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Making money through the Internet by selling....trash

 
steward
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We have loads of discussion about residual or passive income - this thread is not for that!

I saw this video, and by the title, I thought he was going to show some easy crafts or things folks could make. Nope. He's simply selling things that most people throw away.

Wow.



The comments on this video have more ideas, though I thought permies peeps could really expand on this!

As he mentioned, making $50 to $100 bucks like this is pretty cool.

 
gardener
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This is very cool.
I have somethings to add,many are bunny related.
-Poop. Seriously,bunny poop,sold by the pound as fertilizer!
-Fur. Angora rabbits obviously. Bonus,grooming a bunny can induce serious bliss.
-Jchoke stalks. To a rabbit, this stuff is like crack. Let it dry,cut it to lengths, tie a bow aroind a bundle, and sell it to house rabbit mommies and daddies,sweet sappy suckers that we are...

One more crazy thing. Fruit tree trimmings for smoking.
I give my pear,apple and mulberry trimmings to the bunnies.
They strip them of bark. I gather what remains and use it to  smoke meats.
I just need a punchy marketing term to describe this at the farmers market. Bunny kissed?
 
Jocelyn Campbell
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Oh wow, there you are with more "the problem (waste) is the solution ideas,"!

I suppose drying the bunny poop would make it easier (in many ways) to ship. Though that could be done easily enough, I bet.

I imagine the fruit tree trimmings as smoking wood would be an easy sell, too. Nice! I wonder if chipped, or in certain size chunks might make it more appealing, though still quite doable. The "bunny kissed" idea is also epic! I think the wood, not the bark, is the best for smoking, right? So being bark-free would be advantageous, yes?

I know other folks make wreaths out of (pruned) grape vines. We're so much in the habit of composting, putting in a hugel, or burning in RMHs these kinds of things that I hadn't really thought of how easily they could be an income source for some folks. Wow. Depending on what your "surplus" is, there is probably a market for it!

Hadn't thought of the stalks of the sunchokes as sell-able fodder/animal food - that's really cool too!

Even as rural as we are, we have mail service every day (of course) and we have remarkably regular UPS and FedEx service to our homestead. I just really like the idea of these things being shipped out as they are sold, because one UPS or mail truck making all kinds of pick ups and deliveries, saves dozens of vehicles from various trips and surely saves LOADS of time for the seller!
 
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I live on the Northside of Chicago and up cycling waste is fairly easy and also almost sexy in our culture here. A lot of people put items on top of their trash cans that might be valuable to someone else. Shoes, baskets, furniture, garden tools, windows, and many other items. I have built or repurposed these things many times.

My idea concerns all the brown bags of leaves/yard waste that get put out. You could totally pick them up, compost them, and sell it back to the homes you got them from. All the while diverting organic matter from the landfill.

Also, with a little creativity, the glass could be transformed into other products. Most of the glass is single pane, old storm windows.

More recent I thought of a pumpkin pick up service or something. So many whole, uncarved pumpkins get put in the trash while they are still firm and nice. They could be collected and value added into edible food products for the community.

Similarly, my roommate collects uneaten and unused apples which are almost daily sent to the waste  bin from local school lunches. Many of them are bruised or blemished, but he makes them into apple cider and sauces. We are experimenting with dehydrating the slices and making an apple spice tea. Obviously the possibilities are endless here.

Perhaps the strangest occurrence I have seen opportunities to capitalize on waste is with potted plants. I have rescued many living, but usually sick, house plants. They are often time beautiful specimens otherwise. Either a home visit plant doctor, or a rescue and resale option is possible. Seriously, almost Everytime all that is needed is a pruning, worm castings/compost, and water. I'm talking 15ft tall banana-like palms in pots, just sitting in the garbage.

Also, I love the sunchoke idea!
 
pollinator
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I think the most important thing when picking up such an idea is to try out various ideas but in the end stick to one or two and do them well
 
William Bronson
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My son was talking about cleaning a lamb bone for a project. I suggest beatles, but he pointed out that was something of a commitment for a one off project.
Wheels turned. Sure enough, people sell cleaned bones on Etsy. Chicken leg bones at the low end, to full cow and pig skulls at the high end.
Bird skulls in particular seem like sweet spot.
Hard to clean by hand, hard for your average person to access, and light weight,so cheap to ship

Or how about sticks:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/468468678/natural-sticks-for-crafts-twigs-4-6-10?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=twigs&ref=sr_gallery_6
il_570xN.1051907654_ky2m.jpg
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I agree wholeheartedly that we all need a side hustle to bring extra income to our farms and homesteads!!!

I was curious for things like rabbits and other livestock is there another outlet other than craigslist?
 
William Bronson
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Facebook,definitely.Etsy for certain.
Forums dedicated to thke animal, plant, mineral etc.
You might get lower prices if you are dealing with other producers.
 
pollinator
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I'm not sure how I feel about some of this. Shipping goods - even if you make a profit personally - is not a costless activity. If someone order a bundle of sticks and they get shipped halfway across a continent that doesn't sound like a good use of resources.
 
William Bronson
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Fair enough. Were do you draw the line?
Is ok to ship  50lbs of organic wheat berries?
What about buying bananas in most of the world,given their shipping and preservation needs?

My electronics are not made anywhere near here.Are yours   built nearby to where you live?

Clearly these products are seen to have  higher value than sticks and bottlecaps...
Only what if they are scion wood and bottle caps for home brewing?

A lot of subjective values are at play here.
 
gardener
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When considering the selling and buying of animals and animal parts, be aware that each state has their own laws concerning this. You need to know, not only the law of the state you are in, but also that of the person you are selling to or buying from.

There are also rules on individual buy/sell/auction websites of what may or may not be allowed.

Here is a small bit from the "Code of Virginia":

Code of Virginia  § 29.1-521.
To hunt, trap, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, by any means whatever, receive for transportation or export, or import, at any time or in any manner, any wild bird or wild animal or the carcass or any part thereof, except as specifically permitted by law and only by the manner or means and within the numbers stated.

 

It does go on to mention that parts from legally killed turkey and deer may be made into things and sold, such as turkey callers, tools and utensils,etc.

Plant materials has a whole other set of rules. Most of the laws and rules are in place to stop the spread of plant diseases, bugs and to control "invasive" species.

Bottom line...do your research. (And, since I mentioned rules, remember the important rule is to always be nice.)
 
Tommie Hockett
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Karen Donnachaidh wrote:When considering the selling and buying of animals and animal parts, be aware that each state has their own laws concerning this. You need to know, not only the law of the state you are in, but also that of the person you are selling to or buying from.

There are also rules on individual buy/sell/auction websites of what may or may not be allowed.

Here is a small bit from the "Code of Virginia":

Code of Virginia  § 29.1-521.
To hunt, trap, take, capture, kill, attempt to take, capture, or kill, possess, deliver for transportation, transport, cause to be transported, by any means whatever, receive for transportation or export, or import, at any time or in any manner, any wild bird or wild animal or the carcass or any part thereof, except as specifically permitted by law and only by the manner or means and within the numbers stated.

 

It does go on to mention that parts from legally killed turkey and deer may be made into things and sold, such as turkey callers, tools and utensils,etc.

Plant materials has a whole other set of rules. Most of the laws and rules are in place to stop the spread of plant diseases, bugs and to control "invasive" species.

Bottom line...do your research. (And, since I mentioned rules, remember the important rule is to always be nice.)



Thank you Karen! I guess I need to be more specific. Other than facebook and Etsy, and craigslist do yall know of any place that is specifically devoted to the selling of rabbits? In the Texas region or Oklahoma region only. The logistics of shipping very far would be a nightmare as far as live animals go.

Also as for the websites I have looked, I just havent found any. I was hoping my fine permie peeps could help me out.

One more thing are we allowed to sell on the market place and if so where do I find the rules and regulations?
 
Karen Donnachaidh
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I apologise Tommie, I didn't mean any one person when posting the above. I just want to make sure all people are aware of the laws in their own areas.

Yes, Paul Wheaton (being the kind, generous man he is) does allow people to list animals, plants, land, tools, artworks, etc. for sale on Permies. However, the most important thing is still to know the laws of your state and that in which you are dealing with, if outside of your state.

Permies.com does not in any way guarantee the satisfaction of any party involved in the transaction, does not handle disputes that may arise and chooses not be implicated in a situation where state laws were not followed. We are far too busy infecting brains with Permaculture and in our own quest for world domination

If you would like to list rabbits for sale here, please list them in the Rabbits Forum.

Good luck.
 
Tommie Hockett
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Thank you karen you are awesome!!!
 
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We have an Upcycling business and it's amazing!  My husband is very talented and artistic and we have many return customers.  Funny story...he just asked me to quit my job and come work for him!  I am going to do it but SO nervous!  Please check out our entrepreneur video that we just entered in a contest that will name the top entrepreneur with disabilities for the Canadian prairies!


Thanks!
 
Jocelyn Campbell
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While doing data entry, I like to put shows on in the background that don't take a lot of my attention.

Lately, I've been watching a British show on Netflix called "Money for Nothing."

Most of the items found at "the tip" (a recycling center) in this show are transformed by high-level artisans into very artistic or stylish higher end items. Though some are simpler and things a lot of people could do at home.

The picture here is a screen shot of some simple cutting boards from scrap wood called "lemon boards." These are cutting boards for citrus fruit at the bar, so the fruit wouldn't be tainted by onion or garlic flavors from the kitchen cutting board. The wood was free from someone dumping it off at "the tip" and then cut, sanded, and oiled with olive oil. They were sold to local pubs for an average of £15 each.

Not bad!!
Money-for-Nothing-S1-Ep9-cutting-boards.png
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lemon boards from the show Money for Nothing - season 1, episode 9
 
pioneer
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Aw man, after reading this post I found out that people are selling hessian coffee sacks on ebay for $9 each plus postage! One of the listings said 62+ sold, so that person has made $558 profit so far!! Coffee roasters go through hessian sacks like crazy, it would be so easy to stockpile them.
 
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I've been making beach glass out of the broken glass I've pulled out of the woods (old town dump site).  I've got an endless supply of broken glass and a small rock tumbler.  We also have a collection of antique bottles and railroad spikes that is getting out of hand.  We're thinking of setting up an Etsy shop.  
 
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