Drink water beforehand. Take a baby aspirin if you can take aspirin. It thins the blood and makes the process faster. Alcohol consumption makes it take longer. Iron levels are important, as too low will get you deferred for the day.

Typically the first few donations are 'worth it' compared to afterwards. I Think most places offer some sort of bonus for the first few donations. Twice weekly is max for my area, though I'm sure it's similar everywhere, plasma takes time to come back up.

Big ass holes in your arms. The needles aren't small. If you're squeamish about needles, consider passing. I quit donating plasma over a decade ago and still have scars from repeated needle sticks. If you are not comfortable w someone seeing them and possibly assuming you use, consider skipping. Full blood work up for communicable diseases and drugs harder than weed where I reside, ymmv.

it's pretty chill ime but absolutely do not skimp on the preparation, you want to go through like a gallon of water over the day of + day before and have some ready for afterwards too, or you risk some dizziness/nausea near the end of the session at best, and potentially passing out if you're really dehydrated

If you're life is stable enough that you can get decent meals before and after as well as decent sleep, its probably not too bad in the short term. Low fat food with high protein. If your blood check shows too much fat you won't be able to donate.

The anti-coagulant can make your lips tingle/go numb (usually not that big of a deal) while you're being drained. If you find that the tingling/numbness last longer than the procedure, over the counter antacids should reverse the anti-coag agent.

Having light skin and visible veins can make it easier for the technicians to successfully stick the needle in your arm correctly.

If anything feels wrong during the stick, let the tech know ASAP. You might not (probably won't) get paid unless the procedure completes, even when its the techs fault for sticking you wrong. So its best to have them try to reset the needle to be as comfortable for you as possible since you're stuck in one spot for at least an hour.

I usually felt like shit for the rest of the day after donating. I really needed to eat and sleep immediately afterwards but I also had an hour drive to get there and was in town to do grocery shopping, so couldn't.

I did it for about a year during the height of COVID until I kept getting repeatedly kicked for having one thing or another off with my blood. Unsure if there was actually something off with me or the plasma center had too many people wanting to donate and needed to keep the numbers down.

Make sure you get plenty of water, square nutritious meals, and ample sleep for the 24 hours leading up to it. If you're in starvation mode or have low blood pressure or anything is out of balance, it might complicate things.

You will be standing in line (sitting if you're lucky) for a while, and you will be flexing your muscles several times a minute with a needle sticking into your arm (while reclined), while keeping with a set of instructions. The whole thing will take 1 hour at the shortest, excluding travel. So it is certainly labor, but it will deplete your body more than labor does because you are losing maybe 1 or 2 days' worth of biochemical synthesis, and it increases the load on your cells to make up for it.

You may be able to make $200 or $300 for your first however-many donations in a 3-month or 6-month span. I wouldn't do more than that. Any more frequently will lower how much they pay you per donation, and you don't need to devalue your body/time by taking anything less than the best deal possible. Personally, if I was given the choice between working longer hours, taking on a second job, living on rice and beans, and giving plasma, plasma would be my least preferred option. YMMV though, every body is different. I would recommend going and doing it once, so you can either say "been there, done that" or you can see if it fits into a short- or mid-term financial strategy.

I've known plenty of people to do it, some of them do it for weed money or financial breathing room. I've even known people with fulltime jobs that do it every so often. I've never known anybody to do it consistently enough to pay rent or anything.