"He Worked Maybe 25 Hours A Month And Made Well Into The Six Figures": People Are Sharing The Wild Ways They've Heard Of People Making A Living
Recently, Reddit user MildlyEngineer asked, "What’s the most unique or unusual way you’ve seen someone earn a living?"
1."I have a client (I'm a financial planner) who inherited some money from his grandmother, about $150k. He's in his 20s, so I was certain he'd blow it all. Sure enough, he comes in and says he needs the cash for a business opportunity that he and a guy are starting. He's a real Chad-type guy. He lives in South Beach, parties, and says 'bro' every other word. So basically, I stereotype this situation as another one who's going to blow their inheritance and will be broke within the year."
"The guy pleads to keep his account open and swears up and down he's going to put this money back. I oblige. Months go by and I see an alert that a money wire has come into his account: $150k. So I'm pleasantly surprised that he held his word and put it back. Next month: $250k. Another $250k, then another. In our business, we have a regulation that we MUST discuss with the client how the funds are deposited and where they originate. It's part of the US Patriot Act. So I call the guy.
It turns out he and another friend went down to Miami and used all his inheritance to buy Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc. — all these exotic sports cars. But here's the catch: they're all hurricane cars. None of them work. They've all been flooded, and insurance totaled them. What they do is buy these exotic vehicles that don't work, polish them up, put them on a wrecker, drive them to people's houses, and drop them off for four hours.
It turns out that there's a huge demand for wannabe influencers to take pictures with exotic cars. He charges $1000, and you get four hours with the vehicle in your driveway to take as many videos and pictures as you want. After that, he loads it on the back of his wrecker and takes it somewhere else.
The last I spoke with him, they had bought a salvaged jet and were in the midst of redoing it. His entire business model revolves around people giving over hard-earned cash so they can look cool on the Internet. It blows my mind, but at least he's doing well financially!"
2."I met a guy one time who had a job that just made me wildly jealous. He called himself a 'geek facilitator.' Basically, what this guy does is drive around the country from convention to convention, getting comics autographed for people who didn't want to take the time off work to do it themselves or couldn't travel while simultaneously hunting for rare and valuable comics on his clients' wishlists, as well as picking them up for himself to flip for a profit. His clients paid con entry, cost of autographs, travel, expenses, plus what they're paying him for his time."
3."I remember a guy in Berlin who sold stuffed animal holidays. People from America would pay him and send him their stuffed animals, and he would take them on a tour of Berlin in a little old Soviet-era car and take pictures of them along the way. In the end, he would send the stuffed animal back to his owner, including the pictures of his trip!"
4."I know a lady who makes six figures chasing geese. She has a couple of well-trained border collies. She drives around to fancy corporate campuses and lets the dogs out to chase the geese away. (It's illegal to hurt the geese or disturb the nests.) She works for herself for maybe three to four hours a day and not even every day, and makes bank."
5."I met a man in the UK who flew his hawk once a month over my office parking lot to keep small birds away and from pooping on the cars. He spent his days going from office park to office park, flying his hawk."
6."I have a friend who is stupidly rich. Like 'fuck you' money and then some. He started by reclaiming and selling used sewage pipes — the large concrete ones. If someone was demolishing a site, he would literally go and ask for the things. Most of the time, it was free, as he did them a favor hauling it away."
7."I saw a program years ago about a pair of dudes that made a living as, basically, private 'security traps' for casinos in Vegas. Basically, the first dude was a lanky, nerdy-looking guy who would make himself look like an ideal victim. He would act drunk, flash some cash, and basically make it clear he was worth mugging. He wore a wire so that when he was getting attacked, the details would get relayed to his partner. Said partner was a hulking ex-marine who was built like a fucking freight train. Since they wanted to get guys arrested, they needed to wait until they'd actually laid hands on the first guy, but as soon as they did, this guy would charge out from somewhere nearby and just flatten the mugger before subduing him and calling the police."
"It seemed like a fun gig for the second guy, less so for the first, who basically got paid to get beat up on a regular basis. When an interviewer asked him (while he was sporting some bruises from his latest encounter) whether he enjoyed his job or not, he just shrugged and said, 'It's a living.'"
8."House managers. They work for the super-rich and keep/live in a house, so for the two weeks a year that the owner shows up, the house is ready and can be lived in."
"I was on vacation with my wife once in Siesta Key, Florida. We met a lady (L1) in the hot tub who did this. She was essentially a professional house sitter for a woman (L2) who had an abundance of wealth. Her primary house was in New Orleans, but this lady we met lived at her backup house.
She was paid well over $200k/year, if I'm remembering correctly. All of her food, rent, utilities, etc., were paid for by the wealthy woman. Her job was to live in the house and manage the repairs, cleaning people, and landscaping projects — which essentially involved letting those people into the house and signing papers when needed.
The wealthy woman wanted to stay in the house she managed, so L2 paid for L1 to go on vacation anywhere she wanted in the US so that L2 could have the house all to herself. I was wildly jealous."
9."A guy I met basically just lived in a guest house of this wealthy family and got a moderate salary to just do random shit for them. Not like a specific thing, like house cleaning or maintenance or nannying, though he would sometimes do all of those. But it seemed to be more like just random tasks, like going to research boats they might want to buy or having spare house keys made; just anything. The dude was like 35 and seemed perfectly content to do that indefinitely."
10."My cousin lives in NYC and works for a company that maintains corporate rooftop beehives. Companies that own skyscrapers want the earth-friendly image of having bees on the roof, but they obviously don't want to do it themselves, so my cousin does it. She's not rich or anything, but she makes a comfortable living in a big city doing something pretty unique."
11."Professional 'white guy.' I'm not sure if this is still a thing, but when I went back to college after the army, a couple of guys I went to school with went to China for a couple of months and got jobs where they just basically stood around in suits and holding briefcases in the lobbies of different corporate offices. Apparently, in China, it would have made your business look extra legitimate if there were some young white businessmen hanging around. I'm not sure if they worked directly for the companies or if they worked for an agency, but they said the money was decent, and it was pretty easy."
"It used to be a common position in Japanese companies, too. You didn't hang around in lobbies, though. You joined meetings and were assigned a role on a team, but you were often not given many duties, and usually, you were not expected to follow Japanese work culture, such as staying after regular business hours or going out with the team and the boss every night drinking. Though, you would earn brownie points for doing it occasionally.
Your real job was to be present during meetings because it was prestigious for a team or business unit to have a foreigner on staff. Typically, they would have you do localization if you knew Japanese, but if you didn't, there are stories of people who didn't do much at all but show up, sit at a desk, attend a meeting or two, and enjoy Japan on a work visa for a few years on a decent salary. I'm not sure this is a thing anymore post-COVID."
12."One of our friends was in a friends-with-benefits relationship with a dude who liked getting pegged. She searched high and low for harnesses that fit snuggly on her, fit their toys, kept them in place during the act, and were good quality in general. She couldn't find anything she was happy with, so she sewed her own, as she has a degree in fashion design. Word spread, and she made some for friends. Then, she started selling them on Etsy. She makes bank."
13."I knew a guy who made glass dildos. He was a glass artist and would rent space at the glass shop twice a month for four hours each time. He could make around 100 dildos in four hours with the help of a couple of assistants. He mostly just gathered glass and formed the dildos with a cherry wood mold. He would then come in the next day and do the cold shop work, which took around eight hours. He worked maybe 25 hours a month and made well into the six figures."
14."Professional sheath cleaners. The horse world is a strange place. Part of horsey hygiene for male horses is having their sheath and penis cleaned every so often. A lot of times, this task is done by a veterinarian, but there are folks out there who make this their primary money maker. It's a dirty job, but it can be quite lucrative if you're not too squeamish."
15."I braid horse hair professionally. :) Rated shows typically have a lot of glitz and glam, and while not technically a rule by most sanctioned show standards, braiding is a social rule that a lot of people who ride and show follow. Weird ass hours (8 p.m.-8 a.m.), but we are essentially independent contractors with the going rate being $80/mane and $40/tail. Some folks can do 10-12 horses a night, so it adds up fast!"
16."I remember chatting with an older guy who mentioned that he made his money from his YouTube channel. It was around 10-12 years ago, so I didn't even know you could make money from YouTube. He told me about his videos — how he repairs household appliances and lots of people watch. I looked him up that evening, and he had a huge following. I watched a few of his videos, and he would get a broken appliance and attempt to repair it. He didn't really know what he was doing, and half the time, he couldn't even fix it, but people loved him. He would take it to bits and say I wonder what would happen if I put a screwdriver in there or say that little part looks burnt; let's just hit it with a hammer and see."
"I just looked him up again and there is no sign of him."
17."In college, I took a class on how to start and run a small business. The professor told us to think of ridiculous business models for our fictitious business, as we'd get more out of the class that way. Dumb ideas ensued: selling paperclips door to door, refilling car gasoline tanks in people's driveways, starting a service to read and summarize the newspaper to executives, etc. One classmate decided he was going to sell tumbleweed. Guess who quit college and started a successful business? Tumbleweed guy."
"He takes a van to the desert, collects tumbleweeds, and sells them to Hollywood movie and TV studios who need them. He keeps the tumbleweed in a warehouse, and since they never spoil, his only costs are gasoline, storage, and a website. He eventually became the number one tumbleweed provider to studios around the world, shipping tumbleweed globally. He made a heap of money selling what millions of people drive by and ignore every year."
18."I know a woman who made a business out of hugs. That's it. She sells hugs. Nothing more, nothing less. As my understanding is, it can be kinda erotic (but still not more than the hug), it can be comforting, it can be just a long warm hug for those who need it and are willing to pay for it —anything hugs, she's there."
19."I had a brief stint as a 'professional cuddler.' I’d just cuddle people for an hour or two — usually just an hour."
"I wouldn’t do it again, though, since I was always worried I could get into a dangerous situation."
20."There's a guy near Sedona who goes out every once in a while and collects a few buckets of dirt. He takes it home and has his kids separate it into different sizes of sand/pebbles/rocks. He puts it in little packages and sells it to model train/mini-whatever enthusiasts."
21."I was located in an industrial park. Two guys moved next door, going into the hand-made pool table business with no experience. They were broke, and both lived in the warehouse. The artistry on the wood part sucked, and when they offered me to join them, I said NO. They still sold some pool tables. After a year, they got a house to live in. About ten years later, they had a large showroom. After 20 years, they were a national brand/chain. Please shoot me in the foot."
22."I was a photocopier trainer. I would travel from business to business and train them how to use their copier. This was five years ago, and no one could believe it was my job."
23."I'm an actor for film/TV, and on this one set, they hired a guy to teach us how to smoke a bong in a scene. (Fake weed.) He goes to any set that needs a bong teacher."
24."I worked with a guy whose father supported himself with a high paying, month-long gig as a Santa Claus at a Las Vegas casino and being an umpire for adult slow pitch softball in the summer."
25."There is a service here in Michigan that will drive your car for a fee over the Mackinaw Bridge (connecting lower and upper Michigan). Some people are just too scared to do it."
26."I knew a barber who lived and worked out of an RV. He'd drive into a town, find a parking lot near a busy spot, and get permission to stay there. He had charisma for days and Lenny-Kravitz-level style, but he was also super mild and kind. He'd work when he wanted to and always had a line. People accepted that he didn't keep regular hours or appointments. Apparently, he had done this for years. Once he got bored in a location, he'd take off and find a new city. He was easily in the top 5 coolest people I've ever met."
27."I once had a student whose dad made a living by organizing and hosting medieval reenactment battles in their backyard."
28."A city parking service. He charges less than monthly parking permits. He spends the day moving cars around in time-limited spots. Occasionally, a car gets ticketed, and he pays it because his profits are worth it."
29."I bake fruitcakes from scratch, using pecans instead of walnuts and cream sherry in lieu of harsher liquors. I use 1/2-pound loaf pans, so no one is stuck with a lot of leftovers. Baking begins in September and continues through October, so the cakes have time to soak up the sherry. Business is pretty good. I can easily do a few hundred dollars or more and still have folks clamoring for more."
30."I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention the companies that have people stand in line for you. I saw one on a TV show once. A guy had lost his job and agreed to wait in line for an iPhone or shoes or something for his friend in exchange for $20. He quickly realized some people would pay good money to receive limited goods without camping in front of a store overnight, so he started a business."
31."Probably my husband. He is a storm chaser, and we own a severe weather forensics company."
"Both of us were born and raised in Oklahoma. My husband was weather-obsessed since he was a baby and began storm chasing when he was 16. This eventually led to meteorology school (which he did not finish). We got married very young, and during these years, he was still constantly storm-chasing. One day in 2010, a family friend asked my husband if he could make her a map showing where the specifics of a hail storm happened. That's where the idea began and things began to grow, now we are the largest weather forensics company on the US. We provide data to other companies who depend on the weather for their business model (for instance, roofing, fencing, paintless dent repair, FEMA, insurance companies, attorneys, public adjusters, and many more). We have developed software that helps pinpoint severe weather specifics down to every US home. We employ many meteorologists and software developers along with support staff. It's been a long, difficult, yet very fulfilling journey. On the storm-chasing side, my husband still chases for ABC, has seen over 400 tornados, and has now been in about a dozen hurricanes. He did not start 'chasing' hurricanes until 2017."
32."A regular on an internet forum I used to frequent had a son who made a living selling baseball cards online. He would apparently get massive lots/boxes from wholesalers and livestream as he went through them. People would sight-unseen send him money for 'blocks,' I think they called it — e.g., someone would buy all the cards for the Red Sox for a set amount of money, like $500 or $2,000. They could get a killer deal or waste their money on junk. It was basically gambling, but not technically. The kid was apparently making mid-to-high six figures doing this."
33."OnlyFans administrator. He is a gay dude, and several girls pay him a monthly fee to basically run their accounts and interact with their subscribers. They hand over the material, and he does all the rest (captions, sexting, etc.)"
34."Pretty tame compared to most of these, but I used to own a cat-sitting company. I was a veterinary technician, and it made me sad when people would board their cats at the hospital. No matter how nice the environment was or how kind we were to the cats, they were always stressed out. So, I offered to go to peoples' houses and care for their cats. After doing it as a side hustle for a number of years, I decided to quit my full-time job and focus solely on cat sitting. Because of my medical training and education, I was able to monitor cats with complicated medical conditions and administer treatments. I eventually hired staff to take off some of the burden. I've met a lot of pet sitters and dog walkers, but never someone who only took care of cats. People were always surprised when I told them I was a full-time cat sitter."
35."I know a guy that started a little shop in his garage to print pizza menus for local pizza shops. That's all he printed. Now, he owns a large shop and prints nothing but pizza menus all across the country. Making a ton of money! Pizza menus!!! Who would've thought?"
36."I've known someone who makes teeth on a computer. He uses a CADCAM program to design crowns and bridges for dental laboratories. He works remotely and supposedly does pretty well."
37."There's a guy in New Jersey whose father showed him the secret location of baseball mud. MLB baseballs are worked over with mud to take the gloss and shine off new baseballs, giving them that off-white color. This man has exclusive rights to mud every MLB baseball. He guards the location of the mud. No one else knows where it comes from. I don't know if the guy makes a living off it, but he definitely makes good money on a super niche trade."
38."Met a billionaire who took some type of industrial waste metal shavings he got for free and sold them to the military as some type of adhesive or lubricant or something. He became rich beyond his wildest dreams overnight. Now he's bored as hell and blows his money on wild things like a lazy river/moat that goes around his 40-acre property."
39."This guy in my job holds a position that doesn't exist anymore. There are a few left in the company. He shows up at 6 a.m., hangs out for a few hours, and goes home. He hasn't actually worked for years but has a contract that has to be honored."
What's the wildest side gig or job you've ever heard of that was surprisingly lucrative? Let us know in the comments!
Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.
