People Share The Ways They Make Money On The Side

Have you ever thought about taking on a side-gig to make a little extra money here and there? It’d be great to have some money to spend on a more extravagant vacation, a few new gadgets, or even to throw into your retirement account. But, what would your ideal side job even look like? What would it be, and who might you market it to?

You could mow lawns, sell used tools, or make a craft to sell online. You might even be able to turn your absolute favorite hobby or special talent into a pretty lucrative money maker – some could even find themselves in a whole new career. If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are some of the things people do to make money on the side…

Hot Tub Delivery

My dad and I deliver hot tubs for a small pool company. We have a special trailer that makes it super easy. People buy these $6,000+ hot tubs that weigh upwards of 1,000 lbs, and then realize they can’t drive it home themselves. That’s when we come in and charge $200 for an easy one, or $300 if it has to go on its side.

We also remove people’s old hot tubs. They usually think it’s beyond repair, so they pay us to get rid of it. We then fix it and resell it if it’s worth it. Occasionally, there’ll be a few that we can’t fix, so we scrap it for parts and still make a little money off of it. It’s become quite the money-maker. Reddit user: kzg5126

Used Car Salesman

I buy cars that have repairable issues at auction or from private sellers. Cars that are dirt cheap, basically. I fix them up, clean them up, and get them running like they just drove off the lot. Then I sell them for much more than I paid and invested in parts. I flip like two or three a month sometimes.

I’ve made over $1,000 in profit on more than one occasion. Once, I made like $3,000, but I got a ridiculous deal on the original purchase. I hit up police auctions, look through Craigslist, and even the classifieds in the newspaper. It can take a little bit of time to find the right car, but I know what I’m looking for, and if it’ll be worth it to buy one. Reddit user: DO_NOT_GILD_ME

Ad-Hoc Landlord

When I was younger, I’d rent an apartment or house that was bigger than I needed – typically a three or four bedroom place. I’d use one of the smaller rooms and rent the rest out. Just to be clear: I’d get permission from the landlord to sublet the rooms, and would have tenants sign a month-to-month lease. It protected them – and it protected me, in case they didn’t work out.

In almost every case, the rent from the extra rooms covered the rent for the apartment or house, and sometimes put extra cash in my pocket. As I got older, I rented larger places until I bought my own house. For example: I rented a five bedroom house with three bedrooms upstairs plus two baths; two bedrooms downstairs, plus one really big den/playroom, and a large bathroom which tenants shared.

We shared the kitchen, and had two fridges. I eventually bought this house, and the mortgage was $1,650. I rented out the three downstairs rooms for $500, $500, and $900, for a total of $1,900/mo. That was a $250/mo profit, and we lived in the three upstairs bedrooms for free. Reddit user: Jessie_James

Making Dreams Come True

I make films for children’s parties. I’m almost always given a particular theme (Star Wars was the last one, and the most popular) by rich parents who just want to distract their children for an afternoon. So, they pay me to make a film starring their kid and said kids’ friends. It’s always good fun. I’ve come across a few kids who could have a great career in acting.

The kids love it, the parents can relax while I do all the work with another person, and they get a cool little seven to 10 minute film at the end of it all, making their kid look like a Jedi Knight or a mini James Bond. One day I’d like to start being able to offer it to less-well-off families at a discount. Those kids deserve to have memories like that, too. Reddit user: falkous

Party Princess

I’m a party princess. I dress up as Disney princesses (with minor alterations and such to avoid getting a cease-and-desist letter from Disney), and entertain kids at parties. You kind of have to be at least a little good with kids, have activities planned, and know your character inside and out. I love Disney, so it works out.

But yeah, I’m basically a group of children’s new idol for an hour or two, and I make $50 to $70 an hour. It’s pretty cool. I also go to yard sales, buy stuff that will sell – shoes, accessories, antiques – and sell it on eBay. That brings in anywhere from $100 to $600 a week. A lot of people in my family think it’s weird, but it more than pays the bills. Reddit user: [redacted]

Under The Sea

I grow saltwater coral/anemones and raise the occasional fish. The fish, themselves, don’t usually bring in very much money. The coral, though, is a huge seller. There are so many people in the hobby and most already know how much they’ll be expecting to pay, so I’ve never had a problem with selling anything or pricing. Overall, it’s a lot of fun.

I’m constantly selling “clean” excess water from my tank to others who’re just starting or messed up and want to replace their water with good, “healthy” water. After six months to six years the return on coral and anemones is ridiculous. Plus, I sell live rock and everything else… I can make an easy $1,500 to $2,500 a month on the side for not a lot of work, so long as the nutrients in my tanks are on point. Reddit user: jefeperro

Accidental Business Owner

I tutor business calculus students in college. I have no degree at all, but I took the class once and sat through it another time just to have a better grasp on it. Business calc is usually a course business majors have to take, and most of them are not overly confident in mathematics. I mean, not many people are, to be honest. I wasn’t.

So, I work with business majors and I charge $40 an hour at a minimum of two hours. I have at least two students a night. It started as a way to make side money and now it’s all I do. I make about $900 a week, give or take. I never really thought I’d end up as a business owner, but that’s just sort of how it turned out. Reddit user: GrimWeepa

Candy Subscription

I offer a subscription service for Japanese candy to people abroad (I live in Japan). I started doing it in addition to a few apps I had written, but those didn’t do so well and this side thing ended up being my main thing. There’s a huge demand for all things Japanese, and candy is one of the best sellers.

The perk (or downside if you’re trying to diet) is that I always end up with piles of candy in my apartment. If you visit, I can offer as much candy as you can eat. And no, sadly, I can’t pay for your dental bills. I don’t make that kind of money. What can I say? We have good candy. Reddit user: bemmu

Hobby Farm

I have a flock of chickens and I sell or barter the eggs. Fresh, free-range, organic, brown (or blue) eggs are upwards of $5.00/dozen at the farmer’s market or Whole Foods. Even selling mine at $3.00 leaves $50 or so in my pocket after costs. I sell a lot simply based on the fact that people know who I’m and know where my chickens are kept, and how they’re kept.

I also do gardening. In the spring I sell a few starter plants and, in the summer, some fresh herbs. What I make from that varies quite a bit, but it’s probably another $50/month. That’s not something I’ll ever make a living off of, but I’m already gardening for myself, so I figured why not? In the fall, I sometimes sell the dried herbs. I didn’t mean to become a hobby farmer, but here we are. Reddit user: loveshercoffee

Custom Decks

I build custom longboards – skateboards, not surfboards. It’s pretty simple; I just glue the plywood, cut, sand, drill holes, and then put grip tape on. Then my girlfriend or any other artistic friend paints the design on it. I can sell a custom deck for about $80 to $90 depending on what people ask for design, and supplies only cost about $30 upfront.

But, if somebody asks for a complete board (with the wheels, etc.), I can sell it for about $160 to $180. I’ve mostly only done it for friends or acquaintances. Nothing too serious yet, but I’m thinking about maybe putting an ad out and seeing where that gets me. I mean, how cool would it be to tell people that I build custom boards for a living? Reddit user: UZUMATI-JAMESON

A Net Positive Experience

I used to build websites for people, and was moderately successful for a while. My big failing was a desire to please 100% of my clients 100% of the time, and not tell awful clients where to stick it. Eventually, I started subcontracting the actual work and just focused on managing the subcontractors. That was a net positive experience because I acquired some good business skills.

But it really did take the joy out of something I used to love, which was building interactive websites/applications. The landscape has changed these days, so I doubt I could do any line-level technical work without some serious retraining, and now I’ve got other passions. I’ve got a 70%-ish-complete eBook on how to build your own website business, so maybe my future lies in teaching others. Reddit user: [redacted]

Mystery Shopping

I’m a mystery shopper. You essentially get paid anywhere between $15 and $200 to spy on people, and it’s a great acting opportunity, as well, because each listing will have you act a certain way towards staff/employees. Believe it or not most of the time it’s the employers’ way of checking up on their people if they’re in the service industry, or doing retail.

Sometimes you’re paid to act like an extremely annoying, overly concerned customer, which can take up a lot of their time. Other times you’re just trying to gauge the seller’s knowledge-base concerning the product being sold, which may take less than five minutes to accomplish. It sounds kind of weird, but it’s a TON of fun. Most of the time you even get to keep the item that you bought and your payment nearly always covers the cost of the item, plus a bonus that helps cover traveling expenses. Reddit user: DoctorWSG

Selling Refurbished Appliances

I find broken appliances – washers and dryers – for free on Craigslist. Then, I fix and sell them. The beauty is that there’s an instructional video on YouTube for just about every model of washer or dryer ever made. There’s also one for every single problem they could possibly have. On top of that, I get parts for dirt cheap on eBay. They’re extremely easy to tear into, especially compared to cars, which are what I normally work on.

Most dryers have a bad heating element. The elements cost about $40 at the store. I get them for about $13 with shipping. It takes a whopping three minutes to remove the old one and install the new one. Then, I spend maybe half an hour vacuuming out all the lint dust and checking the other parts to make sure they’re in good order.

Next, I plug it in and run a load of clothes through to test it. Once it’s ready to go, I throw it back on Craigslist as a rebuilt, cleaned, and tested item for about $120, with free delivery. They usually sell within a day or two. Reddit user: Cyfun06

Sort Of Private Chef

I cook food for a friend of mine. She is gluten-free – actual Celiac’s, not fad-dieting – and vegetarian. She’s also started some diet that massively restricts the amount of fats and proteins she can have. Oh, and this woman HATES to cook. I mean, just deplores it. I got into doing this because I’d sent her a recipe once, and she was like, “Yeah, I’m not going to do that. I hate cooking.”

So, for fifty bucks a week, I make two big dishes for her that she can have for dinner all week. I really love difficult cooking challenges, so the job’s been pretty fun, and it’s been a great way to motivate myself to cook healthier and get some extra cash. On the weekend she just tells me what she’d like, I make a shopping list, and she goes to buy it. Reddit user: WadeK

I Write About Stars

Astronomer here. When not doing my day job, I earn money on the side by writing freelance articles for various science magazines, like Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, and I’m now working on an assignment for Discover. This can be for various topics in astronomy, from a cosmic ray observatory in Argentina, to neutron stars that merge with regular stars, to how to find extra-solar planets with radio signals – basically, whatever I find interesting and know my teenage-self would find interesting.

What’s really nice about this is that I’m a PhD student, and these articles pay really well – like, I don’t write for less than a thousand bucks an article anymore. To be fair, I’ve also been doing this a few years, so you probably wouldn’t start out at that rate. With that money I can fund my various weekend trips around Europe – and, I get to write about stars. Reddit user: Andromeda321

Calling The Shots

I work as a shot clock operator for college basketball games. It pays about $30 to $75 a game depending on the institution. If there’s both a men’s game and a women’s game, it’s doubled. It couldn’t be easier. Literally all you do is hit a button to restart the shot clock when one of three things happens: a foul, a change in possession, or if the ball hits the rim (a rebound).

It’s also nice because I don’t officially work for any one college. They ask me if I can work games and I can pick and choose when and where I want to work. I usually do it about every other weekend, but someone could easily do it almost every day. While I don’t think you can make a real living off of it, it’s a great way to make some spending money – especially if you like basketball. Reddit user: ajroarlions

Occasional Photography Assistant

I have a side-gig as a photography assistant. It starts at $250 per day in a large city, and meals are included. I pick up a few days work as a photo assistant every month, which is plenty to cover my rent and living expenses. If you have working knowledge of basic photo gear and can lift heavy things, the work’s very easy.

Usually it’s just setting up lighting at the beginning of the shoot and taking it down at the end. Sometimes you’ll make adjustments to lighting mid-shoot. Don’t be weird with models, stay off your cell phone, and always volunteer – you’ll find yourself getting called back for shoots and recommended for well paying out-of-town shoots. Last week I was in California, and next week I’ll be in Miami. Not too bad for a job that doesn’t require a degree, or any real commitment. Reddit user: [redacted]

Linebacker By Day…

I’m a defensive lineman on my college’s football team. I can bench press 350 and I’d go as far as to say I’m the fastest lineman at my college because, while I have strength, I’ve also got the speed. I recorded five sacks (tackles) last season. People have said I look intimidating. I get it. Buzz cut, muscles, and a square face don’t really make me look super approachable.

My side gig? I bake. I make cupcakes for little kids’ birthday parties and charge $1.00 per cupcake. I watch Cake Boss and everything. I’ve never had a displeased parent or customer. Last year, I made a grand total of $1,626. That’s a lot of cupcakes. I’ve been doing this ever since December 2013 and all of my little sister’s friend’s parents call me up to make cupcakes for them. I even have people from three towns over call for cupcakes. Life is good. Reddit user: A_Narcissistic_Sloth

I Feed And Entertain People

I write and produce cable TV shows, some more popular than others. Most of these jobs only last six to nine months, so a couple months ago I started delivering pizzas for this amazing pizza joint in downtown LA to earn extra cash between gigs. A couple times now I’ve delivered pizzas to residences that had a TV show that I produced playing in the background.

I’ve never said anything, as it’s kind of inconsequential – and besides, who’d believe that some punk pizza delivery guy was also a TV producer, right? But the feeling of irony and satisfaction knowing that I’m keeping people entertained and fed is very gratifying. It makes me sleep better knowing I’ve done my job(s). I’ve impacted them on multiple levels. Reddit user: [redacted]

I Run A Hair Care Blog

A few years ago I built a niche blog about a specific hair care method. I wrote about half the articles on it and I paid freelance writers to write the other half (I came up with topics, keywords, etc.). I placed two AdWords ads on each page. It’s a program run by Google that allows me to create a simple ad for something I want to sell. Kind of like an affiliate link.

I haven’t touched the site in about a year, and the amount I’m earning is around $30/month. Not a ton of money, but if I had the time I’m sure I could improve on the blog, keep posting, and make more. Plus I’m earning that money doing zero work and paying for nothing other than the domain name. Not a bad return on the investment if you ask me. Reddit user: [redacted]

Who Let The Dogs Out?

My side hustle is walking dogs. I was two years out of college and lucky enough to have a job in my field, but it didn’t pay much. I wanted to move out of my parents’ house last year and needed a part-time job to help pay rent and bills. I was absolutely willing to sacrifice my free time to move out and be on my own.

I found a dog walking company and told them my situation and my available hours. They set me up with a couple walks to start out, which then turned out to be five or six a day. Each walk was about 20 minutes long, and I’d make anywhere from $9.00 to $14.00 per walk. I averaged about $1,200 extra per month without working on the weekends. When I did work weekends, and put more time into the part-time job, I came out with $2,000 extra per month.

I have recently quit because I made so much off of it I don’t need it anymore. I also got a raise, which helped. It was a great part-time job because I basically made my own hours and got to walk dogs. I didn’t have to be a cashier and deal with rude people all day. I got paid to play with dogs for two hours. Reddit user: Mstapes30

Focus Groups

I take part in focus groups at a local market research firm. You can usually just call these places up and ask to get put into their databases. Otherwise, they’re the people you see awkwardly standing around your local mall with clipboards. On average, I only take part in one group per month, but they pay between £20 and £30 an hour, so I normally take home around £50.

The focus groups are good fun – anything from tasting beers to giving feedback on ideas for ads or planned development for apps. I’ve heard a lot about it being difficult to qualify for them, but I haven’t had a problem so far. Or … maybe I just know how to answer the questions. Knowing how to take a test probably helps on that front. Reddit user: Starky04

It’s A Lot Like Finance

Probably a little late to the party, but I sell Yu-Gi-Oh cards. It’s amazing how much trading card games can cost. Through Yu-Gi-Oh, I’ve gotten to travel to three countries, 10 states, and countless cities. Although not nearly as expensive to play as Magic, I’ve been able to make over $40,000 after working about 500 hours, which is pretty decent for a college student.

It’s also great because, much like finance, you need to be knowledgeable about the market. You have to keep up with current trends, and try to predict future ones. All in all, it’s a very enjoyable experience and has taught me a lot. I don’t plan to do it forever, because I don’t know how long it’ll last, but I’ll do it for as long as I can. Reddit user: [redacted]

35mm Slides

I scan photos and 35mm slides for people who don’t want to do it themselves. I invested quite a bit in equipment before really feeling out the market. Business is slow and I only get one customer a month, but honestly that’s all the work-load I can handle. It’s super tedious and quite bothersome, especially when people put in a big order and want thousands of pictures scanned.

And, when I say tedious, I mean tedious. Literally, one slide at a time – and it takes up to a minute for the machine to actually scan it. I mean, everyone so far has been so grateful, though; it’s nice to be able to put a smile on their faces and hear things like, “I can’t wait to see the look on grandma’s face when we show her these pictures.” Reddit user: tastypotato

Great Profit Margins

I used to pressure wash private tennis courts on the weekends for $800 a pop – most people that own tennis courts won’t blink at that – for about two days worth of work. Don’t have a pressure washer? Me, either. Go to a local pressure washing specialty shop. You can rent the industrial pump and large orbital surface cleaner for $50 a day. The overhead is $100 in equipment and maybe $30 in gas.

Those are pretty good margins if you’re not afraid of a little hard work in the sun. The hardest part is drumming up the business, as most people don’t appreciate solicitation at their homes. Just be a good sales person and you’ll figure it out. I’m also thinking about putting out a Google ad, or maybe creating an ad on Facebook. I don’t know how any of that works, but it could work. Reddit user: roswo

The Perks Of Being A Secret Shopper

Secret shopping – my wife brings in around $300 to $500 a month, not including all the free food we get and the movies we see. It’s very easy and you can claim the mileage on your taxes. I did it all the way through graduate school, and now my wife mostly does it since I’m working full time. She likes her little stash of mad money.

I’d recommend starting by checking around on the internet for companies in your area. When I started, I was getting paid to eat McDonald’s, Sonic, Raising Canes, etc. I still benefit from the free food my wife gets. Most of the shop payments are negotiable. She broadened her search and now gets free movies, pizzas, and more. She also does it for some local casinos. They pay about $80 bucks and it only takes about two hours. Those usually come with free food and a hotel stay. So, there’s a big market out there, even more so in the cities. Reddit user: [redacted]

Daycare On The Side

My “on the side” money is my only financial contribution, I’m a new mom and I’ve been doing daycare for a friend’s baby who’s a month younger than mine. It’s been about 15 to 20 hours a week, on average, at $5.00/hr; sometimes her mom watches the baby or a parent can stay home, so it’s super flexible hours, which I like.

The real cost benefit is that I’m not paying daycare for my kid while I go to work. Even if I had my old seasonal job right now, I’d only be making $8.50/hr anyways, which isn’t worth it at all. This way I make some money, she has super affordable, good daycare she can trust, and I get to stay home with my baby. It’s a real win-win. Reddit user: sellyberry

I’m A Professional Tiller

I have a garden tilling service every spring – works out to about $60/hr. I can bring in around $2,500 to $3,000 a month working evenings and weekends. I paid the $1,200 tiller off in the first two weeks of doing it, and I’m going on my 4th year of service. It’s only for a few months out of the year, but having the extra money is amazing.

I keep buying new tools to stay in the red (I claim everything on taxes) so that I don’t have huge business taxes to pay every quarter. Chainsaw, wood chipper, trailer, etc. I write off fuel, insurance, parts, food/coffee, cell phone, etc. The best part is that I also get to help people who, otherwise, wouldn’t be able to till their own gardens. Reddit user: [redacted]

Fixing Up Retro Games

Selling retro games. I scan eBay for old computer games that are dirty (think covered in dust or grime), have been photographed poorly, or just need a bit of TLC. I buy them, clean them up, sometimes I play them for a bit, then I re-list them and make a profit. My girlfriend is a photographer so it’s easy for me to get excellent photos of my wares.

Some people may feel that I’m ripping people off but, in truth, I buy games from people who don’t care about them and sell them to people who’ll not only look after them but have fun playing them. I typically make about $5 to $10 on each game, so it’s not like I’m truly scamming anyone. It’s just snack money really. Reddit user: bungeeman

Sometimes I Make People Cry

I dress in historical clothing and go to schools to talk to kids, or wherever else they pay me to go. One of my bits is an American Civil War woman. I talk about how precious it was to receive mail. I describe how I have a father and brother fighting on one side of the war, a husband on the other, and am torn between the two.

Then I start crying (for real, no eye drops needed) and end with: “One in three soldiers will die during this war… I have a father, a brother, and a husband all fighting… and I’m going to lose one of them. And I don’t know which one.” Then I curtsy quietly and stop speaking. I usually get a big round of applause at the end.

For some reason, news of this bit has spread in the “need a historical person” circuit in my area. My last gig was $50 and dinner to spend three hours with a historical society at their annual meeting and try to make them cry. I got paid $60 because I did. Reddit user: crackedchinacup

Thought I Might As Well Sell Them

I make handmade, custom pokeballs on Etsy. Want a pokeball from the games or anime? I got you. Want your very own design on the pokeball, or a design based on a specific Pokemon as if it belonged to that ball? That’s my specialty. Just about anything you want, I can make into a pokeball. Also, yes, I’m a huge Pokemon nerd.

I made the listing just as a joke really. I’d made myself some pokeballs for an anime convention and thought I may as well sell them afterwards. I didn’t expect it to pick up and got way more orders than I ever imagined. I’ll do this as long as I can. I’d love for it to turn into a real career, but I’m not holding my breath on that one. Reddit user: Floameh

Flipping Computers

For about seven years I flipped computers on Craigslist and, for a couple of years, I was making just as much as my tech support job. I’ve pretty much stopped doing it because people on Craigslist just seem to have gotten worse and worse over the years. Also, I now have a somewhat decent career in IT where I make enough money that it’s not worth my time to have a side-gig.

Now I only sell stuff two or three times a year. When I upgrade my own systems and when an office manager I know sells me four or five machines for cheap because we’re rotating them out of the system. I’d like to do it more often, but dealing with the people just sucks. I offer no tech support and make it clear that all sales are final. That doesn’t stop people from still bugging me after they mess something up. Reddit user: bcarlzson

Weekend DJ

I DJ at parties on weekends. I got the idea after buying a set of speakers and a mixer. I started off with just a small table, an iPod, and a small laptop. Later I started getting more and more gigs with business cards I’d leave everywhere. I picked up a subwoofer, a proper laptop, lights, lasers, speaker stands, and even a really portable turntable set.

I’ve been doing it for around four years now and have come a long way since. It’s a good way to make extra cash. I make anywhere from $200 to $400 a gig. I learned the basic stuff by myself and have gotten a lot better with time. The best part for me is that I can book all my gigs for the weekend and still keep my full-time job. Reddit user: [redacted]

Babysitting And Crochet

I crochet Anna and Elsa (from Frozen) hats and sell them for $15 each. All the pre-Christmas orders paid for most of my Christmas shopping. I’m a very fast crocheter so I can make one in about 90 minutes and it only costs me about $1.00 in materials, if that. So, you could say that the profit margins are great.

I also have a regular babysitting job for a family with two children. The father’s a firefighter and doesn’t get home until 8:15 AM. The mother’s a nurse and has to leave at 6:30 AM, so I get the kids up and dressed, give them breakfast, and put together their lunches for school. It’s simple but I make $20 a day doing that. It pays for my “extras” like Starbucks, nail polish, new clothes, etc. Reddit user: _____1_____2_____3

It’s Not Like Mad Men

I write car commercials. I’m talking about those terrible “This weekend only, take ten thousand dollars off everything in stock!” kind of ads. I’m an advertising writer by trade, so it was an easy step to do some freelance work. I already know what sells an ad, and I know how to give them that perfect level of “cheap” that both pleases clients and gets them sales.

You might ask, why don’t you write something better? But honestly, that kind of hard retail is exactly what the client wants. Advertising can be much less glamorous than Mad Men would have you believe. It might once have been “glam” and cool, but now it’s all about making the biggest, cheesiest splash possible in the shortest possible time. Plus, why spend hours and hours on an ad that’ll only run for a week or two? Reddit user: [redacted]

Christmas Trees

I grow Christmas Trees. The only necessities for this are a couple acres of land – that you ideally own or, at least, can rent – and a little knowledge about how to plant and care for certain species of trees. I happen to live in the Northwestern United States, so we grow Douglas fir and Grand fir primarily. They’re just what grow best in my environment.

For the majority of the year I do very little with my crop. I just let ’em grow, pluck out the weeds that try to grow near them, and mow the grass that grows between the tree rows. I plant a couple hundred trees each year in the winter. Late January is the best time. It takes about 10 years for a tree to grow to “marketable” size, so it’s definitely a long-game, but considering I (currently) pay 50 cents per seedling, it can be quite profitable. Reddit user: mcspdx

Professional Dumpster Diver

Dumpster diving. I resell other peoples’ perfectly good items – clothing, electronics, kitchen items, tools, furniture, decorations. Whatever. I once found a $500 Tissot wristwatch. I usually find printers with no ink and resell them. Brand name clothes, sometimes still with the tags. Old furniture which I upgrade and keep for my home. I even found a leather couch with a rip in the seat, to replace my retro fabric couch.

I frequently find office chairs and undercut every Craigslist ad for similar chairs. I don’t even bring this stuff in my house anymore. I get home, take pics, and put the ad up in the middle of the night. They usually sell that week. I make anywhere from $50 to $800 a month, depending on the weather, time of year, and my day job schedule. Reddit user: [redacted]

I Buy Returns

I buy returned goods from Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart and other places, plus items from closed restaurants in the area, and resell them online. It’s one of those get-rich-quick types of things if you have the ability to sell to people in larger areas. I’m about to go to a closed restaurant here in an hour and take a look at what they have posted for sale.

After that, I’m going to go to a warehouse and take a look at a $259 desk. I’m hoping to pick it up, brand new, for $10 or $15. There’s a few other misc items there, as well, I want to look at. Like slot machines, a sectional sofa, and a couple Bowflex dumbbells. I just purchased four pairs of new boxing gloves, two pairs of wrist wraps, four pairs of wrist wrap gloves, a punching bag, a stand, and a speed bag for $53. In case you haven’t guessed, I mostly sell sporting goods. Reddit user: Decyde

Freelance Maid

I clean people’s houses. I call myself a “freelance maid.” I usually only do it for about two to four hours per week. I ask the people I’m cleaning for to provide the cleaning supplies so I don’t have to drag them across the city. This also allows them to do the research and find out what actually works in their house. It also means that I don’t get blamed for chemical damage.

I don’t do laundry or dishes unless you’re incapable of doing it yourself. I’ll only offer for heavily pregnant women, the elderly, or disabled clients. I charge $30 to $40 per hour. That might seem like a lot to some people, but it’s a dirty job and I don’t mind charging a lot for it. Sometimes I even come home feeling really good that I got to help out someone who really needed it. Reddit user: ashmonkey