I do this when I can for extra cash, I also do freelance and an etsy store, but plasma money still helps. Here is my beef(s) with it:
- Amount paid weekly is stacked to the 2nd donation. So, you generally get $50 for one visit, then $65 or $75 (depending on the specials...yay) for the second. If you don't make your second appointment, you are screwing yourself because...
- The visits take awhile. Even with new machines that UNCOMFORTABILY suck the blood out of you to get the plasma, you are looking at 90-120 minutes in there. That's not counting time to get to the center (nearest one is 20 mins away from where I live). That is a huge time suck and
- It freaking hurts. I don't blame the staff, but they are trying to stick as many people as quickly as possible. This is not like a regular blood donation where it is a few minutes. Your donation time is about 45-60 minutes. A bad stick will lead to a decreased amount of blood per draw, plus pain. Often, the solution to a bad stick is to just tap the other arm, which then means you have to find a fresh vein the next time you go that week and -You are wiped out after. I am pretty exhausted and hungry after I do this. So, you should probably eat some decent food to compensate, but that costs money. The money you just spent 2-3 hours getting by selling plasma, so you sometimes eat something cheap and feel worse.
I have noticed more and more people donating in the past few years as shit gets worse. With more people doing it, centers can offer less per person because "who gives a fuck?" I know what they take out of me is worth a lot more than what they give me...so it is just a bleak and shitty situation while you are doing it...but hey, money, right?
It’s pretty funny that a complete capture of power across all 3 branches and lockstep fealty and they still cannot get over people being like “nah slavery was bad”