So I was just brainstorming a bit thinking of ways to earn a little extra without the responsibilities of actual employment, meaning you can do it when there’s time and put it on hold if you have to. Personally I like crafting so I could imagine having something like a little etsy store. I could carve beads from wood, antler or bone and turn them into jewelry. Something like that. That wouldn’t just be a way to make money but also sounds like a nice hobby. Not sure how financially feasible it would be though, maybe someone here already has some experience? But yeah I’d love to hear about your ideas/advice. Anything that’s legal and not exploitative, be it entirely independent or also freelancing stuff that doesn’t require special training.
This is tough without special training or scummy morals
Like you can resell stuff but that’s gross
Crafting is cool but that’s a special skill. I know people that sell crochet, needlepoint, etc
I refurbish electronics but that’s also a special skill, it’s not terribly difficult to learn though and can actually be quite lucrative. Good for the environment too. Buy a switch that someone is just going to throw away, fix it, resell it as refurbished, that kind of thing. This is getting much harder though. Ebay was the primary way to go and they’ve been shifting away from refurbished and used sales a lot over the past few years
I have a friend that does custom artwork for people but that’s a special skill. I have another friend that sells music for people that wants beats but again special skills. Fivver type stuff
Basically a lot of these will be “monetize your hobby”
Huh? So are you for or against reselling?
Fair question, I should’ve expanded. To clarify I think it is helpful and good to divert something that was going to be trashed anyway and resell it for a fair price based on your labor to restore it. I actually think it is important. Most of what I do is stuff that people were literally going to trash and while I do earn a decent amount I sell the stuff for fair prices, usually at least 30-40% off of retail
I think it is scummy to merely act as a middle person that artificially buys up supply and then resells at artificially high values (eg consoles, Pokémon cards, sneakers, etc). Scalping, basically
Yeah that’s totally within the range of what I’m looking for. I meant special training more as in people want to see certificates. I’m fine with investing a little time to teach myself how to do something.
Well then the skies your limit, you just have to get good enough at something.
I could never get good enough at the creative stuff to justify that. I love music and write my own stuff but I’m not nearly good enough for that. It takes me like 2 weeks to write one song. My friend that writes beats will bust one out in like 40 minutes and can basically do whatever. You want reggaeton? Sure
But I buy up broken shit and resell it. You spilled a drink on your macbook? You broke the hdmi/usbc on your console? Your graphics card died? I will swoop in and lowball you since I know you’re gonna throw it away if I don’t buy it. I take on a lot of risk because a lot of things either can’t be fixed or aren’t economically viable to fix but at the same time I also often pay like $1-200 for a ps5 and resell it for $400 refurbished with like 2 hours of work and $10 of parts so it balances out. Graphics cards are the worst ones tbh, the risk:reward is too high. I get a ton that are just fucked and are parts boards but every once in a while I get a repairable one and then it’s a $5-600 profit or more. I won’t pay more than 2-300 for a dead 4090 because they’re often totally fucked