This article was originally published in 2011 on our old blog to shed some light on the survival lessons we learned from our observations during the great recession of 2007.
( https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/great-recession.asp ) After observing some of the methods used by illegal aliens flooding into my home town I thought it was time to dust off this old article, retool it, and re-release it. These skills are worth knowing should we find ourselves in another recession, refugee status, or some other black swan event where the normal financial systems aren't working for us.
With the growing unemployment rate and crumbling economy it is no wonder people today are worried about money more than ever. In this article, I thought I’d share with you some of the creative solutions I’ve learned from people I’ve met, who out of necessity, have had to come up with outside the box solutions. Most of the tricks I will share with you revolve around the growing gray market or underground economy.
The first method we will be discussing is the resale or barter of goods. There are many ways in which people can sell goods. The preferred method generally depends on the item being sold. The two most common methods are online either through online classifieds such as Craigslist and The Back Page or through online auction sites such as Ebay or Gunbroker.com. I have found this to be an extremely powerful method for selling goods. Because it exposes you to a much larger audience than the old school print mediums such as flyers or even newspaper classifieds. I’ve used this method to resell items from my home I no longer needed with great success. I was very pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was able to sell items I really thought would be impossible to move. The old cliché “one mans garbage is another mans treasure” is really true! What I found even more fascinating is how people have been using these mediums to supplement their incomes and in some cases even make their livings.
The first person I wish to discuss was laid off his construction job about two years ago with a family of four to feed and no luck getting work. He took to the street collecting garbage. He refurbished, rebuilt , or repaired what ever he could and resold it online. Anything metallic which couldn’t be made good was sold as scrap metal to recyclers. He averages $600 a week . Another gentleman I met purchased an entire cd and dvd collection I was selling in a garage sale. When I asked him what he was going to do with them he told me he sells them in a booth at the flea market. He purchases them often for less than a dollar each making deals on bulk. He turns around and sells them for between $3 to $5. Talk about a great profit margin! A dear friend of mine is a model car collector and an artist who’s taken his passion and turned a nice profit. Being very familiar with that market he knows how to buy desirable models in clearances or seasonal discounts so he may resell them on Ebay often making great profits. The last person we will discuss is another veteran of the trades he took his knowledge of tools in a different direction when he discovered there’s a huge market for used tools. First he sold his old or redundant tools. Then he started buying tools at garage sales, flea markets and even pawn shops and flipping them. Finally he started taking advantage of many tool brands liberal return policies to upgrade his products and increase his profits. Did you know many Craftsman tools which are old or worn out can be upgraded simply by bringing them into Sears and trading it in? (This may no longer be true)
The second method is the sale or barter of services. Guerrilla catering is a method common near my office on certain days of the week I can expect some ladies to come and offer me various types of food. The foods range anywhere from hot foods to pastries to even freshly picked fruits or vegetables. Yes, yes I know foods are products but the cooking and delivery is the service. Of course buyer beware. Other services include sewing. The little old lady behind my house supplements her social security check by repairing clothes and hemming pants. At $3 a pant for hemming and within walking distance this is a heck of a bargain. Another great example are the maintenance guys who used to work in my building which where laid off after it was converted in condos. Knowing these guys had an intimate knowledge of the building and having known them for years I knew they are trustworthy and competent. I made sure to keep their numbers and now for a great price I have the best handy men around.
The recent influx of illegal aliens has provided some great observations of financial survival ranging from brilliant to criminal. Regardless of how we may feel about their presence the lessons have been many here are some of the more interesting ones. My favorite so far are the musicians. We have one that works my local super market parking lot. He is a genuinely talented musician who plays several instruments including the flute and the violin. He also brings a baby cart he uses as a compassion prop. In actuality it is what he uses to transport his equipment which includes an amp and speaker. He brings a sign asking for donations using various pretexts including that he has 3 or 4 kids and is unable to work, or that he's saving to go back to college. It changes as needed I guess.
Tarot card reading and other "spiritual" services are also particularly lucrative. Especially if you are exotic looking. One such lady charged $20 a pop for tarot card readings, and more for other spiritual services. She was booked for about 6 hours one day with non stop clients (or marks). Each reading took approximately minutes. Do the math. Now consider no taxes are being taken. Another method fairly common if you are an insider of a fairly homogeneous community is to collect finders fee's for leads from people such as real estate brokers, bail bonds men, and car dealers. Of course this isn't legal, but the insular nature of these communities makes them hard to catch. One I know personally makes her living as a translator. Often helping with forms and documents. Yeah, I know but the people she helps could never afford a professional.
Among some of the more upsetting gigs these people are taking, are jobs normally requiring licenses or permits. Mechanics and hairstylists being two of the more lucrative ones. Yes they make less than the legal ones, but it's still a great salary. A pirate mechanic can make upwards of $20 an hour, and one hairstylist I heard of makes close to $1000 a week. All the time taking jobs away from those who worked hard to do it the right way. Used car sales are another very popular methods. The way its done is to use someone who is licensed to buy cars at auctions, to help them buy used cars wholesale, then they pay him for the use of his licence.
What skills do you have? Are you handy with cars? Can you care for children? Have you worked in the trades? I have a survival & self defense training business ( www.urbansurvialcraft.com ) which I run along with my partner Mark in addition to my “day job.” Hope this provided some good food for thought.
* TO BE CLEAR I DO NOT ENDORSE OR ADVOCATE ANY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES. THOSE MENTIONED ARE MERELY EXAMPLES OF HOW DESPERATE PEOPLE ADAPT DURING DESPERATE TIMES. THIS IS PUBLISHED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. IF YOU DECIDE TO PLAY BE PREPARED TO PAY.
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