| ----- | |
| --- 2591592 | |
| I'm looking for a side gig where I can build stuff in my garage. I'm thinking about building custom arcade cabinets. I live near a military base, so I have access to many immature 18 year olds who make terrible financial decisions, so it's kind of perfect. Have any of you had success doing something like this? | |
| Post other /diy/ side hustles and success stories. | |
| --- 2591643 | |
| >>2591592 (OP) | |
| the time,effort & cash that goes into making a cab (to sell) isn't worth the payoff, razor thin margins | |
| plus do you really want to do tech support for retarded boots? | |
| --- 2591669 | |
| >>2591643 | |
| Really? Seems like you could sell one for 100-200 more than the cost to build, even more if you pick up cheap PCs and screens from thrift stores. Not bad for 1-2 days of work. | |
| Or maybe I just have unrealistic expectations. | |
| --- 2591673 | |
| >>2591669 | |
| how many 18 yr olds give a shit about toys that were popular 30 years ago. | |
| --- 2591680 | |
| >>2591673 | |
| Enough of them, but enlighten me then. | |
| What do zogbots want? | |
| --- 2591719 | |
| >>2591592 (OP) | |
| Seems like Gen-Xers would be the real market for those machines. Video pinball might also bring in some Boomers. If you're interested in either for personal use, go ahead and make a couple just to get a feel for how much time it will take (you'll get better and faster but this at least will get you in the ballpark for effort involved). | |
| I've been thinking about building an arcade basketball game for my home. The commercial models are just too expensive and the consumer models are complete crap. I'd like to make something in-between that has the fun of the arcade and uses the same size basketballs but doesn't need to be indestructible like that actual arcade units. Not sure if there would be a market for those, but at least I'll enjoy playing it. | |
| --- 2591721 | |
| >>2591719 | |
| Pic to show how much of a gap there is in the arcade models and the typical home model. There should be room for something in-between. | |
| --- 2591729 | |
| Hey OP, I'm never gonna do it, got too many projects as it is, so here's a crumb I'd be willing to toss. | |
| It's not actually profitable, at least, unlikely to be, but I'd love to see non-electrical arcade games / interactive toys. | |
| You see, you've got board games, which are basically printed text, then you got electromechanical games, which are too expensive / antiquated, and then you got video games, which make you fucking retarded (t. ex-gaymer). | |
| What this world needs is a modern, but still non-modern version of pic related, with paddles and maybe a few bumpers. | |
| Should be easy enough to make too, literally on the level of a cribbage board. | |
| I'd be willing to pay like $150 - $200 for analog pinball, | |
| But, again, I'm autistic as fuck, and am by no means a representation of the average normalfag NPC. | |
| --- 2591730 | |
| >>2591729 | |
| Oh yeah, also some cool stuff: | |
| >adding a challenge element to marble runs | |
| >indoor target skill game, something replayable | |
| so on and so forth. | |
| Pic related would be cool. | |
| --- 2591848 | |
| >>2591592 (OP) | |
| >live near military base | |
| make and sell your own gourmet crayons | |
| --- 2591852 | |
| >>2591592 (OP) | |
| I take used furnaces, test and fix them, and sell them to slumlords and other scumbags. I make anywhere from $150 to $400 profit on them and for an extra $500 or so I'll come to your shitty rental or flip house and slam it in. No warranties, it's all profit. | |
| In summer, I do the same with AC units. If I do an install and the old AC still runs I take it home, clean it and slap some new parts in it, and sell it. There's always plenty of lowlifes looking for cheap units. | |
| --- 2591953 | |
| >>2591848 | |
| Wrong branch, but if it was a marine base I'd definitely try that. | |
| --- 2592077 | |
| Cornhole boards sell for stupid prices given how little work is involved in making them. Slap on a team logo and you can mark it up an extra 50%. | |
| --- 2592811 | |
| I saw someone mention building lag switches for online games, but I have a hard time believing there's a big enough market to justify it. | |
| Thoughts? | |
| --- 2592823 | |
| >>2592077 | |
| This. | |
| People pay $200+ for boards only covered in decals. | |
| --- 2593175 | |
| >>2591643 | |
| He could make it easily duplicatable - assembly line stuff. It's almost as easy to cut panels for 1 as it is for 10. So have all your parts pre-cut and ready to go once you find a model that sells well, then you can slap them together quickly. You can sell these to bars too. You won't get rich, but it'll keep you out of trouble. | |
| --- 2593650 | |
| >>2591643 | |
| Just because (You) can't afford a little bit of plywood and a raspberry pi, doesn't mean nobody else can | |
| --- 2593930 | |
| >>2591592 (OP) | |
| TheGeekPub has plans for 15 and templates for 12. You can make 2 bartop arcades from a single sheet of MDF. Jig saw and a GOOD router are required tools. SlagCoin (d0t) com has free templates for button layouts. I reccomend a good forstner for drilling the holes. | |
| I have no idea what the market looks like. I did go to a bar/ arcade one time and talked up the owner. He said that the classics don't make much money. They have been rereleased too many times. He said people get excited for the weird stuff that released just before arcades disappeared. | |
| --- 2594087 | |
| >apartment maintenance | |
| >Appliances break all the time | |
| >Cheaper to just replace the whole unit than to do the simplest repairs, or so I've been told | |
| >Get to take home the appliances | |
| >If it's worth the effort, I fix them up and sell them for a fat profit, considering I get them for free, and can often take parts from one to fix another | |
| >If it's truly fuckes or I've stripped it of any good parts already I scrap it, also get a lot of scrap copper from old supply lines that are gradually being replaced | |
| >Sometimes score big on furniture left behind by tenants, spit shine it and sell it | |
| I make enough doing this that I could quit my job, but then I'd lose my near infinite supply of free shit. | |
| --- 2594101 | |
| >>2594087 | |
| The building owner gets 100% tax depreciation on the principle cost of appliances after 5 years in their rental units. So if the appliance makes it to at least 5 years it ends up having been free to the owner and a repair costs more than $0.00 so they buy new ones and start the process over again. | |
| --- 2594265 | |
| >>2592077 | |
| >>2592823 | |
| Can confirm, I don't sell many, maybe 3-4 a year but that's a minimum of $500 after materials. | |
| --- 2594272 | |
| >>2594101 | |
| >it ends up having been free to the owner | |
| It's not free. You still have to buy the appliance. | |
| --- 2594275 | |
| >>2594272 | |
| an absurd number of people seem to think writing a thing off on your taxes means the government pays you back for that thing | |
| --- 2594284 | |
| >>2591592 (OP) | |
| >I'm gonna HOOOOOOOOSTLE | |
| --- 2594285 | |
| >>2591669 | |
| >yeah bro people will totally buy my homemade cabinets with shitty scratched up LCD screens and old Dells I pulled from goodwill. | |
| No one spending the money on an arcade cabinet is going to buy what you're suggesting. | |
| --- 2594294 | |
| >>2591669 | |
| 200 for 2 day of work, lol | |
| --- 2594310 | |
| Make flatpack kits. Lower risk, novel, easy(er) to get stocked in places. You only get tech support if you fuck up or for people asking for packs of screws/dowels. | |
| --- 2594336 | |
| There's a very small market of people who can afford a nice cab, won't just do it themselves, and haven't made the jump to "real" arcade machines. IMO, you'd be better off catering to either or both of the second two. Sell plans on Etsy or something, and restore/repair/convert real machines. However, if you're unfamiliar with the levels of autism levels in arcade people, you may find yourself quickly swimming in shit. In that case, avoid the third market. | |
| --- 2594399 | |
| >>2592077 | |
| >Cornhole | |
| what the fuck is this retarded amerimutt game. | |
| --- 2594411 | |
| >>2594285 | |
| They will if I put a crt in it. | |
| >>2594310 | |
| Not a bad idea actually. I was more interested in the electronic aspect of it, but flatpacks would definately be easier. | |
| >>2594284 | |
| I stopped enjoying my hobbies years ago, might as well make some money while I'm at it. | |
| --- 2594505 | |
| >>2594411 | |
| >They will if I put a crt in it. | |
| no they won't. | |
| --- 2594534 | |
| >>2594101 | |
| I didn't know that, and here I thought I was doing the company a favor (they used to have someone come get the scrap appliances until I started doing this). Oh well, it's an easy extra grand or two every month. | |
| --- 2594648 | |
| >>2591592 (OP) | |
| > building custom arcade cabinets. | |
| I remember 2007 when this was popular. You know, when people might have wanted them and before Walmart came in and started selling them. Before everyone got Retropis and could buy mame cabinets and retropi cabinets off amazon for less than material costs. | |
| > immature 18 year olds | |
| Oh, you mean kids who have literally never stepped foot into an arcade before and have 0 nostalgia or reason to ever want to buy one? | |
| Sounds like a million dollar idea anon. Reverse mortgage moms house to get it going. | |
| --- 2594653 | |
| >>2591592 (OP) | |
| >Post other /diy/ side hustles and success stories. | |
| NGMI | |
| Anyone who has had success isnt giving it away to a retard like you. | |
| --- 2594662 | |
| >I live near a military base | |
| You think the welfare queens can put fucking arcade cabinets into the barracks? | |
| --- 2594663 | |
| >>2594272 | |
| >>2594275 | |
| And then you don't pay any of that money in tax liability. It is effectively free. I know they don't "give you money for it" but at the end of the day it is effectively the same thing in depreciation world, nigger. | |
| --- 2594666 | |
| >>2594662 | |
| If it fits through a standard doorway, of course. You clearly neverserved. It's about being clean and passing room inspection, moron. | |
| --- 2594999 | |
| >>2594666 | |
| >You clearly neverserved. | |
| What gave it away? | |
| The refusal to take government handouts like a single niggerwoman with 12 kids living in housing projects? | |
| --- 2595043 | |
| >>2591669 | |
| >200 bucks for something like a week of work | |
| You have never run a business before have you? Your per hour pay is garbage at those margins. | |
| --- 2595049 | |
| >>2594399 | |
| Beanbag tossing game that's played at picnics, tailgating, and barbecues, enjoyed throughout levels of sobriety | |
| --- 2595164 | |
| >>2595043 | |
| When you are NEET and pay no bills, your time is worthless. 200 bucks a week is pretty good supplement to your allowance | |
| --- 2595177 | |
| >>2595164 | |
| >When you are NEET and pay no bills, your time is worthless. 200 bucks a week is pretty good supplement to your allowance | |
| yeah, when i was 10 many decades ago I delivered papers for a pittance, but it was money. Of course, as soon as possible I got a real job and never looked back. I suppose some people never manage to unlock that achievement. lol. | |
| --- 2597420 | |
| >>2591592 (OP) | |
| I highly suggest actually attempting tp build an arcade cabinet, Keep a bill of materials and wright down exactly how long it took you to make it. | |
| My dream hustle is reptile cages. People pay $600+ for a simple 2' X 4' box made out of 1/2" pvc with a glass sliding front and a light. | |
| --- 2597430 | |
| >>2597420 | |
| The margins on aquariums are insane. I'd be really paranoid about working with heavy sheets of glass though. | |
| --- 2598949 | |
| >>2594411 | |
| >They will if I put a crt in it. | |
| your average zoomers can't lift that much | |