Best ways to teens to make money?

[cornfieldj]

I love it. Good for him.

When I was a teen, I bought and sold record albums (remember those?). I would pick them up at yard sales and flea markets and sell them at a local used record shop. I was paying 25 or 50 cents and selling them for a few dollars.

Of course I do! I remember 45s, too : ) Maybe the coolest thing about the sneaker business is, it kind of curbed his own intense desires for them. He became much more choosy. He no longer wants every single pair - just keeps a few that he really loves, and then he sells them after a while. I am also really proud of him for having a problem (parents who refused to buy him lots of sneakers) and solving it (starting a business).

[cooliemae]

While this isn't for everyone due to its nature, when I was 15, I started working a couple days a week on a ranch. The rancher paid me cash to do anything from painting, lawn mowing, fence mending, etc. I ended up working for the rancher until i 23 and learned quite a lot as well while doing it.

[sv2007]

The best job is lifeguarding. You just sit there and get paid. For smaller pools there's a bit more work (like test water/add chemicals/stock towels but you also get to throw pool parties).

[sv2007]

I just setup my own small business buying small items in bulk from China and selling them on eBay for a profit as a teenager. - it isn't as complex as you may think!

I did something similar during college/grad school, except I never held inventory and advertised on usenet news groups. Later I flipped the model and collected commissions on my vendors who I set up to sell on usenet for themselves. For a while, it was actually pretty decent money without me putting in too much time.

But as a teenager (high schooler), the best job is lifeguarding.

[StormRichards]

The best job is lifeguarding. You just sit there and get paid.

I don't want you as lifeguard for my child

[sv2007]

I don't want you as lifeguard for my child

The sad truth is that I was one of the best guards (strong, good swimmer, attentive, and always on time). Teens just don't make great lifeguards; many are too skinny (weak) to save an adult if he/she must jump in; may even be too weak to use a pole to pull someone in.

But pools hires lots of teens, and that's what we have (too few professional guards because the pay is too low). It is a great job for a teen. Back in the 90's, my pay was $12-$15/hr depending on the pool. Training was free: advanced life saving and CPR/first aid were offered at my high school as a PE elective. Freshman year in college, I took a WSI class thinking I might work as a swim instructor (which paid $20/hr); but I never worked as a guard or instructor after high school (other jobs paid better and is even easier -- well, may be not, but way more fun).

[Mjenn]

I don't think a teen could get away with it these days, but I was a horse trainer -- I spent most of my free time and money at the horse farm anyway, so when I was 14 I worked shoveling manure and when I was 16 I was upgraded to trainer.

Back in the 90s at 16 I was earning between 10-20 dollars per hour (depending on how many I was training in an hour) for around 15 hours a week in highschool. It was great.

I cannot think of a single time I was ever asked to have contractual responsibility in any job I have had in my life. Guess I have missed out on a lot of money making opportunities, but I do OK for myself.

[thestrongprofessional]

Selling pasta in college

When I was in college, I started a pasta catering service targeting students that went to my university. We advertised on campus and soon we were able to generate some business from different clubs and organizations on campus. Our biggest event was for 150 people and generated almost $650 in pure profit! There are always creative ways to make money. I would start with selling some food or drink product. People are always hungry/thirsty.

Raphael

[TexasHusker]

My teen paints street address numbers on concrete curbs for $20 a piece. He just does this in the summer, but it's pretty easy to earn from $40 to $100 in a morning's work. In the afternoon he hits the golf course.

[FLA]

my teens both worked in the fancy dining room of the most expensive senior living center in town. They made $10-11 an hour (and complained about that), learned true serving skills if they ever need to be servers again, learned how to deal with the elderly, etc.

DS went off to luthier school as planned, finished and finally woke up to the fact that this is not a lucrative or highly employable field. Because he loved dealing with the elderly so much, he came home and has decided to be a geriatric social worker. I never thought he would go to a "real" college or do anything remotely like he plans on doing. I'm very proud of him and that teen job changed the course of his life.

His sister did the same job and hated it every minute of it. It only confirmed for her that there was nothing in the medical field that interested her (both parents worked in the medical field). She, unlike DS, has worked very hard in HS and has been directly admitted into the business school at one of our State Universities. She went on to work at Marshall's, which she seems to like. She has caught 6 thieves so far and gets a bonus of a credit for the vending machine, lol. Perhaps she should be a detective instead. Maybe Marshall's will change her career path, too!

I think teens working is a good way to let them figure out how the world works and how much living on minimum wage would suck.

[scfr]

When I was in college, I started a pasta catering service targeting students that went to my university. We advertised on campus and soon we were able to generate some business from different clubs and organizations on campus. Our biggest event was for 150 people and generated almost $650 in pure profit! There are always creative ways to make money. I would start with selling some food or drink product. People are always hungry/thirsty.

Raphael

Love it. I remember there were a couple guys on my campus who started a calzone delivery service, then a little coffee shop, and after graduation started an events planning business.

[StormRichards]

When I was in college, I started a pasta catering service targeting students that went to my university. We advertised on campus and soon we were able to generate some business from different clubs and organizations on campus. Our biggest event was for 150 people and generated almost $650 in pure profit! There are always creative ways to make money. I would start with selling some food or drink product. People are always hungry/thirsty.

Raphael

Love it. I remember there were a couple guys on my campus who started a calzone delivery service, then a little coffee shop, and after graduation started an events planning business.

These are nice little stories but not really relevant to this thread. Sure, a college student can still be a teenager, but the OP clearly references minors in his post.

[disneysteve]

There are always creative ways to make money. I would start with selling some food or drink product. People are always hungry/thirsty.

These are nice little stories but not really relevant to this thread. Sure, a college student can still be a teenager, but the OP clearly references minors in his post.

I fail to see how Raphael's comment, quoted above, isn't relevant to the thread. Yes, he wasn't a minor when he started the business in college but the idea could just as well be implemented by someone younger.

[kork13]

My wife & I went out tonight for dinner & a movie, and our daycare provider's daughter (13 y/o, who just finished a babysitting class) was thrilled to have the opportunity to watch our son for a few hours... and I appreciated the cut-rate price she charged! It was also nice to see that as soon as my wife paid her, her mom was encouraging to start saving it up.

I made money in my teens babysitting & mowing lawns. I tried getting a job at a photo shop, but my parents heartily forbade it... They didn't want me taking time away from my school work. My younger brothers had better luck (or benefited from my persistent pleading for a chance to get a "normal" job), and one worked as a car washer/lot attendant at a car dealership, then later at Circuit City (pre-bankruptcy... and totally not his fault )

[gustavowoltmann66]

I just setup my own small business buying small items in bulk from China and selling them on eBay for a profit as a teenager. - it isn't as complex as you may think!

Hello, i am also starting a new project doing dropshipping in ebay. I hope we make enough money!

Gustavo Woltmann