Home assembly and envelope stuffing work-at-home jobs seem to be in high demand. Hundreds, if not thousands, browse the Internet hoping to find something they could conveniently do from home. I was one of the searchers, too. My results are: once scammed, twice disappointed.

I will first address the envelope stuffing scam. Yes, it is a scam; various versions of it are being advertised both on the Internet and in newspaper ads. The truth is that with the lightning-speed envelope stuffing machines available today, no one needs a human stuffer. What they offer you to do is to place ads, similar to theirs, and to lure more trusting folks like yourself to pay for the "information package" on stuffing envelops. It's a pyramid scheme. Do not fall for it.

As to assembly jobs, there may be some legitimate options out there, but even if you manage to find them it is rarely worth the effort. From my experience, companies that actually do send you something to work on have considerable drawbacks in their system. The drawbacks are:

1. Low pay. Even if you do get to the point of actually being paid for your work, the pay is miserable. You would have to slave day and night in order to earn something worth mentioning.

2. Taking too long to review the completed work. You have done your stuff and mailed in. Weeks go by, weeks turn into months, and you do not hear back. You call and leave messages, and if you are lucky to speak to a live customer service rep they can’t do much except telling you that your items are still under review.

3. Having impossibly high quality standards. You do your best to follow the guidelines, yet your completed work is judged not good enough and returned. Sometimes it is returned for corrections; other times it is returned, period.

The system seems to be calculated to make you give up and quit, letting go of the “deposit” that you pay when you register with them and will supposedly get back as you complete your work.

One company I have found sends you materials to make small items for doll house furniture (after you pay the deposit money, of course). First, you complete one trial item and send it in for evaluation. I did – and I waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, my trial sample was returned with a comment that I should improve a certain element, but basically the sample is okay. After completing the whole set, I had mailed it to the company. Then I waited and called them, called them and waited. Months (!) later, my set was returned with the request to repackage each item. Un-staple, put into a different bag, and staple again. The items themselves were fine. I did the repackaging and mailed the set back; then it had been several months of calling and waiting, calling and waiting again.

I would not say it’s a scam (although I have seen many frustrated people calling it so on different forums and message boards); the company does not refuse to pay, they do communicate over the phone, and do take steps, albeit terribly slow ones, to complete the process. I have also seen testimonies of people actually getting paid by them. However, with their system being so flawed, I would not call it a good and reliable work at home business opportunity.

One excellent resource I would recommend to those who are interested in finding legitimate work at home is visiting message boards at WAHM.com (WAHM stands for Work At Home Moms). You will find discussions dedicated to specific companies, with people sharing their experiences. This will help to weed out scams. You can also check whether a specific work at home company is legit by running it through RipOffReport.com and BBB.org (Better Business Bureau).