Extra Income.

Well for me I've had to switch from scrapping to ebay consigning mainly due to having to sell the pickup truck I had. I was making enough to loosen the belt a bit but it's starting to slow with the holidays coming up here soon.

I was getting bullet shells and making these. Sold them for NZ$3 each and they sold them for $9. Cheap.....




The top ones are easy to make, they just use the shell neck as a cone.
After several hundred I had heaps of the primer end. I had the idea of making bullet shell belts necklaces and wrist bands.
But in the end I got a small lathe and remachined the primer end off and threaded it and made a false groove to make it look like a bullet shell again.

I used a 1/8th NP, 27 TPI, thread. Its the same as used on light fittings and also the pipes and cones in the shops already. (So you can also use the 'off the shelf' cones etc).

Don't bother buying the cheap tap and die sets from China, they are a perfect example of Chinese made rubbish.
I got a set that was made in Australia by 'Repco'. They manufacture bikes and have a Auto parts franchise in NZ & Aussie.
These sets are a perfect example of quality European/Caucasian made tooling. For cheeeeep.. NZ$40 on special. Unbelievablely good quality.

The bullet shell tips are ex Austrian? army tracers. Tracers have a shorter shelf life. Hunters in NZ import them expired, pull the tracers out and replace them with hunting bullets.
They are also longer in length for maximum effect.

I have to drill the tracer mix out and break thru the copper divider inside. Then melt the Lead out. It all comes out.
Drill the hole thru the end, remove burrs.
Then I gave them a boil in Hydrochloric acid to remove Lead traces. Then washed and polished.
I had to do the polishing in a bench grinder fitted with polishing mop and some polishing wax I found somewhere.
A proper bullet shell polisher (rumbler sorta thing, like a small concrete mixer) would save a lot of time. You could borrow one maybe.

But, bypassing the bullet projectile (just remembered the name..) Use a .38 special +. Standard Police ammo, Nickle plated, as a mouth price. It fits exactly right on the .308 neck.
You can swage the OD down a lot by driving it into a hole in a hardwood block, or use a Allen headed capscrew for ID sizing.

I did make and sell hundreds of these, 100 @ a time. My 'guy' sold 1/2 them on for $5 each to cut his costs to almost nothing.
He loved them, nothing else made as much profit for him. (Since I used the $ to buy stuff back off him anyway... )

So, How to take 2 bullet shells and turn them into $3 while sitting on the footpath, with simple hand tools.

I deal in More than Scrap items (Specifically computer parts). If you can specialize in something that will allow you to make more off what comes in, that will always help.

Whether you sell the door from a GMC Suburban for $75, or sell computer RAM at 3x scrap value, you'll come out ahead.

Stores and other businesses hire for the coming season get in line now. Mike


UPS for sure hires, very hard work and not really full time. Mike

This response is based on some of your earlier posts.

Scrap metal art is another chance to turn a profit beyond selling for more than scrap value. I make many items from scrap that could sell for big bucks on the open market, but my creations are given as gifts, so no profit. If you search Christmas gifts from scrap you will get some ideas that you are free to use. Clean outs will open more doors for you, although my clean outs are entire farms instead of a house as many urban residents must focus on. Barter is another strategy that will benefit many individuals.

If you want an answer for your situation given your age, I would find a full time job. Add a part time job on top of that. Scrapping should be outside of these perimeter's. 75% of what you make goes to survival expenses and entertainment. 15% goes to retirement and 10% goes to a rainy day fund. When the rainy day fund equals one years worth of survival expenses you will be free to gamble with your lifestyle. Once this safety net is set up, you can be free to expand your horizons and diversify.

Based on this strategy I am able to sit on over 150 tons of scrap waiting for the market to improve. My days are spent doing what I want without worrying about paying the bills. I am not rich financially, but rich in lifestyle. It took 30 years of working to get to this point, but it was worth it. In my world, freedom is more important than money. I do what I want, when I want, and where I want.

This response is not meant to be a lecture, only a strategy that worked for me. Good luck with your endeavors.

It's hard because for most young people just starting out it's about figuring out how to survive in this world on their own. The choices they make at a time in their life when they really don't have any experience in living set the pace for the rest of their life.

Some of the older hands here chose well. They put in their time, paid their dues, and are at a point in their lives where they're living on their own terms.

For many others it's a daily struggle just to make ends meet. Things didn't pan out so well for them.

Just an opinion .... but at 18 the world is your oyster. Set your sights on the pearl. It's possible to build a better life than you could have ever imagined as a kid growing up.

Even if things don't quite work out the way you expected it will be one heck of an adventure.

For extra income right now, I sell scrap, raise meat rabbits, sell stuff on Kijiji, play piano, pile wood for people, trap animals for their fur (not really an money there anymore), as a family we make maple syrup every spring and sell a lot of it, I did go to an auction and bought a couple things to flip on Kijiji, and did manage to sell a couple things for a profit. Same thing for yard sales.
Other things I've tried include raising red wigglers for fishing bait, raising meal worms to clean meat off skulls and sell the skulls (Still a work in progress)
In the spring, we're going to get laying hens, and we can sell our excess eggs, and we're possibly going to get a couple pigs. I am considering Meat ducks to raise and sell.

If I can think of anything else, I'll post it

I don't know if there is an Amazon distribution center near you but they are hiring of the season. Go online and do a search to see. Mike

Originally Posted by nutpie

Christmas wreaths. Make Christmas wreaths. I will be making christmas wreaths this year. I talked with a retail shop owner about this just yesterday. That is, I will be making and selling wreaths wholesale to this shop. Wholesale $20, Retail $40. Or something like that.. I haven't worked out the price, I haven't made one yet to know what i'm comfortable with.

I did a couple of seasons back when my wife & i were first starting out. We got hooked up with one of the major buyers in this area that trucks them out of state. They will show you how to make a wreath & provide supplies like the wire & frames. It's a lot of work between going out in the woods for the brush and actually making them but it's something coming in during the slow season.

We didn't get into it too heavy but some of the other wreath makers were bringing in over a hundred at a time. If you can do that kind of volume it's pretty good money.

Wicked long work days though .... the buying season is short so you really have to hustle.

You might want to get your brush lined up & do a test run to learn how to make em' if you haven't done it before. ( They usually reject your first batch cause they're not quite up to snuff.)

Originally Posted by nutpie

Christmas wreaths. Make Christmas wreaths. I will be making christmas wreaths this year. I talked with a retail shop owner about this just yesterday. That is, I will be making and selling wreaths wholesale to this shop. Wholesale $20, Retail $40. Or something like that.. I haven't worked out the price, I haven't made one yet to know what i'm comfortable with.

figure an hour a piece to start, not counting time gathering pine boughs, cutting to boughs to size, and don't forget your costs like wreath rings, bows, plastic bits (presents, fruit, stars, what have you) ,lights from scrap perhaps? holly bushes with some berries add a nice touch, those always seemed to sell the best for me.
If your at it make some kissing balls as well they usually fetch a bit more but take about twice as long to make.
Yeah been there done that... I make a few for the house and a couple customers, no more mass production.
here's a tip get the branches roughly to the size you want, and after the wreath ring is filled trim it up to look nice and even, save a lot of time instead of cutting them all the same and trying to keep them neat as your building them.
Good luck and don't forget your gloves and alcohol to clean your stuck together cutters lol