Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2024 – Show and tell • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2024 – Show and tell

#141

Post by PUSH_AX » Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 8:09 PM UTC

jermaustin1 wrote: post #133

In 2023, I started selling solid wood rolling trays designed by my little sister and I on Etsy (The Stoned Craftsmen). Almost immediately I was making $1200-2000 per month. Some months can be big months (especially around Thanksgiving/Christmas) where I'm getting $75-200 a day in sales, but some months can be dogs (July and August this year were literally $0 months - the only 2 on record - I think an algorithm change…

As a CNC enthusiast I wondered what this was and what the market was like (I don't partake so hadn't heard of a rolling tray).

A quick look on Etsy and it seemed super saturated, do you push through the noise somehow?

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2024 – Show and tell

#142

Post by yakhinvadim » Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 8:10 PM UTC

I made News Minimalist — a news aggregator where all news is ranked by significance on a scale from 0 to 10.

The ranking lets readers select a "significance threshold" and ignore all news below it.

It's making close to $1000 MRR now with all money coming from premium subscriptions: users can personalize their feed with category/country filters, block topics and get access to news summaries.

https://www.newsminimalist.com/

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2024 – Show and tell

#143

Post by markvdb » Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 8:12 PM UTC

Silly related question...

How much gross taxable do you need to make from your side gig to take home 500/m net from a side gig? Here, that's about 1360/m if itemising expenses, or 900€/m with the standard deduction for side income and doing your own taxes.

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2024 – Show and tell

#144

Post by darthcloud » Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 8:12 PM UTC

I've build BlueRetro [1] an universal Bluetooth controller adapter for nearly all pre-USB gaming console.

I guess I could update from my previous post in a similar thread. [2]

Long story short, my open source firmware is used by product makers and they make a voluntary contribution often base on how many unit they sell. It is also widely used by Chinese company on AliExpress.

I got one of those Chinese company to sponsor me a significant amount on GitHub sponsor since August 2022. I guess they forgot about it, still going ever since!

I still make 1000 USD a month from the various HW makers.

One new thing I made this year after 5 year of doing this hobby, is that I finally manufactured and sold one adapter base on this code myself for the OG Xbox console. [3]

Factoring all the expenses I made 7K for a batch of 300. I plan to do a 2nd batch next year, which should yield double that since I will only incur raw materials & shipping expenses.

It took me 48 hour of manual labor to assemble them and ship them. So it's doesn't make much sense TBH, but it's a good experience. Made me appreciate my desk job.

[1] https://github.com/darthcloud/BlueRetro

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35568543

[3] https://blueretro.com

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2024 – Show and tell

#145

Post by iandanforth » Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 8:13 PM UTC

dowakin wrote: post #111

I started a mini-SaaS focused on identifying what content/scripts are blocked on websites by AdBlockers, Firefox Tracking Protection, and similar tools. I initially aimed for an cheap monthly pricing plan and many clients, but that strategy hasn't been successful so far. However, in the process of finding clients, I found two 'enterprise' customers. I built a custom on-premise version for them and charging $300 per m…

Totally counts though!

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2024 – Show and tell

#146

Post by graphpapermaker » Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 8:13 PM UTC

I'm building Virtual Graph Paper (https://virtual-graph-paper.com) which is a web app for sketching on a grid.

Basically a (limited) vector graphics editor that's trying to be very approachable, aimed at use-cases where something like Illustrator or a CAD package wouldn't be a great fit. I keep hearing about new things people use it for, which is something I truly enjoy.

It's free and ad-free, but there's also a paid version in the form of a downloadable Electron app or a subscription.

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2024 – Show and tell

#147

Post by pkkkzip » Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 8:14 PM UTC

firefax wrote: post #120

I play Texas Holdem. It's not enough $$$ to be a full time role, especially considering the costs of purchasing health insurance w/o a traditional W2 employer, but it's perfectly possible to buy in for the the table max (500) and leave with between between three hundred and a thousand dollars in profit in ~8 hours of play. (Real life, not online. "Caro's Book of Poker Tells"[1] will aid you more than fancy math, thou…

wrote a lengthy paragraph on the perils of online poker then i realized you were doing it offline!

are you playing in the casinos? US I assume? tell me where the fishes are young man!

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2024 – Show and tell

#148

Post by geocrasher » Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 8:20 PM UTC

ambicapter wrote: post #76

epaga wrote: post #16

I made SmoothTrack, a no-equipment head tracking app for iOS and Android which lets you control the game camera in sim games (like MSFS 2024 for example) with your head - basically like TrackIR, just without any equipment and for $15 instead of $150. I originally made the app just for myself to save myself the money of buying a TrackIR system, but then /r/flightsim begged me to release it as a full app. Last month, I…

How does this work without a virtual headset (don't you just end up looking off-screen)? Are you moving your head far less than the camera moves on the screen?

your phone watches your face move. It can be off to the side, as the neutral position need not be dead center.

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2024 – Show and tell

#149

Post by funksta » Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 8:21 PM UTC

dewey wrote: post #134

funksta wrote: post #132

I've built a custom planner/calendar generator targeting e-ink tablets like the reMarkable, Supernote, and Kindle Scribe. Revenue is highly seasonal, but now consistently over the $500/mo threshold :) https://hyperpaper.me/

FWIW it took at least 30 seconds for the images to show up, first I thought it's a collection of white papers before it populated.

Thanks for the heads up! That page is normally very fast but I can reproduce those images loading slowly. Will investigate...

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500/month on side projects in 2024 – Show and tell

#150

Post by henrygabby » Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 8:21 PM UTC

MeetingsBrowser wrote: post #52

henrygabby wrote: post #25

Unsexy tech business making roughly $6-7k/mo. I partnered with a local janitorial company that targets industrial clients with recurring nightly cleaning needs and I make roughly 7% of gross revenue as a recurring weekly payment as long as the client stays on w/o much work. I help do some client support, SEO, and pay for things like Apollo.AI to reach out to customers but other than that it is pretty hands off. I fee…

But what does the business actually do?

Yes, it is a leads driven business. I have focused on improving SEO in three of their core markets. Any new customer that signs up as a result of my marketing efforts, as long as their base margin is met, I get paid for the lifetime of that account.