The Sullivan Family

Coming to a Barnes & Noble Near You?

Well, yesterday I donated plasma for the first time. As you can see in the picture above, I got paid handsomely ($40) for my charitable donation – it felt great to “give back” to society. Donating plasma was an interesting experience to say the least – let’s just say that plasma centers attract people from many walks of life. Before donating plasma yesterday, I assumed that the reason you had to be 18 years of age to donate was to prevent impoverished or greedy parents from encouraging or even forcing their children to donate. However, after about 20 minutes in the waiting room I started to think that maybe the minimum age requirement was due to the ‘R-rated’ conversation that occurs within the plasma center. I heard about 5 F-bombs and several other noteworthy swears.

One of my favorite quotes came from a lady in her thirties who, upon finding out that because her plasma contained the measles antibody she’d receive an additional $7 premium for her donation, exclaimed, “Give me that extra seven dollars! That’s a pack of cigarettes.” In overhearing another conversation, I heard a guy turn to his buddy and inquire, “Do you know when they’re going to open that liquor store on Redwood? I’ve heard that’s going to be a big a** liquor store!”

Hopefully you’re starting to get a feel for the cultural experience awaiting you at the plasma center nearest to your home.

Anyway, the profitability of this donation got me to thinking. You see, a healthy individual can donate two times in a 7-day period. The first two donations pay $40 and subsequent donations pay an average of $32.50 (the compensation alternates between $35 and $30 for each donation). I can make $260/month! That’s not exactly a fortune, but it’s money that I wouldn’t have had otherwise – money that could all be saved, invested, and over time compounded.

Now, if what I’m about to tell you has an ambiguous tone that could make you uncertain as to whether I’m joking or serious it is because even I am not 100% sure as to whether or not I’m kidding, but I have a book idea. The working title for my inspirational book is…The Vein Millionaire: How I Made $1 Million by Donating Plasma. As you might well guess, the premise of the book is about how over a long period of time (say 30 years) I was able to take proceeds from plasma donation, invest them, and make million(s). I know it sounds somewhat ridiculous, but I also think that I could document some of my conversations with fellow donors along the way and contrast their use of the proceeds (buying cigarettes) with my use of the earnings (investing in common stocks – that’s my primary investing interest) and show the corresponding results of these differing manners of consumption. Of course, the book will only be successful to the extent that I make savvy investments that produce desirable results.

Another interesting angle that the book could cover is the fact that even if you don’t want to bleed for some extra cash, we can all find a little extra “plasma” money whether it be in the form of cutting unnecessary expenses or not clocking out quite so early. Anyway, let me know what you think about my book idea. Even though I think it could make for an interesting read I’m not sure I have the stick-to-it-iveness to actually donate plasma twice a week for 30 years. Furthermore, I’m not sure it even financially makes sense because I could probably achieve better compensation for my time by staying an extra 30 minutes at the office. But, it would make for an interesting story and I would be donating plasma all the while. A fortune made by donating plasma has certain perks after all; you don’t have to give back to society because you already have!

In case I have inspired any of you to become a donor, I thought you might find it helpful to know about some of the possible side effects of plasma donation, here goes:

-lightheadedness
-fainting or loss of consciousness
-nausea
-vomiting
-convulsions
-tingling of the lips and fingers
-pink or red urine (my personal favorite)
-inflammation of the needle puncture site

Happy donating!

Posted by Landon