Earn money for driving your car

You may have heard rumors that you might get paid to drive your car or, in some cases, get a car to use for free. While participation is limited and it takes luck plus living in the right place for a particular campaign, you might get paid to have your car (or a car delivered to you) turned into a moving ad. If you drive 800 miles or more per month along heavily populated routes in your normal driving habits, you may want to check out companies that offer car wraps.

The concept is quite simple. Advertising space on billboards along busy roads and highways is limited and in some places not allowed at all. However, it is possible to reach many of these people in other ways. Companies advertise on the exterior of cars to reach those same people. The problem is that buying an entire fleet of cars for an advertising campaign can be too expensive, so a solution was developed.

Instead of buying their own cars, companies sometimes “rent” space in the cars of private citizens. In exchange for allowing a company to “wrap” your car with their ad, they will pay you a monthly fee. Rates can be as high as $400 per month for a full car wrap and lesser amounts for a partial car wrap or window wrap.

Another option that some of these companies offer instead of car wraps is to give you a free car with ads already included. Typically, you do not get paid in this offer or get to choose the type of car provided, but you do receive free use of the car during the campaign period. Your only costs are gas and insurance, which means you get transportation at a fraction of the cost of owning your own car. There are some rare cases where you can get paid by receiving a free car. Some companies will pay you to drive the cars for free along certain specific routes each day.

So what’s the catch? The main one is that there are many more drivers wanting the positions than there are ad campaigns available. If you don’t drive many miles or live in a highly populated area (large college campuses seem like an ideal spot) where your ad will be seen by a population that advertisers crave, your chances of being chosen are slim. Most companies require that you drive a minimum of 800 miles per month. Not driving enough miles can void the contract and most companies use global positioning systems (GPS) in your car to track the miles and places you visit each month.

Most programs require you to be 18 years of age, have a clean driving record, and have your own auto insurance. In most cases, traffic violations will prevent you from being considered. Contracts vary in duration and amount paid depending on the type of advertising in the campaign in question. Most companies do not allow you to choose the advertiser, but will allow you to withdraw if the advertiser goes against your moral values ​​(cigarettes, alcohol and sex).

With the concept, there are a growing number of websites that do not actually offer the car wrap service, but claim to be a database for advertisers to find people willing to advertise their cars. Many offer free registration, but then encourage you to purchase a “premium package” which is supposed to move your name further up the list. The fact is that you are highly unlikely to be chosen from these services, so it is not worth the time (and definitely not the money either) to sign up with them.

While the chances of being chosen are slim, they are better than playing the lottery. If you qualify and live in an area you think would be desirable to advertisers, it might be worth completing the online forms in 15 to 30 minutes. If you’re lucky and you’re chosen, you’ll significantly reduce your handling costs with little effort on your part.