Cash sitting right under your nose

Are you a creative person, an entrepreneur or an explorer looking for extra money to fund your idea while you’re out doing odd jobs…? Guess what? You’ve got cash lying around untapped!

While you’re developing that idea or creative skill, start thinking about physical things you have on hand that other people might want. We’re sure that you’ve got access to marketable goods that are sitting around gathering dust, and you could be making money off them instead.

Here are some ideas to get you started. Got others? Share them with us in the comments.

Offer parking

You may not have realized it, but if you have an unused parking spot, driveway, or open patch of dirt, you could be sitting on a revenue stream. If people often need to park in your neighborhood, advertise the space for long-term rent or put up a sign for special event parking during concerts, sports games, carnivals, farmers markets, or anything that draws a crowd.

Craigslist arbitrage

Know a lot about gadgets, furniture, or zany collectibles? If you can find good deals on Craigslist or EBay, you could make a full-time living reselling high quality goods that other people just want to get rid of. Note that it takes time to find the best deals, and you have to be constantly on the lookout, not to mention incredibly quick to respond to sellers online. We recommend setting up automatic alerts with IFTTT and a standard (but personal) reply email to blitz to sellers.

Clothing consignment

If you have an eye for fashion and are willing to do some digging, you can find some high-fashion gems at garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores and even online at sites like ThredUp. You can make good money consigning gently used designer garments on sites like The RealReal or by opening your own Etsy shop.

Recycle!

You may not believe it, but there are people who make a full-time living bringing recyclable materials to the city depot. We particularly admire the Garcia’s, who supported their kids’ educations this way. Even if you’re not ready to spend all your time looking through bins for recycling, you can make a small, but steady sum by depositing the bottles and cans you already use. Need we mention the karma?

Rent your extra space

Sites like AirBnb let you rent your home out to travelers for any length of time, so make a point to list your space whenever you’re going out of town. Have a significant other? Stay at their place while you make a little extra dough! Plus, if you have a large unused space, like a cottage, trailer, or garage, consider listing it as an office or studio space for rent on Craigslist.

Rent your car or bike

Why not create a schedule around your transportation needs and list your car or bike for rent? Thank sites like Spinlister, Getaround, and RelayRides for making it simple. You can earn cash while you’re relaxing at home or away on vacation  any time that car or bike of yours would likely be sitting in your garage.

Online scalping

Re-selling tickets can be a gamble, but in our experience, it usually pays off. You don’t even have to leave your bedroom to scalp these days. Snap up tickets when they go on presale, and list them on StubHub or other ticket sites close to the event date for a big profit. If you can afford festival tickets the day they come out, you can make even bigger sums.

There are endless opportunities to make cash by using the whole buffalo – all it takes is a little ingenuity and time devoted to listing your stuff online. Once you start making money this way, it gets so addictive, you might find it hard to stop.