Each year it is becoming more and more difficult for young people around 18 to earn decent money..

[Anonymous]

Employers do not want to schedule their employees for more than 2 days/shifts a week. Uber, Uber eats and door dash keep the majority of the money from a transaction. After the Ebay fees and shipping costs there is very little money left to actually make any money from an Ebay sale.

Only about 1 out of 100 people who contact sellers on Facebook marketplace actually want to pay what the seller is asking.
YouTube requires millions of views in order to earn any significant money.
Online music streaming platform royalties are laughable unless you are a major music artist.

Years ago when I was a younger person, call centers were the big thing among many younger people but now almost all of those jobs have been sent overseas.

[Anonymous]

That's why 18 year olds are supposed to be in college so they don't have to work menial jobs.

[Anonymous]

I sell 100% of my items on Facebook marketplace at the price I ask. Not sure why that isn’t working for you? I say no haggling. My prices are very fair.

But I agree with you. As a society we also don’t want 18 year olds working. We want them in trade school or in college.

[Anonymous]

Getting a cert. working at a retirement community or nursing facility. Those places want workers. But it's not a ton of pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's why 18 year olds are supposed to be in college so they don't have to work menial jobs.

Depend on bank of mom and dad?

[Anonymous]

These kids can do dog walking, dog sitting, nannying, driving kids to activities, summer camp counselors, after school sport coordinators. These are things that upper middle class and upper class people pay a lot for and it’s hard to find good help. People pay $25-$35 an hour for people to walk dogs or care for kids. I’m always looking for dog sitters and pay $100 a day. The person can work another job at the same time. They just need to walk my dog twice a day and sleep over. I desperately need a driver this summer to drop off and pick kids up from summer camp. That would be 3-4 hours a day and $25 an hour. More than they would make full time at minimum wage. Kids need to be entrepreneurs these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sell 100% of my items on Facebook marketplace at the price I ask. Not sure why that isn’t working for you? I say no haggling. My prices are very fair.

But I agree with you. As a society we also don’t want 18 year olds working. We want them in trade school or in college.

Do you actually make a profit or just recover what you originally paid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Employers do not want to schedule their employees for more than 2 days/shifts a week. Uber, Uber eats and door dash keep the majority of the money from a transaction. After the Ebay fees and shipping costs there is very little money left to actually make any money from an Ebay sale.

Only about 1 out of 100 people who contact sellers on Facebook marketplace actually want to pay what the seller is asking.
YouTube requires millions of views in order to earn any significant money.
Online music streaming platform royalties are laughable unless you are a major music artist.

Years ago when I was a younger person, call centers were the big thing among many younger people but now almost all of those jobs have been sent overseas.

None of these things existed 30 years ago when is the period I guess "when young people were able to earn decent money", yet there are still fast food restaurants, normal restaurants, amusement parks, ice cream shops, beachside towns, lawn mowing, babysitting, etc. where tons of 18 year olds are able to work if they want.

Your Youtube and Spotify examples are really nuts. I mean, before the Internet you had to get major label backing in order to make any real money from music. There was no influencer economy at all and you had to make it as a real actor in Hollywood or Broadway...which again, still exist...in order to make any real money.

I am actually surprised by hearing about kids with just like 20,000 instagram followers at least getting free stuff from brands and making a couple of bucks.

[Anonymous]

I remember a high school aged teenager offering to sell me a fake ID the summer before I entered the 9th grade and his main selling point was not to use it to purchase alcohol but to instead use it to acquire call center employment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sell 100% of my items on Facebook marketplace at the price I ask. Not sure why that isn’t working for you? I say no haggling. My prices are very fair.

But I agree with you. As a society we also don’t want 18 year olds working. We want them in trade school or in college.

Do you actually make a profit or just recover what you originally paid?

Huh? You aren't supposed to make a profit on facebook marketplace. You're supposed to sell used items at 50% or less of the cost. If you do make a profit, you're going to need to pay taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sell 100% of my items on Facebook marketplace at the price I ask. Not sure why that isn’t working for you? I say no haggling. My prices are very fair.

But I agree with you. As a society we also don’t want 18 year olds working. We want them in trade school or in college.

But then how do they pay for college or trade school according to all of the 50-80 year olds who worked their way through those avenues and didnt have loans and therefore cant conceive of why student debt is an issue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sell 100% of my items on Facebook marketplace at the price I ask. Not sure why that isn’t working for you? I say no haggling. My prices are very fair.

But I agree with you. As a society we also don’t want 18 year olds working. We want them in trade school or in college.

Do you actually make a profit or just recover what you originally paid?

Huh? You aren't supposed to make a profit on facebook marketplace. You're supposed to sell used items at 50% or less of the cost. If you do make a profit, you're going to need to pay taxes.

There are definitely people who pick up stuff from BuyNothing groups or other giveaways and then try to resell it.

Sometimes I care, and sometimes I don't. I gave away a somewhat beat up bike (but good brand) and a person came from like Manassas into DC and admitted he would fix it up himself and then resell it. Seems like a ton of work to make like $50-$100, but it was clear this person was making a run to multiple places in DC and Bethesda to grab stuff.

[Anonymous]

I did not know of any college student who was working for money in my country of origin.

Either you are too poor and you do menial job, or you go to college/trade school and study.

Around the world, that is the system. Why did you think that US should be different?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sell 100% of my items on Facebook marketplace at the price I ask. Not sure why that isn’t working for you? I say no haggling. My prices are very fair.

But I agree with you. As a society we also don’t want 18 year olds working. We want them in trade school or in college.

But then how do they pay for college or trade school according to all of the 50-80 year olds who worked their way through those avenues and didnt have loans and therefore cant conceive of why student debt is an issue?

Have you looked into trade school? My uncle is associated with a big one. It's free and they actually pay the journeymen too while they're training. Their struggle is getting kids without records and who don't do drugs (homeowners don't want people with criminal records working in their houses while they're at work). Pay isn't bad while you're training and when you start your own plumbing/welding company later on, the money is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sell 100% of my items on Facebook marketplace at the price I ask. Not sure why that isn’t working for you? I say no haggling. My prices are very fair.

But I agree with you. As a society we also don’t want 18 year olds working. We want them in trade school or in college.

But then how do they pay for college or trade school according to all of the 50-80 year olds who worked their way through those avenues and didnt have loans and therefore cant conceive of why student debt is an issue?

Have you looked into trade school? My uncle is associated with a big one. It's free and they actually pay the journeymen too while they're training. Their struggle is getting kids without records and who don't do drugs (homeowners don't want people with criminal records working in their houses while they're at work). Pay isn't bad while you're training and when you start your own plumbing/welding company later on, the money is great.

Friend of our's has a kid apprenticing in DC as an electrician right after HS. Makes like $52,000 first year. I have no idea if the parents knew someone to get their kid into the program or what.