Get Rich Quick if You're a Kid
You see something that you absolutely want at the store. However, you do not have enough money right then to buy it. If you would like to know how to get money fast to buy something you want, then please feel free to read on.
Contents
Steps
Becoming an Expert Salesperson
- Sell old electronics or mechanical items that you don't use anymore. Cell phones, MP3 players, or camcorders that you don't use anymore are all fair game. They are actually still valuable! Just be sure that you perform a factory reset on the device before selling it. If you don't do that, the buyer will be really confused with weird calls and songs they may not like. You can sell them on websites like eBay or Amazon or even to your friends.
- Do some re-selling. Buy multi-packs of candy for 50 cents and sell them at school, a candy stand, etc. for $1 each. If you manage to sell twenty in a day, you'll make $20. Alternatively, you could make a lemonade stand and sell 1 glass for 50 cents or $1.
- See if local businesses would pay you to promote their business or even work for them. Because this is a sales job, it means you have to go up to people and talk them into visiting a store or buying a product/service. Just put a smile on your face and remember that most adults love children. You were born to sell!
- Have a yard sale. Do you have any junk that you don't need or any toys that you don't play with anymore? Sell them! One man's trash is another man's treasure. If you live in an apartment this may be hard. If so, then contact a friend and ask if you can "borrow their yard" for a day. Don't forget to get a Garage Sale permit from your city or township.
- Make a business of your own. If you know how to make bookmarks, for example, make them, and then set up a stand on the edge of your yard, or hand out fliers at school. Just know that some schools frown on this practice. Be sure to talk to your school before doing this. Some quick and easy business ideas for you to consider:
- Make toys for pets. People love their cats, dogs, parakeets, and fish. Why not design toys for their pets to enjoy?
- Make food arrangements. Candy, fruit, and other foods are begging to be arranged in nice ways for people to show off before they eat it. An easy way to turn a nice profit.
- Make use of holidays. It's Halloween, so why not offer to carve pumpkins? It's Christmas, so why not make homemade ornaments for people to hang on their trees?
- Offer to make scrapbooks for other people. Scrapbooking is a very profitable industry around the world, and for good reason: People want to capture their memories in one place and cherish them. Offer to help people do that.
Making Money by Sharing your Skills with Others
- Start tutoring sessions for $5 an hour. This is an effective way to earn money and works really well if you are excellent in certain school subjects such as mathematics and language. Really try to teach your pupil different ways of completing problems or thinking about the subject. You won't get that many repeat customers if you're not a great teacher and you charge a lot of money for the privilege.This will or may not be hard if parents want you to tutor their kids on the subject your bad at.
- Make money by playing music. People love hearing music, and live music is even better. If you know how to play an instrument and you're not making money playing it, you're missing out on an opportunity. Try these simple ideas to monetize your skills:
- Try teaching other kids an instrument you already know. If you know how to play any instruments (guitar, drums, piano, flute, etc.), advertise to teach others for $5-$10 a week.
- If you provide musical entertainment, go in a public area and put out a hat and a sign to advertise your "act." People may give you a bit of money if you're good enough. They will probably only give you change, but you could make lots, if you keep at it. Ensure beforehand that the location allows this type of activity so that you don't end up in trouble.
- Do animation commissions. Some people like to have an animations of their own, and if you know how to animate, a 30-second animation can cost up to $30! Animation is easy to learn and is an awesome way to make money. Start to learn how to animate by getting a simple animation program such as Scratch, or if you are already pretty good at animating (or drawing) go to Deviantart.
- Create a website. Make a website that features something that you know is insanely popular and have a section of your website devoted to a fan club for the thing/animal/food etc. Ask people to join for $20 per person, and voila! You're rich, if people think it is worth it! Most of the popular website names are already in use, but if you think of a good one that is not in use, then your website could be a hit!
- Start a YouTube series to promote your talent. If you get popular, you can apply for the Partnership program and get paid. (If you are under 18, you will need your parent's email address, but that shouldn't keep you from trying.) If you can suddenly get your video to go viral, you could be making tons of money each month, with the added possibility to make more with successive videos.
- Try video game tutorials. What's the latest video game craze? If you can make or do something awesome in a popular video game, you'll definitely get some followers. Minecraft, Halo, Call of Duty, Bioshock, and more are currently very popular.
- Teach people how to solve a popular problem. Do you know a really cool way to boil an egg? Do you have a surefire way to ask a boy or girl out? Make a video about it and watch the views rack up.
- Sell your artwork. You can draw amazing pictures for people, perhaps, or maybe even take wonderful black and white pictures if you're a good artist. Why not make some extra money on the side by selling your paintings, landscapes, or profiles?
- There are lots of online websites, such as Etsy, eBay, CafePress, Kijiji, or Facebook Yard Sales where you can list or auction off your artwork to people around the world.
- Teach someone how to use electronics. You're a computer whiz; you make jokes about 404 errors; you have dreams about assembling and disassembling all sorts of electrical gadgets. If you fit this profile, you should definitely consider making some money by helping other people out. A computer is an awful thing to waste.
- Why not make a website advertising your expertise? Of course, advertise the fact that you're still young, but offer great prices and Get a Testimonial from a Customer describing how professional and useful you are. Who knows — your business could take off!
- Put on a show in your neighborhood. Who says you need to be a grown-up in order to put on a show? It can be a talent show, a sketch comedy show, or something else. If you're into doing a one-man thing, you can keep all the profits of your show. If you involve other people in your show, you should of course be prepared to pay everyone who helped you out or performed with you in your show. The fee should be $5 per ticket.
- Make PowerPoint presentations for people. If you are especially good at designing PowerPoints, you can get information from people and then format a presentation out of it for them. Especially at online sites such as Odesk or Elance, you can work freelance for people if you are chosen for the job.
Making Money at Home
- Do some chores around the house. Your parents might give you an allowance. A high allowance will work for getting rich quick. Chores without being asked are great bonus points. Even if you get five bucks a week, know that this money can add up very, very quickly.
- Check for change in the car and under the sofa. You never know what you might find! Look anywhere for loose change. Just make sure that your parents aren't planning to use that extra change.
- Ask your parents to give you a bigger allowance. If you don't have an allowance, ask for one, but don't bother your parents. To convince your parents that you deserve a bigger allowance, do your chores extra well, do extra chores that you don't really need to do but need to be done, and be super helpful.
- Make an agreement with your parents. For example, tell your parents that you'll earn at least an "A" or "B" in all of your classes if you can get an extra $20 per month. Then, both parties are happy: Your parents are happy you're doing well in school, and you're happy that you get that extra dough.
- Run errands for your parents. This works especially if you have a means of transportation, such as a car, but it's still doable even if you don't. Walking places is an option, as is taking the bus or asking a friend for a ride.
- Clean your house. Cleaning your parents' house can earn you cash in a few hours, especially if you do a good job. Make sure to hit the windows, the awnings and gutters.
- Make sure to get the inside of the house as well as the outside. Your parents probably don't want to do the kitchen or the bathroom, but because you're super-motivated to make some extra money, it won't be a problem for you. Get the proper cleaning supplies (all-purpose cleaner, rags, gloves, etc.) and get to work!
Making Money by Selling Simple Services
- Depending on how old you are, try babysitting. You probably won't be able to babysit until you're a teenager, but babysitting can be an easy and quick way of making tons of money.
- After you babysit your first family, ask for a recommendation or "referral" from the family. It'll be a lot easier to get new families to employ you if you come with a recommendation. Just make sure the recommendation is a good one and you know the people!
- Try pet-sitting. Ask someone if you can pet sit for extra cash. Find out who is going away on vacation or simply just going away for the day and offer to take care of their pet for the day/duration of their vacation.
- You can also make a lot of money walking dogs, especially if you walk multiple dogs in a day. You can start your business by putting up a poster in your neighborhood that lists how much you charge and the times when you're available. You should charge about $5 per walk; you can begin to charge more as you do it more often and become more experienced. You can start by walking dogs for free to build up the experience and then start charging for your services.
- Contact a local news agent or post office and ask to deliver newspapers for a price. There's no glamour in having a paper route, but it can be really good pay. The pro is that it's a pretty easy job. The con is that you have to wake up really early (usually) in order to deliver your papers.
- Mow lawns. Ask your parents to borrow their lawn mower and start going up to your neighbors, offering to mow their lawns. Few people like the idea of mowing their lawns, so you can generally charge people pretty good money in order for your service.
- Try setting up a plan with your neighbors: Tell them you'll mow their lawn every weekend for an entire month. Tell them you'll give them a good deal for letting you mow their lawn four weekends in a row.
- Spice up the mowing by going diagonally instead of using straight lines. This looks really fancy and it's just as easy to do as straight lines. Of course, ask your neighbors first whether you can cut diagonal lines.
- Take pictures of your mow jobs and show them to your neighbors. This should make them less apprehensive about hiring you if they have any apprehension.
- Do other work around the yard. Learn how to prune trees, rake leaves, plant flowers, or sweep the sidewalks. The more you know how to do around the yard, the more employable you'll be. That means more money. That means becoming richer quicker.
- Rent a pressure washer for the weekends. Renting this will cost approximately $50. Get agreements ahead of time to do as many driveways as you can and price it at somewhere around $50 each and you'll be rich over the weekend.
- Caution: a pressure washer may damage property, splash dirt on automobiles, and hurt people's eyes and such so if you decide on doing this step, please be careful while using the pressure washer and do not play around with it. Ask one of your parents to help you figure out how to use it before operating it.
- If it's winter you can shovel the snow in a driveway and side walk or clean the snow off cars. You can start with low prices then start to get higher prices. Start off with your own driveway and then start asking neighbours. Some people don't have time to shovel snow before school/work. You can get rich easily with 15-20 dollars per customer.
Tips
- Always bring a phone with you if you are babysitting with at least two emergency contacts and a list of any medical conditions the kid(s) have.
- Just don't push it, or you won't get anything!
- Don't do anything illegal/unsafe or give in to peer pressure for money. There will be serious consequences if you do. So no gambling, drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes.
- Be inventive! People will pay for very unique and weird things.
- Be honest. If you're saving for an Xbox don't say you're trying to save animals, because when the people you are working for find out, they won't do business with you again and you probably won't have many customers after word gets around. This is also fraud and you can go to prison for this.
- Sell homemade jewelry. Even scoobies, cra-Z-looms, cobra bracelets etc., sell quite well.
- If you're going to sell something, go to the houses on your block and advertise (or have another person do it. Keep in mind you will probably have to pay this person as well).
- If you have any elder family members and they can't do much ask them whether you can wash their car or do their clothes or clean their house, but don't push it on the money part, they will usually give you money or a treat without you asking.
- Make cool crafts and sell them to your family and friends.
- Save your change. It is a fast way to earn money. Then, if you have a lot of pennies or nickels or dimes, you can get coin rolls from the bank and then trade your coins in for bills.
- If your company becomes a hit, try to hire new people and expand your company.
- Sell things to a consignment store. You don't get all the money that you normally would, but the store will give you a profit if it sells well.
- If you are babysitting, dog-sitting, or being a mother's helper let your employer(s) choose how much to pay you.
- Sell any old jewellery or clothes or toys which you do not need anymore and sell them to friends and neighbors. Selling to family is hard, so just sell them to friends and neighbors who are interested.
- Advertise! You should add a contact number, but do not use your personal number, use your home phone number instead! Or create a seperate email or number for people to contact you with.
- Manage your money well by thinking through all the steps of managing it.
- If you know how to make beautiful dresses and gifts, make them and sell them. You might get extra money.
- Try selling old toys and crafts. As long as they are of good enough quality, chances are that what you don't want may come in handy for someone else, as well as earn you some cash.
- Having a business partner can be really fun! Just make sure your pay is equal and you are not left doing all the work. If your partner is being unfair with the profits ask him/her politely to stop or leave. You don't want a lost business partner to be a lost friend!
- Don't make things too expensive because people won't buy them.
- If you decide to do a stand of some sort outside, make a sign large and colorful enough for people to notice in their car. You may also play music from your phone or dance around to get attention. Remember to be polite; and never force purchases on any costumers and use your manners.
- Make sure it is legal to sell items in your neighborhood, not all places allow it.
- Always make sure your parents know about what you are doing. You should always make sure that you have their approval!
- Be effective, kind and polite; your employer(s) might give you a tip.
- Have a safe place to keep the money you earn, so you don't lose it.
- Don't be rude - otherwise your employer (s) will not hire you ever again.
- Don't sell drugs, or do them for that matter its not worth getting caught.
- Don't ask people for money unless you've done a service for them.
- Be patient.
- Try having a bake sale with cookies or other treats.
- Don't sell stuff at school unless you have permission to do so.
- While babysitting, try to avoid teaching the kids bad things, if you mess this job up, you are sure not to get another! Being an irresponsible influence will only earn you a bad babysitting reputation.
- If you earn enough money, you should talk to your parents about setting up a savings account for you, that way if your saving up for something big (XBox, iPod, Laptop, ect.) It will be less likely for you to lose it. It will also be harder for someone to steal it.
- Saving pop bottles and cans also help with collecting money. Mostly all bottles and cans go for 10 cents at bottle returns.
- Make sure that your parents know where you are if you are going to be out of the house. You want to stay safe at all times.
- Knotting scarves and hats (if know how to) and then selling them may be a good choice. I find that $1 per hour you worked on it seems like a suitable way to price them.
Warnings
- Be careful when dealing with strangers; avoid them, and never go into their house. If a person is acting suspiciously, get away and find a trusted adult quickly.
- Be nice to the people you ask. They won't hire you if you are mean or immature. Make sure that you use your manners!
- Don't try to do things beyond your capability. If you can't control a 100 lb dog charging into the road after a squirrel, don't offer to walk that dog.
- Be patient. If you ask your parents to give you a bigger allowance and they say no, don't freak out. Show them that you aren't a baby and you can be mature.
- Make sure you have your parents' permission to do all of this first. Clear each job with them and get their approval.
- At some schools you could get in serious trouble for selling things on campus.
- If you do anything wrong, don't keep it a secret, calm down and tell an adult.
- Only do one or two jobs at a time or things could get out of control.
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