Weird and Random Things People Sell and Actually Make Money On
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In this day and age, people can sell just about anything online and make good money doing it. So, if you have an idea that you may think is a bit strange and out there, trust me, there are people who will think it is genius and buy it. Let's not delay any further and look into some weird and random things you can make money on.
In this article
Selling jewelry or crafts
Not everyone wants conventionally beautiful jewelry, and if you are creative, you can make fun things that some people will absolutely love (and some people will definitely hate — but it goes with the territory).
You can make your unique crafts and jewelry and sell them on Etsy, eBay, and other platforms. So, let your creativity loose, and we guarantee you that you will find people who will buy your niche jewelry or crafts. The only limit you will have is your imagination and your ability to make what is in your mind a reality.
Selling fresh air
Air is free, right? Well, some people living in areas where the air is super clean have profited from selling it in jars and shipping it worldwide. That way, people from all over the world can have a little fresh air from somewhere else.
There have been several individuals who have made a decent amount of money just by "putting" fresh air in a jar and selling it online.
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Selling breast milk
Those who produce milk can also overproduce and have nowhere to store it, so a good idea is to sell it instead of throwing it away.
That way, you don't have an extra headache about needing to store the excess milk, and you will be helping someone who can't produce enough to feed their child. Of course, this is something you should only do if you feel like you don't need the extra milk and if you feel comfortable selling it so that another person can use it.
Selling your hair
There are many times in our lives when we impulsively go for a big chop of our hair. Perfect opportunity to make some money? Unfortunately, not all hair can be sold; it has to be healthy, usually not dyed (so-called virgin hair), and long enough to be used for wigs and extensions.
The decision to sell your hair can start a long process of growing it, taking care of it, and finally cutting it so it can be sold. There are a lot of organizations that buy human hair to make wigs and extensions. A portion of them also work by donating wigs to cancer patients and people with hair loss conditions like alopecia.
So, not only will you be making some money at no cost (you’ll often even get a free haircut), but if you do your research and find the correct place to sell your hair, it could be used to help someone in need.
Selling your blood plasma
If you are not afraid of needles (lucky you), the option of donating your blood plasma is always open to you to earn some money. There are a lot of programs out there that will offer you monetary compensation for donating your plasma, and as an added bonus, you get to help people who need it.
Furthermore, as a donor, you also get health benefits from donating blood and plasma because donating rejuvenates the circulatory system and enables the body to produce a new blood supply. It will also make you feel good after!
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Selling your sperm/eggs
For those who have the male anatomy, this is a straightforward thing to do. You can earn up to $720 a month by donating sperm. But not everyone can. Those who want to, have to go through a comprehensive health assessment, including genetic screening and testing for infectious diseases. Additionally, your sperm quality will be tested at no cost to you, so you’ll also get valuable insights into your fertility. If you pass all the criteria for health, you will then be allowed to donate your sperm so that other people struggling to conceive can get a chance.
If you are a person who has female anatomy, the procedure is a lot more involved and complicated. You first have to go through IVF, and then there is a procedure that you will need to go through for the extraction of the eggs. You will get compensated up to $5,500 per egg donation, and not by the amount of eggs that are retrieved. As with sperm donors, you will go through a health and fertility checkup before starting IVF and the egg retrieval process. By doing this, not only can you make money, but you will also be helping make someone else a family.
Selling your poop
Yes, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. Not everyone can do this, though. You need to go through various tests to verify that you are healthy and that your poop will be beneficial for someone else. You have to be free of any infections and have a healthy gut.
Clostridium difficile is a persistent and potentially fatal bacterial infection responsible for approximately 15,000 deaths annually in the United States. One effective treatment is a fecal transplant, where healthy microbes from a donor's stool are introduced into the patient's intestines to eliminate the infection. In 2015, a researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) earned about $1,000 by donating their stool for such treatments. Although it may seem gross, donating your poop can quite literally save someone's life.
Queueing up for other people
I know this may seem silly, but people want to get their hands on things first and don't want to wait in line. A lot of them will hire people to wait in line for them for whatever they are waiting to buy before anyone else. So, if you have nothing else to do and you don't mind standing in line for someone else’s Stanley cup, you can make money just by using your time.
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Become a food tester
This one may sound a little too good to be true — making money by eating food??? Well, it is a reality; companies who produce different foods will look for food testers as they develop their products. Yes, you can actually get paid for eating food and giving feedback.
These tests usually tend to last an hour or so, slightly longer if it is in focus groups, and in between the different foods, you will be given a palette cleanser so your taste buds are not confused between the foods you eat. The feedback you will have to provide will either be in a questionnaire or verbal as the tasting of the foods goes along.
Become a bed tester
Be paid to sleep? Yes, please! As a professional bed tester, your role involves evaluating mattresses and bedding during the development of new products for a manufacturing company. Your responsibilities include lying on and sleeping on prototype mattresses and providing detailed reports on comfort and other factors.
You may also test blankets, pillows, and various other sleep products. In some cases, bed testers can assess the quality of beds and sleep-related elements in hotel rooms, meaning you will get paid to sleep in hotel rooms. How cool is that? Certain tests may require using these products under specific conditions to determine their effectiveness.
Get paid for playing video games
This may seem like the dream job if you are an avid gamer. The good news is that it is not only a dream; you can get hired as a video game tester. There are multiple levels to this, though. You don't need to be employed by a big game developer to get paid for playing games, though that would be the best scenario. You can start smaller on sites like Swagbucks, where you can earn money by playing mobile games, among other things.
However, the more interesting job to me would be 100% being a playtester for game development companies. By becoming a game tester, you will be playing games and looking for glitches and bugs to report to the developers before the game gets released to the public. You will be expected to write detailed reports on how the game interface is and if it is easy to use and understand, as well as report on the gameplay and the inevitable bugs that will show up in the development of the games.
There are two main types of game testers: playtesters and quality assurance testers. The former focuses on gameplay and how the game works. They check whether it is too difficult or too easy, whether the pacing is good or boring, and whether the user interface is good and easy to use. The latter tests the game for bugs, glitches, and inconsistencies, making sure that the gaming experience goes as smoothly as possible for the player.
- Get paid to answer surveys. Anytime. Anywhere.
- Share your opinions by completing online surveys to earn extra cash. From single-question polls to 30-minute market research questionnaires, there's always time to earn Swagbucks.
- Cash back shopping online & in-store.
- Swagbucks is one of the most extensive shopping rewards programs on the internet. Find coupons, promo codes, deals, and cash back offers to your favorite stores. Combine with your preferred credit card to earn additional cash back.
- Entertainment that pays.
- From web browser games to our popular Swagbucks Daily Trivia app, you can get paid to play games. Create or discover the latest short videos on Swagit.
Taking part in clinical trials
Now, this one is definitely not for everyone, and if you are considering it, please make sure you do as much research as you can.
Nearly all clinical studies provide compensation or reimbursement for study-related time and travel. The payment for participating in a clinical trial varies by study and depends on several factors, including:
- The number of in-person visits required
- The frequency of phone/video calls
- Requirements for diary entries or symptom tracking
- The time needed for study-related examinations
- The condition being studied
- The burden on patients or caregivers
- The study's duration
- The study phase (earlier phases often involve greater risk)
While participating in a clinical trial can be straightforward, it still demands time and travel and may involve certain risks. For this reason, those conducting the studies compensate participants for most studies. Research often involves multiple visits, with compensation provided upon completion of each visit. Some studies may also require regular check-ins via app (patient diaries) or phone/video calls, which are also compensated.
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