r/WeirdSideHustles • u/KazuKazu_hyperbowl • 17h ago
Sharing My Sidehustle I make money checking if forgotten vending machines are actually abandoned
I honestly didn't know this was a thing until a few months ago. From what I know, there are a lot of vending machines that are just sitting around in old laundromats, apartment buildings, repair shops, and other places where nobody really pays attention to them anymore.
What I do is basically check if those machines are still being maintained or not. Someone sends me a list of locations and I go there, take pictures, see if anything changed, check if the machine is still plugged in, and report back what I found.
Some people might think it sounds boring, but it is actually interesting because you find some weird stuff. One machine I checked was behind an old car wash and it looked like nobody touched it for years. There were weeds around it and the drinks inside looked really old. I honestly could not tell if it was still active or if everyone just forgot it was there.
From what I know, the owners need the information because sometimes it is hard to know if a machine is still being serviced or completely abandoned. My part is just collecting the information and sending it over.
Last weekend I checked 17 machines and made about $146. I never thought driving around looking at vending machines would make me money, but somehow it does. :PP
It is definitely one of the weirdest side hustles I have ever heard of, and now it is one of the ways I make extra cash.
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u/KazuKazu_hyperbowl 16h ago
Honestly through a friend. He knew someone who operated vending machines and needed people to check a few locations from time to time. I thought it sounded random at first, but after doing it a few times I realized there are actually a lot of machines that owners don't regularly visit themselves.