Donating Plasma for Money

[Spartan_Warrior]

Just to clarify, I only started thinking about this as a way to monetize ALL assets, even less obvious or intangible ones such as a healthy body, as a means of supplementing my regular income. I see that as resourceful, not desperation or failure. This is a "making quick money" idea, not a vital part of my financial plan. Regardless, it seems like it's more hassle than it's worth, considering the seedy reputation and all. Speaking of seedy, did someone mention donating sperm as an alternative? (Sorry, had to.)

[guitarplayer]

Here's another reason to donate blood it reduces forever chemicals in your body.

That guardian article is inspired by this study of 3 x 95 Australian firefighters. Spoiler: donating plasma works better than donating blood for reducing forever chemicals (PFASs) from bloodstream, but it might just be that this is because it can be done more often.

I went to donate blood last Sunday and next time I go I will mention that I am keen to move to donating plasma.

*This thread got revived due to another thread on phthalates or plasticisers in food storage. These chemicals are not the same as PFASs and so long I can tell, it cannot be said that donating blood works for ridding of the former. This it would be down to how plasticisers are stored in the body.

** I notice the thread is in the Money and Investment Questions which is maybe not the best place for it to sit, then again all things are connected!

[mathiverse]

Here is a related thread which discusses donating blood and plasma to reduce PFAS in your body and other PFAS mitigation methods: viewtopic.php?t=12195.

This thread is in the money section because the original focus was using plasma donation at for-profit places as another income stream. In some countries, one is paid to donate plasma. In some countries like the UK, you aren't paid. The thread was started before anyone (most people?) were considering plasma donation with a 0th order goal of reducing toxins in their body.

[guitarplayer]

Perfect, thanks @mathiverse! I will amend the post in the plasticisers thread.

[plow_2]

FWIW, the red cross does charge hospitals for blood (they call it cost recovery).
Plasma is used to make factor products (kcentra plus many others), and albumin. I'm sure the drug companies are making quite a bit of money from the products they make from plasma, but those products are absolutely life saving.

[Walwen]

If you're interested in donating Plasma it's worth shopping around in your area for the center with the highest payout and for bonus codes/a buddy bonus. Once you donate with a certain center you're pretty much locked in to that center for 6 months, they don't like people switching between places.
I would never do it for like 20 bucks, because at that point I'd rather just ask someone I know if I can do yardwork or something for 20 bucks.

I got 100 for my first visit, 150 for my second, and 75 for my 3rd and 4th. After that the bonuses stopped so I stopped going until I got the text messages that I qualified for the time-lapsed donor bonuses, and I made 75 dollars the first visit, 50 the second.

Now that I'm currently "fun-employed" I'm going semi-regularly and without the bonuses it's 35 to 45 dollars per visit or at least 60 dollars per week, plus free bottle of gatorade after each visit. I lay with my feet up and watch videos on my phone and I have a sick fasination with all the "thank you for your life saving bodily fluid" messaging on the walls.

It's not a replacement for actually seeing a doctor of course, but I do like how they check my blood pressure, weigh you, basically you get a little check up. I don't feel like it's unhealthy, at least for me. I take a multivitamin and drink a gallon per day and I've never noticed any side effects besides feeling mildly less energetic for maybe 1-3 hours after donation.

[ether]

I used to do it when I was 18 and working part time hours. You got to watch out for collapsed vein syndrome. I then got into sperm donation and it was much more lucrative and enjoyable, but they are much more picky on who they let in.

[Walwen]

You got to watch out for collapsed vein syndrome.

I can't believe I forgot to tell my "horror story!" (Look away if you're squeamish!)

I was sitting in the lobby waiting when someone who had just finished donating left. Now, they tell you "keep that bandage on for two hours" for a REASON. It was clear she took it off as soon as she was outside.... and so just a minute after, she came running back in, no bandage, with blood pouring down her arm! And instead of holding it up, she was basically waving it around at hip level, afraid of her own blood. The nurses took her right back and re-bandaged her and had her sit a while, and another nurse had to come out with big gloves and a face shield to clean up the blood that the woman had gotten allllll over the lobby.

Twice I've also seen first-time donors puke and be ushered away. It's nice that they mark the first-time donors with a big orange folder, because I like to watch for entertainment LOL.

Some people just can't do it. You basically have one shot- if you puke or pass out, you're going to be ineligible for a long long time. So make sure you're otherwise in good health and eating good and drinking lots of water for a full 48 hrs prior.

They gave me two little coupons to skip to the front of the line on my next visits for my trouble, but I always pre-register and get to skip the line anyways. So, the good part of it is all the money, and there's the bad parts of it for you. I've also seen a few people get kinda rowdy when they're denied because some of the people are doing it out of desperation and it becomes a whole thing if they can't get their money.

[sodatrain]

I would love to hear from people currently donating plasma. I was looking into it recently (in Minnesota) and the main options all felt scam-y. They payouts information being obtuse, it seems there is this weird point system, the "pay" goes to some sort of rewards card that has mysterious terms and ways it can be used. Reports of needing to use some flaky mobile app etc. Felt like an overly complicated system to take advantage of people really struggling for money. I looked at the two main companies doing it in the area. Seemed like a hell no option pretty quickly.

Is anyone doing this and finding similar BS?

[Scott 2]

I looked into this and decided against it. My interest was in the removal of microplastics from blood, rather than the money.


There's basically two takers:

1. Drug companies, maxing profits. They are who pay. It is a little slimy. But there is also a need for the products they output. The games are to keep people coming back, maximizing their supply stream.

2. Donation centers, doing the stuff we like to think is happening with it. Little money in helping them. Maybe some loyalty rewards swag.


The donor experience isn't necessarily better in one vs. the other. The drug companies have more money and incentive. They want you to return. But they're also going to draw people in financial need, and have strong profit maximizing motives.

What ultimately put me off, was concern over possible vein scarring and the possible time commitment. Drive to / from, sit for at least an hour, opportunity cost of feeling run down afterwards. I didn't want to lose the half day I figured it would take me. The phlebotomists also are not necessarily the cream of the crop. From what I read, it's a good place to get started in the field.

My expectation is limited respect for people's time, especially at the drug company centers. I have no first hand experience, but it'd be typical of such an arrangement. An expected hour could turn into several.

[black_son_of_gray]

There might be non-monetary benefits to doing something like this.

My SO has done some blood donation in the last couple years. She did it just to do something nice (so, no money), but did get an unexpected benefit out of it: the company that collects the donation runs a quick test on your blood to see if you are disqualified from donating, and that's one way that she was able to confirm suspected anemia and to see how her iron supplementation was impacting her blood ferritin levels. Basically, a couple of times a year she is able to get free blood tests to check this and make sure she is in the healthy range. If it is low, the company won't let her donate.

The irony is that her own doctors don't like to check for iron status when doing a standard blood test, or, when it is actually low, they have in the past said "it's nothing to worry about" or "take a multivitamin if you want". In order to donate blood, she started taking a iron supplement, which quickly alleviated longstanding symptoms she didn't realize were from low iron (cold hands and feet, shortness of breath/tightness during intense exercise, etc.).

Would occasional donating be a free/cheaper way to get more frequent, basic blood tests for someone that wants to monitor a metric?