It sounds like a dream: Just place an advertisement on your vehicle and get paid for driving around! Who wouldn’t want to do that?!
Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple.
Although there are a few legitimate companies that will pay you for car advertising, there are many scammers out there who want to take your money.
Watch out for car advertising scams.
Car advertising scams trick you into paying money to advertise another company. They get your money and they get free advertising. It’s a win-win for them and a lose-lose for you.
If you’re interested in making money with a car advertising program, you need to learn how to separate the scammers from the legitimate companies.
Fortunately, most scammers make the same basic mistakes.
You should never pay upfront.
If you are required to pay for the opportunity or the decal, then you’re most likely dealing with a scammer. Never pay in advance for the decal, even if they promise to repay you for the expense later.
Do not accept a check. It’s a common for scammers to intentionally send a bad check for more than the expected amount, and then ask you to send a refund or wire the money to another vendor. The check will bounce after you’ve sent the extra money, and you will have lost it all with no chance of getting the money back. Don’t do this! If the company was legit, they would pay the vendor themselves and you would not need to be a middleman in the process.
Pay attention to the terms.
Some companies will only pay you if they can track someone back to your unique advertisement. Often, this means that someone must call a specific number or visit a specific link after seeing your ad. Most people aren’t going to take that action, so you aren’t likely to get paid.
Be suspicious and verify everything.
If a deal sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Don’t trust companies that contact you out of the blue. Don’t trust companies who say they’re going to pay you exorbitant amounts of money without verifying your mileage or even checking if the sticker is on your vehicle.
Before you agree to anything, always verify the company’s reputation online. Visit the Better Business Bureau and check the company’s social media pages for reviews from other drivers.
There are some trustworthy car advertising companies.
There are countless local companies that offer this service, so it doesn’t make sense to attempt a list of every legitimate company. However, we’ve found a few larger providers that we trust.
Carvertise
Carvertise has been operational since 2012. They had their first million-dollar revenue year in 2016.
When you apply for Carvertise, you will fill out an application. They’ll use that information to match you with a brand that is interested. Of course, you’ll have the right to accept or decline any campaign.
Once they find the right campaign, they’ll wrap your car with either a partial wrap or a full wrap. At the end of the campaign, they’ll unwrap your car as well. All of this is done at no charge to you whatsoever.
According to the Carvertise website, “Carvertise will never ask for money from our drivers and we will never ask you to write a check to anyone. Secondly, so you can be sure that you are speaking with a real Carvertise representative, we will only ever contact you from an @carvertise.com email address.”
In the meantime, you’ll earn $100-$200 per month! There may be opportunities to earn an additional $30 per hour or so by parking your car at certain places at certain times. The average campaign pays $300 – $1,200 in total.
However, in order to drive for Carvertise, you must meet the following requirements:
- You must have a clean driving record
- You must drive at least 30 miles per day.
- Your vehicle must be a 2008 or newer vehicle.
- The vehicle must have a factory-finish paint job.
- You must live in one of their participating cities.
- Boston, MA
- Chicago, IL
- Dallas, TX
- Los Angeles, CA
- New York City, NY
- Philadelphia, PA
- Wilmington, DE
Nickelytics
Nickelytics also pays to wrap the vehicle. They offer three options: a back windshield wrap, light wrap or full wrap.
In exchange, they pay up to $500 per month!
In order to drive for Nickelytics, you must meet the following requirements:
- You must have a valid driver’s license.
- You must own, rent or lease a car that is 2010 or newer.
- You must work for a qualifying ride share company, such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash or Postmates.
- You must drive a minimum of 30 miles per day, 150 miles per week or and 900 miles per month.
- You must drive in one of Nickelytics’ target markets for the majority of that time.
Although the Nickelytics website claims that ride share companies are completely okay with this, it appears that some ride share companies have rules against this kind of advertising. Be very careful if you choose to pursue this.
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Nicole Thelin
Nicole is the founder and lead researcher of Low Income Relief. After a personal experience with poverty and homelessness following her husband's sudden medical discharge from the U.S. Army, Nicole discovered the life-changing impact of community resources. This experience ignited her passion for empowering others to navigate similar crises. Nicole launched her writing career at age 16, working for various newspapers and publications. Her commitment to in-depth research and accessible content has been recognized by Google for Publishers and other industry leaders. For over 20 years, she has applied her investigative skills to uncover the most helpful, up-to-date information on benefits programs and community resources, ensuring Low Income Relief maintains the most extensive resource databases available.