this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2024
39 points (95.3% liked)

Asklemmy

43893 readers
1263 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy πŸ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Corporations taking over side hustles seems to be screwing over people, since they take such a large cut and flood the market for that hustle.

But the ones I've personally seen people do that work pretty well (in USA) are:

Stay at home mom watching another kid (legally dubious depending on state/situation. But I ain't no narc.)

A neighbor of my mom's sends out a menu saying what she plans on cooking each night for that week, and for $X will deliver you some as well (Legal in Utah due to special laws, other states could be dubious. )

People who go pick up free furniture that is pretty trashed, and then refurbishes it and sells it. Or people with trucks who are like "Will deliver furniture for $30 in X area" is also pretty life saver for people without cars/trucks. Was able to get a super cheap/nice coach because of this.
People who just flip free stuff or stuff from thrift stores without doing any improvements annoy me greatly though. We broke and you're just driving up the price!

None of these generate a ton of cash, but I like that they take very little up front cost, aren't disruptive, and mostly take labor.

So what side hustles have you seen work out?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 2 points 35 minutes ago

Scrap metal. I always leave my scrap metal out on trash day next to the trash can. A guy in a pickup will come around and get it. I would have to save it up for years for it to be worth a single trip, but he's getting a full load or two every day. I'm sure I've lost out on a few hundred bucks over the years.

I'm sure if you started an electronics recycling company or a clean out business you could get people to pay you to take their stuff.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 7 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Buddy of mine picked up old washers and dryers for free or close enough. Fixed and flipped 'em on eBay marketplace. Made several hundred a week.

The genius is that those appliances are easy to work on and usually have compatible parts. I went over to get a part from him and there were only 2 that fit all American washers.

I used to pick up vacuum cleaners on my paper route. Got stoned at night and cleaned them, maybe added a new belt and bag, perfect. Sold for $20 a pop. (This was in the 90s).

Another friend used to go out with her husband early on trash days and pick up free stuff by the road. Had a garage sale every Saturday, 6-7 hours tops, made $300-$400. "We take our neighbor's trash and sell it back to them!"

[–] Pistcow@lemm.ee 4 points 3 hours ago

Higher education tripled my income, so that seemed to work, and I dont have to do anything but sit in an office 40 hours a week.

[–] Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I wish I had some good ones but I'll be watching this thread.

What I can say is that anyone on youtube that's got a channel dedicated to a particular hustle is no longer making their money doing that hustle. They are an influencer now.

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 8 points 7 hours ago

Oh yeah all the influencer side hustles are straight trash.

My friend if you actually made $1000 a day working 2 hour, you wouldn't be uploading here my dude!

[–] Hikermick@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I haven't known anyone to do this but I always thought managing social media accounts for small businesses would be a good side hustle. A steakhouse restaurant nearby went out of business in a year. They spent a ton of money on remodeling and a billboard with a logo but weren't even listed on Google Maps. I'll wager some businesses would be willing to barter in order to keep things simple

[–] trashgirlfriend@lemmy.world 6 points 3 hours ago

^ has never worked in the google ads hell pit

[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

organising violence against the state.

I've already said too much.

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 hour ago

If you’re willing to do that for the US state, there’s certainly money to be made.

[–] Sequentialsilence@lemmy.world 5 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

My side hustle is real estate photography. Very flexible timing and I already had all the equipment. If I didn’t already own the equipment I wouldn’t have done it.

[–] etchinghillside@reddthat.com 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Good excuse to buy a drone.

[–] IMongoose@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

You have to have a license to do that in the US. It's not super hard to get but not as easy as just buying a drone.

[–] iii@mander.xyz 16 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Dog hotel. I've a dog. I take in other dogs when their owners are on holiday. Walking 2 dogs isn't much more work than walking 1.

Taking on one extra dog for a few days seems like the easiest, most chill way to make a little money on the side if you are careful about which dogs you take. Those people who sit 4+ dogs at a time are insane but must pull in a good bit of money.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Nemo@slrpnk.net 15 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

My wife does the furniture flipping thing. I don't think we make any money on it β€” but we have much nicer furniture than we could afford otherwise and between reselling the items we get rid of the low prices we pay for the incoming, we're certainly not spending money on it, either, and that's counting the cost of renting trucks to move it around.

[–] leanleft@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

how is nobody afraid of bedbugs?

[–] Nemo@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 hour ago

We don't fick with upholstered furniture for exactly that reason. Tables, dressers, cabinets.

[–] daq@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 hours ago

Maybe if you live in an area with mostly SFHs so bugs can't spread as aggressively? I'd never take furniture off the street. I'd rather sleep on bare floor than deal with bed bugs.

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 5 points 7 hours ago

Well getting nice furniture from a hobby sounds pretty chill regardless!

Every now and then my eyes pop at the cost of new furniture.

[–] sosodev@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

The only one I’ve heard of working really well was 3D printing copyrighted material that is usually way overpriced. Board game pieces, figurines, etc.

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

A little bit of legally dubious action to pay the bills and siphon money from billion dollar companies never hurt nobody!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FW99X9Z?psc=1

$50 dollars for THREE, UNASSEMBLED, and UNPAINTED minis? Yeah man, I ain't gonna question why the texture of your warhammer minis are different. Game on.

[–] _bcron_@lemmy.world 8 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

If I ever picked up a side hustle, it'd be basic editing. ChatGPT has displaced the ghost writer but it can't polish its own turd.

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 10 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Editing ChatGPT generated content sounds soul crushing tbh.

[–] _bcron_@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

I think the thing that would keep me sane is that I'm fascinated in trying to figure out how a single AI-generated paragraph can be accurately detected.

But yeah, the common permutation of multiple pargraphs, the first starting with reaffirm/validate/reiterate is downright obnoxious.

'I'm sorry to hear you're having such difficulties with editing ChatGPT-generated content. It can be challenging and even frustrating at times, but with' lol

[–] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 6 hours ago (4 children)

My Etsy shop hit a very niche market and was pulling around $3k a year. I didn't put any effort into advertising, it kinda did that on its own

I'm also a performer which is a great side hustle for my creative fulfillment, but pays nearly nothing

[–] etchinghillside@reddthat.com 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

You don’t have to confirm/deny - but I’m going to pretend this niche is selling tiefling horns/ears.

[–] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 5 hours ago

Flaming nipple tassels

You read that right πŸ˜‚

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 1 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

Stay at home mom watching another kid (legally dubious depending on state/situation. But I ain't no narc.)

Wtf is u talking about?

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 5 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

So a baby sitter baby sitting and the home of the child is completely legally fine. If you are doing it at your own home, or watching unrelated children, it can be iffy.

https://childcare.gov/consumer-education/informal-in-home-child-care#%3A%7E%3Atext=Your+state+or+territory+may%2Cto+ensure+the+children%27s+safety.

That's why I said it depends on state/situation.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

the fact pattern you provided mother watching another child with her own... i don't think that would quality anywhere but i did not check all the rules.

if they are running something resembling a commercial operation that would be a different story.

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

It fully depends on if you're doing it at your house, or the house of the child you are watching, and the state.

But the rules don't matter as long as no one is a narc!

β€œFor instance, most states and territories do not require an in-home child care provider to be licensed if they provide care on an occasional basis, provide care in your home, or are related to the children in their care.”

Which my thing "might" break.

[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Running illegal home daycares is a thing

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

why would a person watching a child or two be considered a day care?

[–] Hikermick@lemmy.world 6 points 5 hours ago (8 children)

Getting paid for it crosses a threshold I'll bet

load more comments (8 replies)
load more comments
view more: next β€Ί