Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

This isn't exactly passive but...

I used to buy old furniture, refurbish it and resell it on craigslist. I made generally about $20 - $30 an hour. I also kept things for myself sometimes and slowly replaced different furniture items with nicer and nicer items. One year, I had 4 different coffee tables in succession. I found a cool coffee table and kept it, then I found a cooler one weeks later so I kept that and sold my previous one. Repeat that 3 times.

I'd mostly troll a certain thrift shop for antique-ish and mid-century items. It doesn't take long perusing Pinterest and design blogs to get a bit of an eye for what people want to consider collectible. Plus often if you look at something and squint, you an see if shaping it up will make it into something people want. I occasionally hit some garage sales, estate sales were too high priced and competitive. Sometime going an hour before they closed, they would drop the prices super low. %75 off would be better for them for them than not selling AND having to move it to get rid of it. Not always though.

I mostly just used Old English oil or Minwax furniture wax on items. It wasn't unusual for me to buy a $20 dresser, spend an hour giving it a cleaning (with Windex or other dollar store cleaners) and an oiling and sell it for $80 - $125.

I would do some small carpentry repairs on items, usually broken drawers, loose legs and occasionally a crack in the piece that was on a non-essential or non-structural area. You learn to avoid the repairs that are time consuming, difficult to get right or especially those--this is hard to describe--that will either be super easy or will fail no matter what you try with no in between. I avoided painting things, too time consuming plus I hate covering good wood. If anything is missing a knob or matching decorative hardware--it was an instant "no". You'll never find one that matches just right without spending a ton of time--if at all--and if you replace them all, it's expensive. Plus new knobs usually look weird on an antique and ruin the aesthetic of a mid century item.

I have had dozens of people tell me that I am a magician because I could take an old dried out looking item and bring the finish back. Honestly, it was the oils and the wood itself. I's take a piece like a dresser, table or chair, and after cleaning it for 5 - 15 minutes, just spend another 20 wiping the oil on. You just go over every bit over and over to rub the oil in well and also that takes the excess off. Give it a 2 minute wipe down an hour later if you can, using the same rag but without adding oil. (sometimes the wood soaks the oil into itself, but then it's wet and starts to expend. Then the oil gets pushed back out and sits on the surface. This step gets rid of that.) Give it a super light coat of oil the next day, looking for areas you missed or that soaked up more or less oil than others. This takes maybe 5 minutes.

Dressers were my staple. Everyone has at least one dresser, people use them in other rooms for storage or decor. Chairs were okay deeding and also would sell in even number better. Coffee tables, especially mid century items went easily also. Headboards and foot-boards I would buy if they were exceptional in appearance or super, super cheap. With those, any physical repair needed would also deem them a "no".

All my supplies fit in a dollar store plastic basket that was about 14"x14"x12". A few bottles of surface cleaner, oil in dark medium and light and a can of wax. Then a bunch of rags, use the same rag for the oils, one for each color. and one for wax only. Some steel wool for scuffs or hard stains, a small hammer, a few screw drivers and a ton of different sized screws and nails, almost all in the smaller than average to tiny varieties. I very occasionally used a drill and do have a couple long bar clamps for gluing.

The skill needed to bring a finish back is minimal. I'd say if you can clean a bathroom well or polish a chrome bumper, you can make a $10 thrift store item look like a $150 one. Just rub the stuff on and it does the work. People will call you an artist and not realize they could do the same.

I sold on craigslist and usually the people came by in the evenings when I was just making dinner or getting stuff ready for the next day anyway. I have a covered porch so they'd never come into my house, I have a large dog with a scary bark, plus I had a few hidden aces up my sleeve in case anyone got cagey. No one ever did. Craigslist can be a gutter of society but the people wanted what I sold were about 20 somethings, soccer moms, "artsy neighborhood dwellers" of varying demographics or empty nesters. I had a 4 text limit and if someone texted me more times than that, I'd do my best not to arrange to meet with them. That sounds like a dick move, they just want to know about the item, right? But like clockwork, those were the people who would no-show, super low-ball me once they got here or reschedule 20 minutes before they were due. People got one strike and they were out.

The thrift store I went to to was near where I would run errands and so I would stop in there for 5 minutes every time I went to get groceries or whatever. I made one special trip a week on Saturday mornings, right when they opened. I was there 1 - 4 times a week, usually about 3. So it did not take much time out of my day or routine to get stuff. It came to a close because the one thrift store I used to get stuff from really fell off in their selection. In the Pinterest craze, more people started keeping things and "Up-cycling" them themselves. My store also lost a deal with some organization and suffered a drop in items. They also used to make regular pick-ups in areas and I think they just saturated it an sort of squeezed the sponge dry.

I write nonfiction books.

I used to be a magazine/newspaper editor. About eight years ago, I made a career change and became a full-time programmer. But I wanted to continue to write. So I wrote a book proposal, found an agent who loved it, found some publishers who were interested, and went with a publisher who offered a two-book deal.

My first book, "Experimenting With Babies: 50 Amazing Science Projects You Can Perform on Your Kid" (http://www.experimentingwithbabies.com) ended up selling pretty well.

My second book, "Correlated: Surprising Connections Between Seemingly Unrelated Things," (http://www.correlated.org) did not do nearly as well. In fact, it bombed pretty hard. I assumed my book writing career was over.

But because of the strength of "Experimenting With Babies," I ended up getting two more book deals, each of which follow a similar format.

"Experiments for Newlyweds: 50 Amazing Science Projects You Can Perform With Your Spouse" (https://newlywed.science) came out earlier this month. I'm really proud of it. You should give it to any engaged couples you know.

And "Experimenting on Kids: 50 Amazing Science Projects You Can Perform on Children Ages 2-5" will hit bookstores in May 2020.

If you factor in advances, royalties, foreign rights, and other secondary deals, the amount I've made from my books is about what I make in a year as a programmer. So it's a nice chunk of change, but also a decent amount of work.

Advice to anyone else who's considering writing a book:

* You can do well with self-publishing if you're really good at marketing your own stuff, already have a strong platform, and don't need to depend on an advance. If any of those things aren't true, you're probably better trying to get a book deal with a traditional publisher.

* Writing the book is often not the hardest part. Selling the book is often the hardest part. If you just want to write, but you don't want to sell, this might not be the side project for you.

* If you have a literary agent, you typically pay 15 percent commission. And boy is it worth it.

TL;DR: not making money yet, but enjoying stop motion animation of marble track construction.

Back in the day, my brother and I would use Legos to build tracks for marbles, using roof pieces as ramps. Eventually I started making marble tracks out of popsicle sticks. Over a period of some years, I built a track 2+ feet (70cm) tall with lots of tracks intertwining each other all the way down.

After moving and leaving that old track behind, I made Marble Track 2 over an eight-month period in my free time at work.

I posted the finished track on YouTube[1] and comments fell into 2 categories.

Trolls: U suck, it's garbage, get a gf, etc.

Fans: U rule, it's amazing, make a tutorial, etc.

Me: "Make a tutorial? about how to make a marble track?? hmmmm that gives me an idea!"

So far, I have about 11 minutes[2] worth of (silent) video of little pipe cleaner characters placing wooden pieces onto a stage. They are answering the question "how do you make a marble track?"

The project has its own website[3], which reinforces the story that the characters are building the track.

(fake spoiler) However, it's actually me behind the scenes moving the characters to make the movie in which they build the track!

300+ hours of livestream[4] answer the question "how do you make a stop motion movie which answers the question of how to make a marble track?"

The livestreams are long, dull, often quiet, interspersed with a few ramblings that go through my head.

So, back on track (ahem) for this thread, I believe there are people who'd be interested in this project, and eventually we will figure out how it can be monetized. I am just enjoying the creation process and open to possibilities.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlUqu6QE7bw

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KjsYc4Mb5g&list=PL0osPGt21FB48UwuhtCUoi9JndC9YDHAZ

[3] https://www.marbletrack3.com/

[4] https://www.marbletrack3.com/episode/

* Act as a standby for dish pits at the local restaurants - filling in only when someone doesn't show since I don't want to take what could be a lifeline job for someone AND having a standby like me means they can keep their job instead of just being a no-show

* Write articles for other people - usually on topics I really don't have a lot of knowledge or feeling about to start.

* Mow lawns - I'm allergic to grass. Builds character.

* Labor - the harder the better. Beats the gym and there is no better way to turn a Budweiser into a $100 beer than sweating your tail off digging a ditch.

* Help startups bootstrap or otherwise avoid "the man" while they find their dream.

* Sell chicken eggs when the hens push more than I can French toast.

* Make films, music, stories, pamphlets...often these cost more than they make, but I refuse to call them losses. Slightly passive income stream.

* Consult - since I was 11 in '81 I've been paid for helping people with their broken technology. I'm not exactly on the edge of all tech like I was, but I still serve a purpose.

* This is an odd one, but I have found it at least as profitable as a few side projects over the years. Be lucky. Actually look for money on the ground ($143 last year), win prizes, expect financial benefits from transactions, assume your (educated) choices will make money.

* Sell plant starts - a little late for this year, but it's one of those things you can save seeds from your regular groceries / food prep at home and early Spring...ba-da-bing ba-da-bang...kind of almost free plants!

``` https://www.quartoknows.com/books/9780760361603/No-Waste-Kitchen-Gardening.html

``` * Investment clubs - getting a small community of a tech nerd, business geek, social butterfly, and either an accountant type or law dog, plus whatever else you happen to be friendly with, you can end up with a very smart engine for investing. Invest in either public stock, local businesses, people with ideas, or projects of your team's own creation.

Have fun, and profit!

I've written a couple of books that sell on Amazon and Apple iBooks - it takes zero minutes per month work for me, but brings a nice little side income. I won't get rich, but it's nice to have the money come in for doing nothing after I hit the "publish" button. Even the printed books cost nothing.

I'm about to hit publish on a photo coffee-table book from my three years around Africa, and I'll write an Africa guide book and The Road Chose Me Vol 2 in the next 12-18 months.

* The Road Chose Me Volume 1: Two years and 40,000 miles from Alaksa to Argentina (https://amzn.to/2vfCYvn)

Stories and lessons from two years driving my Jeep Wrangler down the Pan-American Highway

* Work Less to Live Your Dreams: A practical guide to saving money and living your dreams (https://amzn.to/2OD6UtA)

An eBook about how exactly I can afford to take years off work to do what I want and live my dreams.

* West Africa Myths, Misconceptions and Misnomers (https://amzn.to/2veyQMt)

After driving the length of the continent, I collected a bunch of information that is extremely helpful to anyone else thinking of doing similar. The vast majority of the Western Worlds "knowledge" of West Africa is so out of date it's useless. My book is from info I learned during my drip from mid 2016 to late 2017, so it's relevant