Any tips on gathering extra cash?

So I am a broke teenager wanting to get myself a cute dolly, but unfortunately I don't really have a job as of now. While I'm trying my best to find jobs, I want to know some method to increase my cash flow just in case.

 

However, my odds are against me, as there are hardly any lawns to mow, I'm too young to have a Paypal account, and I'm not good at talking to people.

On the other hand, good things here are that I still live with my parents, places like the Akihabara Doll Point isn't very far from where I live, and I know English.

 

Please give me some advices. Thank you in advance.

 

PS: Please notify me if this violates the rules in one way or another. I've read them myself and thought this would be allowed, but just in case.

Its not the news you're gonna wanna hear but those odds aren't good - especially the 'too young to have a paypal account' part. I hate to say it, but these dolls have always been aimed at adult collectors and not broke teenagers. But that doesn't mean its impossible. Do you receive any allowance, birthday money, chore money etc? Even if you have to squirrel parts of it away, it will gradually build up eventually. If you have, say, money to go out for lunch or something, buy something cheaper than originally planned and pocket the difference. Since you said in another thread that you live in Japan: If you got any old things you dont want or can afford to part with - books, games, anime figures - that are in decent enough condition, you can pawn them off at mandarake/Book Off/etc. You'll get a lot less than whatever you paid, but you'll get -something-.

 

Once you are old enough to have a paypal account (to be honest I have no idea if this is actually enforced?) that will make things a little easier and it means you can now get money from selling things online, commissions (if you do anything people would want to commission), and also surveys. People scoff at the idea of online surveys a lot but, and I hate to sound like a shill here, depending on what you use, they work. I was out of work for a few years (I only started working again last year) and during that time I managed to make a decent amount of money from doing online surveys. Mostly its just product reviews, reactions to unreleased movie trailers etc. It's very slow and tedious (took me about 2 months to make $50) and it definitely isnt a job replacement, but its not bad as a means of getting extra pocket money if you have a lot of free time and dont mind doing really tedious and boring long surveys for only very small rewards at a time. (I would advise researching this thoroughly though - generally if something sounds too good to be true it is. There's a lot of different sites out there and some work better than others, some are likely outright scams. The only barrier I can see is that I believe you live in Japan, and I dont know much about the japanese survey sites although I assume they exist. I used australian ones back when I was still there, so the products I got asked about were australian, and some I can no longer use because it can detect my IP address isnt coming from australia anymore. I also can't guarantee how many surveys you'd be eligible for.)

 

At the end of the day, most people here have to save up for their dolls too. Some of us take longer than others, and some of us are very lucky and have high-paying jobs/incredibly generous family members etc, but there's unfortunately not really any 'magic method' to getting more money. I know all families are incredibly different in terms of wealth, but in my case owning a doll even half as expensive as a DD would be completely unbelievable of as a teenager. (I mean damn I didnt even start collecting anime figures till I was in university because anything more than $50 was simply out of the question for me then. If 18 y/o me knew that 28 y/o me would have 4 dolls that cost over $600 each, they'd have a heart attack lol)

 

Anyway, the way I see it you have two choices.

1) Save up for what you want, while accepting it could take some time

2) Get something a little cheaper 'for the mean time' if you really want a doll now and cant afford to wait, or even would like something to help get you through the painful saving/waiting period for the more expensive option. This could be a smaller doll like an Azone Pure Neemo, or a DD that's way cheaper than usual due to part of it being broken, heavily stained or whatever.

3) hope someone else has better advice than me???

 

Anyway, good luck! The best case scenario of course is that you do land yourself a job, cos then this will go by much quicker.

-snipped for easier reading-

Anyway, good luck! The best case scenario of course is that you do land yourself a job, cos then this will go by much quicker.

 

Alright, thanks for a detailed reply! And sorry for not replying earlier, as my browser decided it was a good idea to erase all of my reply to your post :/

Anyway, I was pretty prepared to face a long wait, but it's pretty sad to hear there's hardly any way to simply gain money. However, at least I can do surveys with a bank account because Japan, so that's a good thing for me, and I'm currently doing some research about it. Selling things over the Internet seems like what I should train to do after I get my doll, so I can hopefully sell complete heads on YJA or do something else.

Also, I heard Book Off isn't a good store to sell stuff to, and a Mandarake store is too far for me to go to with my parents, since I need them to sell the stuff..

 

Anyway, thank you again!

Urbanliner

-snipped for easier reading-

Anyway, good luck! The best case scenario of course is that you do land yourself a job, cos then this will go by much quicker.

 

Alright, thanks for a detailed reply! And sorry for not replying earlier, as my browser decided it was a good idea to erase all of my reply to your post :/

Anyway, I was pretty prepared to face a long wait, but it's pretty sad to hear there's hardly any way to simply gain money. However, at least I can do surveys with a bank account because Japan, so that's a good thing for me, and I'm currently doing some research about it. Selling things over the Internet seems like what I should train to do after I get my doll, so I can hopefully sell complete heads on YJA or do something else.

Also, I heard Book Off isn't a good store to sell stuff to, and a Mandarake store is too far for me to go to with my parents, since I need them to sell the stuff..

 

Anyway, thank you again!

Urbanliner

 

Bookoff isn't great, but it's better than nothing and it really helps clear out space. We have one here in NYC. The best way to approach it is to drag in as many bags of stuff that you can carry, that way it's worth the time and trip. If you manage to go during one of their special weeks, they offer as much as 20% more than the usual payout.

There's a really long thread on the Den of Angels forum that has a lot of great tips for this, seek it out if you can

 

Being in Japan and near Dollpoint could be great if you can get your parents to help you set up a paypal account. You could be a proxy/reseller for Dollpoint exclusives like wigs, heads, hands, D'ccord dolls etc. There are also lots of small vendors at local doll shows that don't sell overseas, so you could resell those type of items as well.

Meanwhile look for some nearby part-time jobs that pay cash like pet-sitting, dog walking, water plants when neighbors are on vacation, etc. If you're good at certain subjects in school, see about tutoring kids your age or younger. Starting a small business is a great way to learn about managing finances and hopefully your family will support you

Bookoff isn't great, but it's better than nothing and it really helps clear out space. We have one here in NYC. The best way to approach it is to drag in as many bags of stuff that you can carry, that way it's worth the time and trip. If you manage to go during one of their special weeks, they offer as much as 20% more than the usual payout.

Well, I don't hear anything about Book off stores having special weeks here, but I'll keep an eye on it for better rates.

Anyway, thanks!

 

There's a really long thread on the Den of Angels forum that has a lot of great tips for this, seek it out if you can

 

Being in Japan and near Dollpoint could be great if you can get your parents to help you set up a paypal account. You could be a proxy/reseller for Dollpoint exclusives like wigs, heads, hands, D'ccord dolls etc. There are also lots of small vendors at local doll shows that don't sell overseas, so you could resell those type of items as well.

Meanwhile look for some nearby part-time jobs that pay cash like pet-sitting, dog walking, water plants when neighbors are on vacation, etc. If you're good at certain subjects in school, see about tutoring kids your age or younger. Starting a small business is a great way to learn about managing finances and hopefully your family will support you

Well, about the Paypal case, I actually talked about that with my parents before, but they refused. I seriously hope they accept my request eventually, though.

Also, I think I might be able to tutor English, but unfortunately, I don't have the guts to do so, as I get frustrated easily. Although the business thing seems like an attractive idea, I don't talk with my neighbors enough to do their chores, and I'm scared about learning law stuff, and many more things that are present.

Still, thanks got your opinion!

difficult to recommend things to make money since you're in japan, I have really no idea what japanese kids do to make money, on top of foreign kids living in japan making money. I don't even know what western kids are doing now to make money. lol Tutoring english seems to be a reasonable idea, but like you said you need to have patience.

 

I'm going to offer some advice though:

 

Things you may want in life may never come easy, whether it be your hobbies or your life goals. If you aren't willing to learn new skills, expand your horizons or train yourself to be patient, then you probably aren't deserving of the benefits or rewards having those skills, or outlook. Things that you want are always worth working hard for, not just physical or mental labor that results in something tangible, but working on yourself will always benefit you in the long run. Commitment is key, if it means that much to you to have and want it, you have to figure out how to achieve it, one step at a time until it's done, which includes making sacrifices and dealing with things that you may or may not like doing.

 

I won't offer any financial advice however, hobbies in general rarely make any financial sense. lol.

difficult to recommend things to make money since you're in japan, I have really no idea what japanese kids do to make money, on top of foreign kids living in japan making money. I don't even know what western kids are doing now to make money. lol Tutoring english seems to be a reasonable idea, but like you said you need to have patience.

 

I'm going to offer some advice though:

 

Things you may want in life may never come easy, whether it be your hobbies or your life goals. If you aren't willing to learn new skills, expand your horizons or train yourself to be patient, then you probably aren't deserving of the benefits or rewards having those skills, or outlook. Things that you want are always worth working hard for, not just physical or mental labor that results in something tangible, but working on yourself will always benefit you in the long run. Commitment is key, if it means that much to you to have and want it, you have to figure out how to achieve it, one step at a time until it's done, which includes making sacrifices and dealing with things that you may or may not like doing.

 

I won't offer any financial advice however, hobbies in general rarely make any financial sense. lol.

Well, maybe I should try making English edutainment stuff, but I only have a bit of money, and that's still big, plus there's no info about my neighbors, etc. I'll try to gather some info about it, but finding a full part-time job is better for now.

However, I'm bad at actually getting jobs; I've been rejected by 3 workplaces, and the 4th one isn't going well as 3 days out of 4 passed without anything from them, and that continuing to the 4th day means rejection. Although I want to ask how everyone got their jobs, it's probably off topic here, and another off topic thread dedicated to my question seems like a bad idea.

Lastly, I decided to look into smaller dolls and plastic model girls, as they shouldn't stain, and the body isn't expensive too. However, the relative lack of presence is a concern. Maybe I should go to a Volks/Parabox store, just to solidify the route I'm going to take, for better commitment?

Anyway, thanks! I'll try to find what works for me, and acomplish that!

rejection? get up and go again. Not much you can do about it. They're either going to hire you or they don't. You just have to keep going. Sometimes it takes a bit of luck, sometimes you have to be in the right place at the right time.

 

1/6 is a pretty interesting size, if I had more money and time I'd look into it. There's some really nice 70s and 80s classic anime looking paintjobs out there with the more realistic proportions, and you can get almost anything in 1/6 size as it's the 12inch classic doll size.

When I was a teenager I had zero people skills, but I really didn't want a job in food service. I applied everywhere I could think of first, but the mall seemed to prefer to hire college kids rather than high schoolers. Which didn't make sense to me since they left during the summer every year. Well, since I needed the money I gave in and worked at Burger King one summer. It was terrible, for a long time it was the worst job I ever had, only to be topped two years ago working at a Kmart. I was really jealous then when a friend in my grade landed my (and her) ideal job at the bookstore in the mall... I was never sure how she got that job because she was even quieter than me. Anyway, I'm rambling now. My point was that it was really difficult to earn money as a teenager and I had to give in and do a job I hated for a while. In fact, all of my retail jobs were terrible, really stressful, but I learned people skills and extreme patience over time. The last few years have been very hard for us financially and I was only able to buy doll related things either when I sold something I had previously bought or after Christmas when I had gotten money as a gift. This is a very expensive hobby that I got into when we had money, and when that fell apart it was a real struggle. But if you really love something you can wait a year or two to save up for it. So hang in there, don't give up, save little by little, and maybe consider a job you don't really like if it gets you the money.

Like a lot of other posters before me have said, I have no idea what the job market in Japan is like, and am unsure of how complicated their "vetting" process is when it comes to job applications (how many times they review things like your resumé and other papers related to your previous work experience).

 

I will say that 3 out of the 4 non-nursing jobs I have held have come from volunteer work. America places a huge emphasis on networking and connections-- this is how a lot of people get jobs here nowadays-- through people they know. A good way to make connections and to develop a reputation as a worker who is dedicated and has a genuine interest in their work is through volunteer work. You may get noticed by hiring staff and be asked to join the company team for pay. Or, sometimes after enough service, you can work up the guts to talk to hiring staff and ask for a paying position if there are some open.

 

Throughout college I held 3 different jobs:

- YMCA camp counselor (5 years), which was a job I got through helping my mother set up arts classes at our local craft store. The arts director at the craft store was also a director at the Y, took notice of how I performed in classes helping other participants, and offered me a job.

 

- Tutor at our university's writing and reading center (2 years), which had a volunteer program that let English as a second language students practice their conversational English with native speakers. A few of the people I got to know through this program kind of mentioned me to the director, and I became a part of their regular staff.

 

- Volunteer at a local zoo (2 years) --never actually took a job, but was offered one at the end of my time doing volunteer work there. I worked in the zoo's aquatics building. When I started I was doing grunt work; cleaning the floors and the dishes we served the animals' food in, cleaning the glass of the enclosures, etc... As the staff got to know me, they started to entrust me with bigger jobs-- prepping meals, administering medications, weighing animals, running labs and entering enclosures to clean them. When I left (which was when I graduated from my university) my supervisor told me that even though I had no background in zoology, they would hire me as an actual zookeeper if I was unable to find a job as a nurse.

 

(You mentioned tutoring in English and how you worried you might become easily frustrating. I understand why you're worried-- tutoring can be difficult and sometimes you don't know how much help the student you're working with needs. The tutoring center I worked at paired me with a graduate student who was working on their thesis while I was only an underclassman at the time! I thought I was going to go crazy-- she had been out of school for so long that she was really rusty when it came to writing any sort of formal paper. It is important the know that you don't have to have an answer to every question-- you just need to know where to find the answers. If your student asks you something that you both find confusing, go to your teacher. You'll probably learn something new in the process!)

Okay, generally when I'm at school, we have this concessions stand. You can buy all of this candy and junk food ya don't need for x amount of money. BUT WAIT, THERES MORE! Instead of wasting your cash on whatever candy bar, you can make a small jar of money you didn't use to buy candy or whatever. I know this wasn't exactly a relatable example, but instead of spending money on things you don't need, go ahead and save that moolah! It's working for me so far....

 

With that in mind, it's gonna take some time. You can't get it overnight, but take note of the tips and tricks given by the other members And most of all, good luck!

I know some of my friends working part time job to gather cash during college/school holiday. Some of them also sell their collectible just to earn that extra cash. Other than that, you must have a good management on your finance, try not to spend the money that you hardly earn on other things.

I know what you mean

I just lost my job and I have been trying to find another job but it's so hard.In the mean time I have been making crafts and selling them. I make decoden phone cases,polymer clay keychains, I sew plushies and doll clothes, and I crochet amigurumi! I've been thinking of opening an etsy shop or just do all my business on Facebook and Instagram like I have,but I'll probably make a separate accounts for the shop though.

Maybe you can sell some crafts,find something your good at that you could sell. I know you said that your too young to have paypal maybe you can ask a parent if you could use theirs?

Also you could sell some stuff on eBay. I go to thrift stores and buy expensive bras that are .99 cents - $3 and I sell them in lots of the same sizes, and they sell super good, that I always make a profit. I make about a $50-$60 for each lot.

Hoped I helped a little!

Hey Urbanliner, I feel your struggle. Reading your post, you seem to have a good grasp of English so you could offer tutoring; even if you're young, if you are fluent you could easily make some decent money helping your classmates or even people like businessmen or Japanese people that want to learn English. You mention that you get frustrated easily, but I do have to tell you that basically all jobs have some level of frustrating stuff to deal with. When you're starting out in your first jobs, work is more about putting up with what older people don't want to do. It's a sacrifice of your patience and it builds strength of character, hardships now will motivate you and drive you to better things later.

 

I hope I'm not being harsh, but that's how I've seen it. I've worked some pretty bad jobs for even worse pay and whenever I feel like quitting a current job that I'm not fond of, I remember the times where it was much worse and know it'll pay off to finish what I started.

 

If you know a person that you trust very well that is old enough to have a Paypal account, you could ask them if they'd be your account holder until you get your own account. Obviously you should be very careful with this, even good honest people can get a little weird when money is involved.

 

Good luck!

Ellie made a very good suggestion before about arts and crafts being profitable. Adding some style and flair to cheap mundane items like hairclips and reselling the for profit. Flower circlets for dolls is something in the customisation area of the forums.

 

If you have a flair for writing or drawing you can open up commissions. This can be all done online to get around the sticky face to face interactions. People will be paying you so you WILL have to deliver if they pay first, or accept there may be a few people who will flake on payment but not let yourself get discouraged.

 

Another thing is if you can bring yourself to face people for a job aim for something you are passionate about. If you are passionate about something then you've probably already done a lot of research in the subject and will get excited to talk about the subject. People pick up on this and if they are passionate as well you'll find conversations going a lot smoother and without as many irks.

 

Have you put applications in at the doll stores? I'm not sure of the norms of Japanese stores. It's clearly something that you love, having come to these forums to talk to us about it. Maybe writing "I really, really want to be able to one day buy a doll of my own" in the section for why you want the job will work in your benefit.

 

My second job was at a music store and in the application I wrote "I love music and a fast-food server wage isn't allowing me to buy everything I want to listen to." Ah the days before youtube, itunes and pirating music. Yarrrrr!

I like to sell my used goods on local markets.

Other than that, if you are crafty you can make and sell things locally!

 

Good luck!