could fill.
I know this isn't at all related to Preston Lord, but these are all things that you can do seated, on your own time/pace, based upon your own passions. Good luck!

To answer someone's question of "do you have it in writing that they will refund (reimburse) the initial fee, and when, and under what circumstances?"

Yes, it is in writing (for whatever that's worth!) They claim they will refund the initial fee with your 9th paycheck.