Sell yourself in pieces and make money

Sale of corpses has been quite frequent occurrence back in the days.

Once upon a time, a man was short of money. He urgently needed a few bucks to “treat” his hangover. Since he had already drunk away all of his possessions, he had nothing better to sell than…his own skeleton. At first, he went straight to a nearest medical academy hoping to be rewarded for his future remains to come. However, his offer was denied. Then, the drunkard addressed his neighbor with the same request. She agreed, interestingly enough. In the end, the man’s skeleton was sold (rather bequeathed) to the woman for a mere bottle of liquor. Both parties had to sign an appropriate agreement according to which the man reserved a right to “keep” his remains in case he exceeds the amount of years indicated. Why the woman needed her neighbor's skeleton remains a mystery. Perhaps, for further resale…

The story took place not so long ago. Somehow, it made me remember the old times. Rumor has it that such sale of corpses has been quite frequent occurrence back in the days. Presumably, one corpse was worth 100-150 rubles. Many students, who suffered from chronic lack of money, liked the idea a lot.

Some of my doctor friends describe the times (rather rare) when doctors themselves used to write wills asking to donate their bodies for medical research.
In this article, we will tell you how to get paid without getting hurt!

Bloody business

Blood donors used to give their blood for free in times of the former Soviet Union. However, donors were entitled to have certain benefits, such as some time off work, food and even free transportation. On top of it all, every donor could receive the title of “Honorary donor.” Since then, the situation has changed drastically.  A total number of donors in Russia has decreased in half for the past 15 years.

The first time a price for blood donors was introduced was in early 90s. This  was done due to an emergency situation.

Price for single “donor's portion” (450 milliliters of blood) varies in different regions across Russia. The difference however is rather significant. Before one can qualify as a paid donor, the person has to show up at one of the donor centers, give blood, receive a stamp to undergo medical examination at his local clinic. Any healthy human being can qualify as a donor. However even mild cold imposes a ban on blood giving. There is also age limit in this donor activity: women—up to 45, men—up to 50.

Oftentimes, people with relatively low income become “professional donors.” Those are mainly students, housewives, soldiers.

Sperm bank

Another strictly man's way to earn a few extra bucks is to become a sperm donor. However, one’s desire is not enough. The person has to be young and healthy. A potential sperm donor has to fit the following requirements: he has to be between 20 and 40 years of age, have no physical abnormalities (i.e. normal looks, no hereditary illnesses). Potential donors also have to go a series of examinations with a urologist, a therapist, a psychiatrist, determine his blood type, and others.

In addition, doctors pay attention to the actual peculiarities of the sperm:  ejaculation portion (it has to exceed 1 ml), amount of spermatozoids (more than 80 million per 1 ml of ejaculation), most importantly, the sperm has to “endure” freezing and has to preserve all of its characteristics after defrosting.

One is also required to pay 800-1500 rubles for sperm analysis.

Once you've tested negative for all illnesses and your sperm proved to be “ok”, you can begin your “work”. On average, the work of a sperm donor pays 150-200 (in province), 1500 rubles in Moscow. At the same time, some say there are certain private clinics that pay up to $100! Per “session”. In western countries, professional masturbators are paid $200-300, but not everywhere. In Finland however, the donor does not receive any money at all; he gets moral satisfaction instead. One should also take into account that he has to refrain from sexual activity for 3-5 days before donating his semen.

Hairy happiness

Finally, one can get paid for something not quite as valuable, especially in summer: for hair! This is mainly women's business. The longer the hair, the more you get paid, simple. Aside from length and thickness, the price also depends on the overall quality of hair. Women with grey hair as well as those who tend to dye their hair quite often are paid 10% less.

Hair of traditional Slavic ladies tends to be most valuable, since Asian women have more coarse hair. Hair has to be no shorter than 20 cm. On average, 1 kg of hair costs 1000 rubles ($30), 50 cm – 1800 rubles.

In the West, wigs made of natural hair cost several thousands dollars. They are all hand-made and the entire process is rather lengthy. Wig production in our country is not that developed yet. However, judging by the amount of advertising these days, things seem to improve.

Vadim Samokatov