“Unlock the Secrets: 57 People Share Their Surprising Easiest Money-Making Hacks!”
#7
Goodwill flip. Found a worn copy of *A Christmas Carol* and figured it was cool. Ended up being a 1st American Edition, 1st Printing. Sent it to one of the big 3 auction houses which authenticated it. 50¢ buy turned into $9800 after fees and taxes.
#8
Used to do electronics design consulting on the side. Got a call from a company I had done business with: can you make a device which makes a precise (IIRC) 2800 hz tone and which fits inside a walkie talkie? I said “I don’t know – can you send me the walkie talkie and the technical manual?”
They send me the stuff and I studied the schematic. Very quickly I realized one of the internal oscillators was something like 16,384 times 2800 Hz. I could do this for less than $2. So I call them back and I say “Sure I can do it, but I can’t make any money off this because it is so cheap.” And they say “We’ll pay you $50 per unit – this is the remaining piece of a multi-million dollar tender.”
I sold hundreds of these things. I even farmed out the manufacturing. I paid for my first house with them.
Image credits: mingy
#9
I used to be friends with a guy who, although he had a corporate day job, moonlighted as a private investigator. Most of his clients were married people who suspected their spouses of cheating, so they would hire him to try to catch them in the act.
In order to be discreet and not arouse suspicion, he’d hire a female friend – sometimes me, sometimes my sister or another woman – to pose as his date. I’d put on a nice dress and heels and get gussied up, and he’d pick me up. I’m not sure how he located his targets – I’m not a P.I. myself so I don’t know the ins and outs of the job, and I didn’t concern myself with it – but if they were at a restaurant, he’d take me there for a nice dinner.
