How Your Teenage Kid Can Make Money Online
I have decided to write this blog post because I just got another e-mail from this dude and it put a big smile on my face :)
A while ago I have received an e-mail from a 14-year-old Jeremy.
He has been reading my Internet Marketing blog and told me how we would love to make money online but he couldn't sign up for any affiliate networks because he wasn't of legal age. He couldn't buy hosting or a domain name because of the same reason, lack of Paypal account and a credit card. I felt authentic curiosity and motivation in his e-mail so after a few replies I was able to figure out a plan of action for him.
Money Making Plan.
- I told Jeremy to ask his mother if she would help him to sell old books on Amazon and she agreed to do so. Basically he needed her "identity" to set up the account and so on.
- Then I explained to Jeremy how to search Amazon for BESTSELLING books and print our a list of 20 most popular books.
- Jeremy would go to his local Thrift shops after school and try to find book that he has noted in his top 20 list, most of the time he would find several copies at ridiculous prices of $0.5-$1 per book.
- He would post these books on Amazon and all of them sold and made him a profit of 4-6$ per book, in some rare cases he made over 10$ per sale.
Five months later Jeremy wrote me a letter about being all excited since he was able to buy a used iPhone4 with his earnings and he was now paying his monthly phone bill all by himself. This is when I recommended to step up his game and expand :)
Jeremy has installed an ISBN scanner app on his phone and now he doesn't need to create lists of top selling books. He just goes to the shop, scans the books with his iPhone and makes sure the book is popular and sells well, if it does, he buys it! This makes the whole process a lot faster.
This is how you or your kid could make some extra cash!
P.S. I have to admit the idea wasn't entirely mine. My girlfriend once told me she used to buy used designer clothes and purses at thrift shops when she was a teenager and sell them on eBay. I asked her if she actually made any money and she told me how she bought a purse for $5 and sold it for $100... So when Jeremy contacted me I remembered that story, that's how I came up with that plan.
Recent Comments
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wow... just image when he is of legal age and out of school with more time to spare. He can expand his business, and will already understand many concepts to online marketing. He will do great.
Good for you for helping him out!
Man, that's a really amazing story and I respect the kid for taking action and actually doing what it takes to make money. He's determined and didn't chicken out even after his friends laughed at him. Now he could buy the games he wants to play without having to ask mom and dad.
Respect to you for giving him a plan of action he could use. Really, great story. I have to share this.
As I understood that was his ultimate goal - to not ask his parents for any money because his mother isn't making much money :(
I wish everyone had kids like him. Necessity is the mother of ingenuity (or something like that).
This is a great idea. I know adults who would love to make an extra $300 a month. Amazon also buys your old books. I was able to sell some of my books back to them after I was done reading them. They send a prepaid mailing label and everything. What do you have on bookshelf collecting dust?
The books I have on my bookshelves are collecting dust for only a few months because I constantly re-read them :)
But yes, this could be an awesome and fun sideline for everyone, not only the teenagers :)
Alex, great story. Good to know some kids are interested in making money and not video games and other waste of time things kids do today. Thanks for sharing. Debbie
Hi, Debbie!
I am always surprised and happy to see teenagers trying to achieve something more than a high score in World of Warcraft :)
Awesome! Just yesterday I talked about what I am learing at WA to my 13-old boy. He seemed interested and as he doesn´t like school (tooboring!), I hope to motivate him with your story even a little bit more! Thanks for sharing!
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Great tips!
Just had to check it up for Sweden and found a site for me to sell of my old "library" from the boxes in the basement :)
Thanks for the comment :)
Is that website only for Sweden?
Yes Ithink it's only for Sweden:
http://www.bokborsen.se/
Pris means Price :) Hey I speak Swedish now! Hahaha
Bra jobbat ;)
You might use that site to learn more swedish :D