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11 Best Ways to Make Passive Income For Student (Age 13 to 21)

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Do you want to create a side hustle and start making passive Income as a student?

Earning passive income is not equal to being lazy, creating a passive income is about creating a money-making machine, through working hard to reap the rewards and earn a consistent stream of income in the future.

Let’s put it this way:

Passive Income = Freedom + Consistent stream of Money later

Interested?

Good! Let’s Dive In!

Passive Income Ideas For Students

Best Passive Income Ideas For Students

Best passive income ideas for teenagers include creating a side hustle by leveraging on the things you know.

Today, the most common form of passive income for students are starting your own YouTube channel, creating and selling digital product, starting affiliate marketing, or blogging business. Not all passive income ideas are created equal.

  • Some passive income ideas require you to put in more effort
  • Some passive income ideas pay you more.
  • Some passive income ideas give you the flexibility of time.

The key is to use the income you’ve earned to invest in dividend-paying stocks or ETFs. By using money to grow money, you’ve created the best true passive income.

Quiz: What is Your Secret Passive Income Identity?

Passive Income Secret Identity

Passive Income Ranking Methodology

To help you in your quest on choosing the right passive income idea, I’ve ranked each idea according to 3 main criteria:

  1. Passive Score is the time commitment you need
  2. Earning is the potential amount you can earn
  3. Freedom is the freedom for you to do this at your own pace

1. Gaming

Our Rating:

  • Passive Score: 3/5
  • Earning: 3/5
  • Freedom: 3/5

“Calling all gamer!”

Do you know you can earn money by playing games?

This is like a dream come true.

The strategy, the teamwork, and the brain power required to solve complex puzzles just to win and be the best in the game is probably something your parents will never understand.

But if you are able to earn money by playing games, that might tell a different story.

In fact, you can earn money by simply playing video games while others around the world watch you play.

How much will you earn as a gamer?

An article by cbsnews actually reported that a British gamer Daniel Middelton with 20 million subscribers actually earns up to $18.5 million, that is $18,500,000 by letting people watch him play video games.

8 Figure by playing Video Games

Mind blown!

Probably now your mom won’t be screaming at you for playing too many games online.

So should you just quit your school and start playing video games?

No!

Daniel Middelton is just a rare case amount the many millions of gamers that actually never ‘made-it’. Most gamers don’t make enough money to even let them pay their bills.

Education is still very important, at least, it is what allows you to be able to read this article, right?

Is it passive? Well, if you consider enjoying what you do while earning a side income, then yes, it may be considered a passive income.

The earnings of a gamer vary unless you have 20 million subscribers and are named Daniel Middelton. Don’t put your expectation too high. 

Nonetheless, it is totally possible for you to earn some pocket money by playing video games.

Who is this for?

A gamer who doesn’t mind letting the world see them playing video games. Possible to earn a few bucks or a couple of hundred of dollars, but to make this into a career. It is not something I recommend.

2. Flipping Items Online

Our Rating

  • Passive Score: 2/5
  • Earning: 2/5
  • Freedom: 4/5

Flipping items online can be the easiest thing a student can start doing to earn a decent amount of money.

Peer-to-peer selling platforms are so common nowadays that almost anyone can just jump to start earning money with a few clicks.

The earning formula is simple to understand and easy to execute.

How to flip items online?

  1. Buy products cheaply from peer-to-peer selling sites
  2. Re-sell them at a slightly higher price for a profit

Simply sign-up for free and create a personal profile on peer-to-peer selling sites.

Common peer-to-peer selling sites to flip items online.

  • Amazon
  • Craigslist
  • Gumtree
  • eBay
  • Carousell 

Once done, you can basically start flipping and earning from a couple of bucks to thousands of dollars depending on what you are selling.

Although some may not consider it as a totally passive income, this gives you lots of freedom and high earning potential. This is somewhat passive in comparison to working 12 hours a day as a waiter in a cafe.

Who is this for?

Best start kit for almost anyone who wants to start earning money in their free time as and when they like. Best for people who like to earn a few extra bucks without working 12 hours a day serving drinks.

3. Flipping Cars

Our Rating

  • Passive Score: 2/5
  • Earning: 4/5
  • Freedom: 4/5

Do you love cars and fancy making a few hundred bucks over the week? How about flipping some cars?

Cars are cool and bring you from point A to B quicker than walking.

But cars are way cooler if you can earn a couple of hundred dollars if you flip them.

How to flip cars?

  1. Buy a cheap great conditioned car
  2. Re-sell them at a higher price for a profit

The key here is ‘Cheap’ and ‘Great Condition’.

But this is not for everyone, you need to have some level of knowledge of cars.

You’ll need to know what is actually considered cheap if you want to make a profit from flipping cars.

How to select the right cars to flip for a profit?

  • High sought design
  • Low mileage
  • Low cost
  • Great Condition

Steps to flip cars.

  1. Find the right car.
  2. Buy the car.
  3. Advertise the car on a 2nd hand car online marketplace.
  4. Sell the car for a profit.

With these, earning a couple of hundred or even thousands of dollars won’t be a problem.

Pro Tip: I will actually find the buyer and pitch the car sales before I buy the car. This way, I will know I will have a buyer for the car before I even buy it.

Who is this for?

Best for those who have some knowledge of cars and have some level of savings to buy that car.

4. Retail Arbitrage

Our Rating

  • Passive Score: 1/5
  • Earning: 3/5
  • Freedom: 3/5

Retail arbitrage is buying products from your local retail stores and reselling these same products through an online marketplace for a profit. The best source of these great products is generally the clearance racks of stores such as Target, Home Depot, and Walmart.

Similar to flipping online, some people made a decent few thousand dollars per month by doing retail arbitrage.

The idea is simple, you just need to shop for really cheap items with high demand and sell them to others.

How to do retail arbitrage?

  1. Get to your local retail stores
  2. Shop for the best and cheapest items that are usually on the clearance rack
  3. Re-sell them at a higher price for a profit at an online marketplace

Here are some of the best local retail stores you can find your products:

  • Target
  • Home Depot
  • Walmart

And here are some of the proven online market place where you can resell for a nice profit:

  • Amazon
  • Craigslist
  • Gumtree
  • eBay
  • Carousell

Although, there is a lot more work when compared to flipping online. There are people whole build their whole business around this model.

Who is this for?

Retail arbitrage is one of the easiest ways to earn extra income during your free time.

But is it really that passive?

No, it isn’t really passive because you need to source your product and buy them off the shelf.

But it is a good alternative to waiting in a café and possibly earning more than serving drinks.

Because once you place the item on sale online, you are basically selling your items while you are sleeping or jogging in the park.

This gives you the freedom to do the things you want.

5. Selling Class Notes

Our Rating

  • Passive Score: 4/5
  • Earning: 2/5
  • Freedom: 5/5

You went for all these lectures and have been diligently writing down all the important stuff that your lectures said in class.

These notes you write are basically your lifeblood before your exams. Each word that is written in this pile of notes is the essence of that one-hour lecture.

But after the exam, you just pile them up in the corner, letting them rot. Like a once loved toy, but now abandon and sad. Won’t it be good to breathe some life back into the note that you have created with your blood and sweat?

You can sell the class notes to someone who may need them much more than you. Not only it may actually help them pass their exams, but it also earns you some extra cash.

You are not using any extra time to create them, because you have them all along, which makes it a good extra income. Some may even call it a passive income.

But before you are doing this, make sure you check with your school that you are not violating any of the school policies.

If you are the lucky few, some school actually encourages it and you can go to sites such as StudySoup to sell your class notes.

Who is this for?

That good kid down the block who goes to almost every lecture and writes some of the best class notes in school. You must be selfless and willing to share what you know and learn in the notes.

6. Participate in sleep studies

Our Rating

  • Passive Score: 5/5
  • Earning: 2/5
  • Freedom: 3/5

Passive income is usually described as making money even when you are sleeping. But this time, we are taking the idea of passive income literally. Although it is less common, you can actually make an income by literally sleeping

You simply need to take part in sleep studies that is organised by organizations and companies.

These companies sometimes pay a rather large amount for you to sleep.

NASA will actually pay you a 5 figure just to sleep. As reported by CNBC NASA pays 24 participants, 12 men, and 12 women $19,000 each to lay in bed for 2 months. This study is to research how the body changes to weightlessness.

Most sleep studies don’t pay you just as much, but nonetheless, it can be quite a nice ‘Passive Income”.

Who is this for?

People who love to sleep and don’t mind being used as a lab rat in the name of science.

PS. Make sure you read all the fine lines carefully before you join the studies.

7. Pet or House Sitting

Our Rating

  • Passive Score: 3/5
  • Earning: 3/5
  • Freedom: 2/5

Ever thought of making money by simply staying at home? Pet or house-sitting service is exactly what you might be looking for. You as a professional sitter can offer day, or night service to take care of your client’s pets or house when they are away. 

Dog sitters offering doggy daycare service can make between $50 to $100 daily by simply looking after that cute little cuddly. If you are a night sitter, you can potentially double that amount.

Probably it is one of the best ways to make money passively.

With a heart that loves animals and got the basic know-how on taking care of them, you are on your way to earning your first pot of gold.

Who is this for?

Almost everyone can do this, and if you are one of those who adore pets and have the basic know-how on taking care of them. A professional pet sitter might just be what you want to do.

PS. Safety is always your main priority, this is especially important for all ladies out there.

8. Rent Out Your Bike

Our Rating

  • Passive Score: 5/5
  • Earning: 1/5
  • Freedom: 4/5

If you have a bike that you rarely use, this might just be perfect for you. You can actually rent out your bike to someone who wants a ride. It will be much better than letting your bike sit in the attic collecting dust.

In fact to start renting out your bike, it is a pretty simple process. You only need to know the bikers in your area, or simply join a peer lending platform.

Where to rent out your bike?

With an Airbnb-style rental service, you can rent your unused bike to complete strangers.

But keep in mind you have to ensure your bike is of good quality.

Depending on the number of bikes and clients you have per month. Some are reported to have earned over $500 per month as a form of passive income.

Who is this for?

People who own a good-condition bike but rarely ride it.

9. Rent Out Your Car

Our Rating

  • Passive Score: 5/5
  • Earning: 2/5
  • Freedom: 4/5

If you have a car and you are on a long holiday overseas, your car will generally be sitting in the parking lot all day every day till you are back. Your car is basically doing nothing while you are still paying your monthly car loan.

Won’t it be a good idea if your car can do something useful and earns you some cash during your holiday?

You can simply offer a car rental service during your long holiday. It is made possible by simply joining some car rental apps and peer-to-peer lending platforms. 

But there are some basic conditions for your car to be met, such as:

  • Good working condition
  • Clean
  • 3rd party insurance available
  • Road worthy

Depending on your car and the clients you have. Renting your car might actually make you up to $1,000 richer per month as a form of passive income.

Who is this for?

People who own a good-condition car but will not be using it for a period of time.

10. Rent Your Storage Space

Our Rating

  • Passive Score: 5/5
  • Earning: 1/5
  • Freedom: 5/5

If you are living in a dorm room, there is always that few who always need to travel back home during the summer break. Bringing all the stuff they got back home might not be the best idea for them, so they will need to rent a place to put their stuff for a few months.

If you have a free storage space like an empty corner of your room, a garage, or an attic you are not using. You can probably earn some money passively by renting out that free space to those in need to put their stuff for the summer break.

In fact, there are multi-million dollar companies build on this model by renting space for people to store their stuff.

Simply list your space on peer-to-peer platforms to get some clients. By doing nothing, you can easily earn up to $500 per month depending on the location, demand and how much space are you willing to rent out.

PS. Renting out of storage space is great but it will be your responsibility to ensure all items stored is legal and you are not breaking any law.

Who is this for?

People who have a space to spare and are willing to rent it out for others to keep their stuff.

11. Advertise with your car

Our Rating

  • Passive Score: 3/5
  • Earning: 1/5
  • Freedom: 4/5

You drive your car day in, and day out from point A to B. How about renting that precious advertising space on your car to companies who are looking for creative means to advertise their business?

How do you get paid?

  • Commission
  • Monthly income

To be eligible for such a passive income opportunity is pretty simple. You will only 3 things:

  • A car that is Roadworthy
  • A driving license
  • A contract with the advertising company

These advertising companies usually pay you per mile you have driven the vehicle. So basically when you are driving to the grocery store, you are earning a couple of bucks for that trip. Probably not enough for you to buy a new iPhone, but probably just nice for that cup of double cream latte at Starbucks.

You generally get a chance to earn $300 to $600 per month in a pretty passive way. Low risk, high return, not a bad way to earn an extra income indeed.

Who is this for?

Those who have a car and requires to travel a lot. More importantly, you will need to have a car license and is willing to have an advertisement on your car.

Now is The Time To Create Your Own Passive Income Business

If you are still reading, I am pretty sure you are on your way to being a success in the future. Passive income is a truly amazing way of earning that life you want in the future. Getting the ability to earn while you sleep is what made some of the richest men alive their millions.

The passive income ideas here are just some of the hundreds of examples you may find online. But here we have selected a few which are easily achievable by students like yourself.

You definitely won’t be able to do all the passive income ideas written here, but you can always start with one.

Find the one which suit you the most and start making money.

Making money is a long journey in which you will have to overcome different challenges every day.

If someone can actually make millions simply by playing video games, I am sure you will be able to find something that can help you in making that passive income.

Finally, passive income does not mean laziness, it means doing something now so you can ripe the benefits in the future.

All the ideas as stated above require some level of work, but these are some of the best and proven ways for students like yourself to make money passively!

There are definitely many other ways of making a passive income, but these are some of my favorites!

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Founder & Financial Writer at Income Buddies | Website | Posts by Author

Antony C. is a dividend investor with over 15+ years of investing experience. He’s also the book author of “Start Small, Dream Big“, certified PMP® holder and founder of IncomeBuddies.com (IB). At IB, he share his personal journey and expertise on growing passive income through dividend investing and building online business. Antony has been featured in global news outlet including Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq and Non Fiction Author Association (NFAA).

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