11 Best Unethical Life Hacks to Make Money

There is a blurry line between saving money and making money, and with our best unethical life hacks to make money you’ll learn a little bit of both. If you don’t have a conscience, or you’re just too much of a cynic to give a crap, then this article is for you.

In order to compile this list, I surfed through many websites, such as Business Insider, The Penny Hoarder, and Next Shark. However, many times these sites do not clearly differentiate between “making” and “saving” money, but the truth is they’re just one step away; all you need to do is capitalize those savings. Let me give you a quick example: If you buy used clothes, you save money, but if you fix them up a tad and re-sell them, you can make a considerable amount of cash. In any case, it’s those earnings/savings (the amount) that will define which place these life hacks deserve on our list.  Of course, some of the earnings are only approximated, but that was enough to help us rank those best of the best unethical life hacks for easy money making.

“Life hacks”, however, still constitute a pretty gray area, especially when it’s about money. It’s what we witnessed as well when researching about best unethical life hacks to make money. This is because “saving” is not only a step away from “making”, it’s also pretty adjacent to “stealing”, which can be a problem… if you get caught.

I don’t think I need to explain to you what stealing is, the problem is WHO you’re stealing from. I’ll give you an example here too. Business insider says “Have your friend order a drink at Starbucks and pick up their drink and leave. After a few minutes, have the friend walk to the counter and say they never got their drink so they make another one.” Or you could save yourself the extra steps and just take any random person’s order and flee. Both options are stealing, but in one case you just mess with Starbucks, so who cares, but in the other one you’re putting someone else in a very uncomfortable position. It is always better –for your conscience- to steal from private entities than everyday people.

So, the trick about unethical life hacks -unlike Weird but Successful Business Ideas that Somehow Make Money – is knowing how much “assholeness” your conscience can endure. You have to be careful not to become a full-blown dick, just a handful (that’s a term used to call men with penises large enough to fit in your hand, but not much else). For one, you should not screw with friends and family (too much), that’s a dick move, and too Game of Thrones.

Are you ready to discover how much of a jerk you are willing to be in order to gather some cash? Get ready for our list of best unethical life hacks to make money. Click next!

 11- “Domain Name Poaching” or “Cybersquatting”

This item is not a safe bet and that’s why it’s only n°11 in our best unethical life hacks to make money. You could lose a lot, too.

I didn’t really know what this one was until I read about it on the Penny Hoarder (quite a name, you guys), so I’ll need to quote a little.

“Domain name poaching”, or “cybersquatting”, consists of registering names that either are already something -or will be- in order to sell it later to someone who actually wants it. If you buy or register a name generic enough to be un-trade-markable, (take for example “Oak Tree Apartments”) you can then resell it for way more cash.

However, “this practice is regulated in some ways. For example, you can’t register a trademarked name. And in any case, there is the question of ethics; as a poacher you essentially profit from the name and reputation of a person or company, rather than by anything you create. Many cases, though, fall into a legal gray area.”

“Another cybersquatting niche involves registering movie names before the studios get around to it.” This might, however, get some studio lawyers involved, in which case you better give the name back for whatever sum they’re offering. In reality, people don’t cybersquatt that much today because it has become more regulated over the years, so the legal stakes are high. So, what best unethical life hacks to make money we have on our list besides this one? Check it out!

10- Wear a religious outfit to get into places

This one’s on me, so I’ll tell you the story.

I was waiting in an endless line to get into a very exclusive club, where they are extremely thorough about who they let in, based on their appearance; people just stand in line for hours, dressed like they’re going to an S&M club (which it kind of is). There was this guy a few meters ahead of me who looked completely average –like someone they’d never let in- but he was wearing a yarmulke. BINGO!

Of course, he was probably actually Jewish, and this was in Berlin, where if you wear a yarmulke you can basically do whatever the fuck you want, because… y’know. But this got me thinking: you can wear any religious outfit to any place, anywhere, that’s hard to get in, and it’ll probably go through, because there’s nothing they want less than people screaming “XENOPHOBIA” at the door.

The ticket was approximately 18 USD, but it works for any place with a selective entrance. And by the way, no, I didn’t get in. Fuck you, Berghain.

9 – Go to the movies back-to-back

“Buy a movie ticket, but plan out the theater’s schedule so you can see multiple movies throughout the day, back-to-back.”

This one’s not really about making money unless you bring a camera with you and pirate the film, but if you’re a hard-core movie buff, it does count as saving.

It requires a little bit of planning ahead. First, you need to find the theater, which should be not too big, as to have as many projection rooms as possible in the same level. The toilets should be inside the movie area too, so you don’t need to exit. The next thing you need to do is check the movie schedule, so you can plan your itinerary and watch every movie available that day without ever leaving the projection area.

Movie tickets are 13,69, approximately, so if you buy one ticket and watch 4 movies you’ll be saving 41 USD.

8- “Profiting From Misspelled Domain Names”

In the same line as “Domain Name Poaching”, profiting from misspelled domains is an online money-maker provided by The Penny Hoarder.

“When you misspell the URL of a website as you type it into your browser, you often get a page with ads. People buy these misspelled domains in order to profit from mistakes.” The people who do this set up a page of tax tips, and the add companies pay them for every unintended click (especially during tax season); it can generate around 15 USD a month, which is not much but it’s not nothing. Eventually, they sell the domain for way more than they paid for it, but that’s not a given.

7- Breakfast at the Four Seasons

“If you’re hungry and it’s between 6am-8am you can get free continental breakfast from pretty much any hotel you walk into. It helps if it’s busy.”

This one among the other best unethical life hacks to make money is absolutely, 100% bum-level stealing, but you weren’t googling “11 ways to get to heaven” when you came across this article, so why bother trying to cover it up?

If you have some decent-looking clothing and the will to get up at 7am, you can totally walk into a busy hotel breakfast buffet and gorge yourself. According to the Sydney Four Seasons site, breakfast is 42 Australian Dollars per grown up, which is approximately 33 USD. If you manage to do this a couple of times a week, and take some croissants home so you’re set the next day, you could be saving up to 75 USD a week. Just be careful not to get caught. Now, let’s continue with our list of best unethical life hacks to make money.

6 – Buy cheap, resell expensive

Not only do they constitute one of the best unethical life hacks to make money, but “Vintage Goods” are also number 8 in Insider Monkey’s best things to sell on Etsy to make money list. It’s probably one of the easiest life hacks on Earth, and it’s not even that unethical; if people choose to buy expensive old shit, that’s their choice, their problem.

It’s fairly easy to this one among the other best unethical life hacks to make money, you just need to locate the cheapest flea markets in your city, or even shop online, and buy anything that might pass as “distressed”. For example, a piece of furniture with the paint scraped off, or a worn out leather jacket. Then all you need to do is promote it on any online shop: “handcrafted wooden bookshelf from the high mountains” SOLD! “Real vintage biker jacket worn by actual gang members”. SOLD! You get the idea. This person makes around 100 USD every time they flip a piece of furniture.

5 – Wear a uniform to get ahead

Besides being one of my favorite best unethical life hacks to make money, wearing a uniform is a good way to get into places for free. Whether it’s an authority figure or an employee of a certain rank, uniforms open doors. A military outfit will get you into any club, no line, and you’ll probably get free drinks for the whole night.

Just as well, Business Insider states that you can pretty much get into any special event if you show up in a chef coat. You don’t even need to wear it really, just carry it around and make sure it looks like you know what you’re doing. This is mainly because most of the time people fear to ask who you are; they are worried they will look stupid. If you’re good enough at it, you could get into places where the tickets are up to 100 USD- or maybe go somewhere cheaper and get your weight in free drinks.

4- Get off flights during the connection

“Instead of buying a ticket for A:B, find a cheaper one for A:B:C and get off at B. Savings can be 30-50%. Airlines really hate this, but there’s not much they can do about it.”  – Josh R.

If you’re a frequent traveler, then you might have noticed that, for the most part, flights with connections are cheaper than direct ones. Even if the final destination is not where you’re going, the stop might be, so why not just buy that flight and get off during the connection?

Let’s say you want to travel from San Francisco to Paris. The direct flight is 200 dollars, whereas a flight to Italy that makes a stop in Paris for a couple of hours is almost half price. You can just leave the airport and never return and save 100 dollars! However, this only works if you don’t have any checked in luggage, just a carry-on.

It’s actually a loophole, so don’t think of it as stealing. However it ended up on our list of best unethical life hacks to make money. It’s also nice to f an airline in the a if you get the chance, which is not often.

3- Sell garbage

“My friend from high school works at the recycling center for his college. About a thousand books get thrown away each semester because the school won’t buy them back. Amazon definitely buys them though. He gets about a $1000 bonus every semester.” This equates to 125 USD a week, which is not bad at all.

Even though the example is specific, there are many ways to do this, you just to keep your eyes open to opportunity. Many stores that use tester products throw hundreds away every week, so if you know which day they take out the lottery garbage, you are served. You can either keep them and use them, or sell them cheap and make a little extra cash.

There’s a thousand opportunities like this; people throw out a lot of useful stuff every day. Now, let’s see the number one on the list of best unethical life hacks to make money.

2– Use bleach to whiten the “wet dot” on your cellphone

It is said that the original sin was Adam biting the apple, but this time it’s Apple who can bite me!

“Using Clorox or any bleach will turn the red/pink liquid detection dot on electronic devices back to white so they replace them under warranty.”

The answer to all my clumsiness problems. Well, not all, but some; it won’t fix a cracked screen but it will work wonders after a deep dive into the toilet. Putting it in a bag of rice without turning it on for a day is supposed to suck the water out, but depending on the dive it might not work, so this is a useful tip, especially since a new Iphone 6 is worth 549 USD.

1- Line-sitting

Standing in line for cash is an actual thing that people do, and this is why it’s number one in our best unethical life hacks to make money list. There’s actually a guy who does it professionally. Reportedly, “In one week, Samuel can earn up to $1,000”. He even built a business around it. It’s called “Same Ole Line Dudes” (SOLD Inc.), and it’s a hit.

It’s very simple, really: if there’s a line for anything, be it a product, or an exclusive event, you just have to wait in line and then sell your spot I can very well assure you that someone who’s willing to pay up to a thousand dollars for the latest iPhone might be perfectly capable to give you a bunch of money in exchange for waiting. Of course, this implies kind of screwing the rest of the people if you sell your spot to more than one person, but, you know… whatever.
I hope this article has been of use in your road to becoming a worse person. See you at the movies!