Telecommuting – that is, work from home instead of a traditional office environment – gives employees the freedom, flexibility and almost infinite pointlessness. It’s no wonder that it is a growing trend.

Some job opportunities at home are more hype than hope, however, and many workers find they are trading in convenience and lower costs for switching gain confidence in the potential jobs and less inferior. (See also: 30 Great Side Gigs)

So before you start fantasizing about a day’s work at home, take a look at some of the worst jobs you can do from home, and that often is not filtered out for remote workers.

1. Mystery Shopping

I admit having done this work myself, over six years. For the university, retired, or foodie who just wants a little “pocket money” student and a free meal from time to time, shopping incognito in exchange for some honest feedback can be fun. Mystery shopping is a hobby more realistic than a real race, however, as assignments pay much less than minimum wage, in many cases, and signing up a steady flow of jobs is exhausting.

For those living in an urban area occupied, it is possible to align paying jobs or to come more often. rural buyers or those with less experience, however, rarely seen more than one job a week for trading company and the payment rate is typically reimbursed for their purchases, plus $ 4.10. (See also: 8 Truths Of Mystery Shopper.)

2. Direct Sales (MLM)

Many of the ads work at home opportunities promise freedom from nine to five, unlimited income potential and the advantages of being your own boss. These same ads, if not mention exactly what they will do, are often the first in many sales pitches for people aboard a multilevel marketing plan. MLM are not new, but the methods used to sell them are. All require some type of purchase in advance (between $ 15 to $ 1,000) and will only pay you when you sell the company’s products or join friends and family to also sell the product.

While there are cases of those who have achieved financial success with MLM, there are many more cases that fail. The pressure to sell all the time, everyone in a market saturated often often brings frustration and tension to the seller. MLM are known to bring success only to those who enroll in the early stages of the company. Often you can tell if a job is a MLM disguised by miscommunication of what will make or sell, along with a reference to a conference call or affiliate for “more information” website.

3. Lead Generation

Many customer service jobs listed on job sites work at home are nothing more than record sales, often obtained by what are called “cold calls”. Telemarketing cold calling is essentially to potential customers who have not previously expressed interest in your product or service. Cold calling is a tough job because people today generally value their privacy and do not want to be contacted on your home phone or cell phone that you ask to buy something. Lead generation is necessary to gain more customers, but the turnover of these positions is high; many companies have found that home workers do the work is more profitable than housing employees in a call center.

You can make money doing this job, although wages vary. Some companies pay a fee for flat time that is competitive with the work of formal telemarketing, and others pay a straight commission (so that they are not paid anything unless you sell or make appointments.) If you have had the experience of telemarketing in the past and has been successful, this work could be for you. For most of those trying to escape the madness, however, it is a difficult task that many people do not want to happen in their own homes.

4. Online payment tasks

Since the invention of Amazon Mechanical Turk, other websites have appeared allowing computer users every day to complete simple, mundane and often repetitive tasks price. These tasks can include everything from verification CAPTCHA characters in a web form for ranking web searches based on the utility. The work to make money this way, however, is often more than people think.

First, the available tasks fluctuate from season to season. Workers who may work odd hours (overnights, for example) often have a better chance of getting the tasks they work when most people are competing for jobs. The tasks are paid out at a rate of only pennies per task, requiring hundreds of tasks to be done before the payment threshold can be met. (Many companies require a minimum of $ 50, for example, obtained before issuing payment.) American workers often compete with international workers with a lower standard of living as well; minimum wage expectations are often not met.

5. Home Daycare Provider

A few years ago, child care at home is considered a profitable company since the initial costs were low. For the housewife, the addition of a child or two to your care that used to be a reasonable way to increase income to the household budget without too much extra stress. As the years have passed, however, increased regulations and zoning laws have made too much of a burden for the typical family even consider. Transport of children, even in a car, often requires liability insurance or license additional driving. Care of even the smallest can justify university or outside school hours credits. Add in the cost of accounting and paying taxes on their own, and not worth for the average person to see in many jurisdictions.

Working from home can be an amazing experience. I’ve been doing for more than seven years, and never regret my decision to leave the cubicle life. But not all jobs work at home are the same, and encourage them to research before jumping headfirst into any telecommuting effort.

Have you ever taken on any of them, or other jobs, work at home and I was disappointed? Please share in the comments.